MacTech
Member
Recently, I've noticed that my nephew (6 years old) and niece (5 years old) have started to notice my firearms, they're kept out of reach, and locked with trigger locks, and the ammo is hidden away in an old Army ammo can
When they visit, they usually ask some firearms questions, last weekend, Logan asked "what's that gun with the knob sticking out of the side, what's that knob for?" (Mosin-Nagant M-44)
So, before I took the gun out to show him, we discussed the Four Rules and why they're important, why they should be followed *at all times*, I made him repeat the rules back to me and explain what he thought they meant, he got every one of them right, he's a smart kid, he probably tests two grades higher than he's in....
anyway, once I was satisfied he understood the rules and the importance of those rules, I took the gun out, removed the trigger lock, and showed it to him, he kept a respectful distance from the gun, not out of fear, but out of respect, I showed him what the knob was for, and how the bolt-action worked, I let him lift the gun, to feel it's weight, and explained it's long history, once he was satisfied, I put the lock back on, and put the gun back into the rack.
I then went into the ammo box, brought out a box of ammo, and showed him a live cartridge, as well as a fired cartridge, I then asked him if he could guess how far that bullet could travel if nothing stopped it, he was absolutely amazed, and said "so that's why you have to know what's behind your target, what happens if you miss?"
I treated the gun as thoroughly mundane and boring, like any other dangerous tool, in fact I told him it was no different than any other dangerous tool, a tool that must be respected
I didn't show him the bayonet, as he didn't ask about it, and it'd probably have gotten him all hyper anyway, but if he did ask, i'd show him, downplaying it just like I did the gun itself
he then asked what the other guns were, and how they were different (Ruger 10/22, and Mossberg 500), we talked about the differences between pump-action and semiautomatic, he did ask if I had any handguns, I told him I had two, but they were locked away, we could look at them later, if his parents okayed it
Tonight, Logan and Sage and I were playing some videogames (GameCube - Godzilla; Destroy All Monsters) (Dreamcast - Sega Tennis, Sonic Adventure) (PS2 - Burnout 3, Katamari Damacy, Atari Anthology), after the gaming, Logan picked up my spare 3-9X scope, thinking it was a spotting scope, he picked it up, looked through it, and was perplexed by the crosshairs....
"there's two lines through this thing"
yep, those are called crosshairs, they show you where the bullet will go...
"so, you put the crosshairs on what you want to hit?"
exactly, very good
"it looks like the one you have on that gun there (pointing to the 10/22)"
yep, that's a spare scope for my other .22
"neat, what happens if you look through it the wrong way"
everything gets really small
<he looks through the scope and starts giggling>
"yeah, everything looks so far away!"
So, the next question is...
assuming his parents are okay with it, how do I introduce him to safe target shooting, the three ideas I have are;
1; start him off on my Tippmann Custom 98 paintball marker, treat it as a single-shot, load one paintball at a time, it gets him accustomed to holding a rifle, trigger discipline, sight picture, and if he does have an accidental discharge, the chances of injury are much lower than a conventional airgun or firearm, plus, it has the visual appeal of seeing a big splodge of paint appearing on the target
2; start him off on my NEF single-shot .22 with CCI CB Long primer rounds, no recoil, and almost silent report, the hammer falling makes more noise than the round firing
3; start him off on the gun *I* learned on, an Ithaca Model 49 single-shot with the aforementioned CCI CB Longs
either way, he's learning on a single-shot whatever it may be, that's how I learned, and it taught me well, especially the principle of making every shot count
any other advice on demystifying the gun for a pair of inquisitive kids?
When they visit, they usually ask some firearms questions, last weekend, Logan asked "what's that gun with the knob sticking out of the side, what's that knob for?" (Mosin-Nagant M-44)
So, before I took the gun out to show him, we discussed the Four Rules and why they're important, why they should be followed *at all times*, I made him repeat the rules back to me and explain what he thought they meant, he got every one of them right, he's a smart kid, he probably tests two grades higher than he's in....
anyway, once I was satisfied he understood the rules and the importance of those rules, I took the gun out, removed the trigger lock, and showed it to him, he kept a respectful distance from the gun, not out of fear, but out of respect, I showed him what the knob was for, and how the bolt-action worked, I let him lift the gun, to feel it's weight, and explained it's long history, once he was satisfied, I put the lock back on, and put the gun back into the rack.
I then went into the ammo box, brought out a box of ammo, and showed him a live cartridge, as well as a fired cartridge, I then asked him if he could guess how far that bullet could travel if nothing stopped it, he was absolutely amazed, and said "so that's why you have to know what's behind your target, what happens if you miss?"
I treated the gun as thoroughly mundane and boring, like any other dangerous tool, in fact I told him it was no different than any other dangerous tool, a tool that must be respected
I didn't show him the bayonet, as he didn't ask about it, and it'd probably have gotten him all hyper anyway, but if he did ask, i'd show him, downplaying it just like I did the gun itself
he then asked what the other guns were, and how they were different (Ruger 10/22, and Mossberg 500), we talked about the differences between pump-action and semiautomatic, he did ask if I had any handguns, I told him I had two, but they were locked away, we could look at them later, if his parents okayed it
Tonight, Logan and Sage and I were playing some videogames (GameCube - Godzilla; Destroy All Monsters) (Dreamcast - Sega Tennis, Sonic Adventure) (PS2 - Burnout 3, Katamari Damacy, Atari Anthology), after the gaming, Logan picked up my spare 3-9X scope, thinking it was a spotting scope, he picked it up, looked through it, and was perplexed by the crosshairs....
"there's two lines through this thing"
yep, those are called crosshairs, they show you where the bullet will go...
"so, you put the crosshairs on what you want to hit?"
exactly, very good
"it looks like the one you have on that gun there (pointing to the 10/22)"
yep, that's a spare scope for my other .22
"neat, what happens if you look through it the wrong way"
everything gets really small
<he looks through the scope and starts giggling>
"yeah, everything looks so far away!"
So, the next question is...
assuming his parents are okay with it, how do I introduce him to safe target shooting, the three ideas I have are;
1; start him off on my Tippmann Custom 98 paintball marker, treat it as a single-shot, load one paintball at a time, it gets him accustomed to holding a rifle, trigger discipline, sight picture, and if he does have an accidental discharge, the chances of injury are much lower than a conventional airgun or firearm, plus, it has the visual appeal of seeing a big splodge of paint appearing on the target
2; start him off on my NEF single-shot .22 with CCI CB Long primer rounds, no recoil, and almost silent report, the hammer falling makes more noise than the round firing
3; start him off on the gun *I* learned on, an Ithaca Model 49 single-shot with the aforementioned CCI CB Longs
either way, he's learning on a single-shot whatever it may be, that's how I learned, and it taught me well, especially the principle of making every shot count
any other advice on demystifying the gun for a pair of inquisitive kids?
