How young is too young?

[Momto4luvs]

I have 4 children and the oldest is 6. She has shown interest in learning about guns. So my father and my husband took her to the range to rent a .22 to learn to shoot. She knows all of the safety rules, can quote them off the top of her head. She knows not to touch a gun to get an adult, she has to be with daddy at the range. She knows finger off the trigger, etc. etc. My dad, my husband, and the guys at the range have gone over the safety rules multiple times with her. But my question is, how young is too young. Is she too young, should I have made the men in my life wait until she was a little older before beginning to teach her? She knows never to touch them without dad (they are locked in a safe and she can't get to them anyway), but everytime they go out to the range I have the worries in the back of my mind, but I guess as her mother those will always be there.

Thank you

 

[chadintex]

With her knowledge, supervision, and interest, it sounds like she will be fine. My son and nephews all started around 4, but each kid is different.

 

[foghornl]

I started each of my kids at around age 5-6, kid dependant. You will know when each has reached the proper maturity level.

Teach them well

 

[Mr Jody Hudson]

One oldest son was not ready until he was 4. The other showed attention, ethics and responsibility at 3. My daughter on the other hand was more than fine at less than 2.

Oldest son no longer shoots. Second son is my usual shooting partner. Daughter seldom shoots but loves to tell her city schoolmates about her pistol, rifle, sword and knives; she is 12 now.

 

[johnnymenudo]

>>>>One oldest son was not ready until he was 4. The other showed attention, ethics and responsibility at 3. My daughter on the other hand was more than fine at less than 2. <<<


Are you kidding? I am not sure if I would trust my 2 or 3 year old to handle a firearm. This is actually a pretty disturbing concept to me, and I am very for training kids to shoot. Are you talking daddy or mommy holds the gun while the child pulls the trigger??

JM

 

[Carlos Cabeza]

Nahhh, At 2, my son shot the .44 magnum all by his self. THAT'S MY BOY !!!!
All bull hockey aside, As long as the parent is making a continual effort to raise the child with responsibility and respect, there is no such thing as "too young". Where firearms are concerned, its not like thats all you do. Hopefully the parent will have other activities that "let them be kids" as well as activities that instill positively reinforced values. Like bicycle safety, look both ways before you cross the street, etc. etc.

 

[Kcustom45]

I started shooting a .22 handgun when I was 5 years old. As long the child is capable of focusing their attention on shooting while they are doing it I would say that there is no such thing as "to young".

However, I agree with chadintex that every child is different and the parent will know when the child is ready. I think the fact that your daughter knows the 4 rules shows that she is more than ready to start learning to shoot.

 

[Art Eatman]

I was given my first BB gun around age six, and was generally unsupervised beyond the basic, "Now, be careful!" I guess the world at large was generally lucky.

I let my son handle a 1911 at around age four. We agreed it was too large for him, but anytime he thought he had grown big enough, he could shoot it. That pretty much solved the problem of his regarding it as a toy.

Little folks have short attention spans. The main things, IMO, are unending--but not overbearing--supervision at first, and one's judgement about that individual child. A concern is how well instructions are followed about the safety rules. There's no "one size fits all" about age...

$0.02,

Art

 

[JSolie]

I hate to say "it depends," but in this case I think it really does.

I didn't take my daughter shooting until she was 10--latent interest in firearms didn't resurface in my 'till then. She was ready by that age...learned the rules, still knows them, and, recently, has asked some fairly deep questions about the use of firearms in a self-defense situation.

I first took my middle boy (now 8) shooting when he was 6 (it was almost his 7th birthday...so an "old" 6 ). He was ready for it, he had the rules down, and he had (and still has) the concentration for it. We had a great time.

Then there's "the third child." He's not ready, and he's just about 7 (same age as his brother when I first took him). He knows the rules about firearm safety, he just is not ready for the real thing yet. I'm still gonna have to wait before I take him on his first range trip. *sigh*

Since your daughter already knows the rules, and has already gone shooting, as long as she's supervised very closely with a knowledgeable adult closeby, l'd say "go for it." It sounds as if she's "ready."

-- John

 

[4v50 Gary]

She knows the safety rules and can recite them. Has she demonstrated safe handling? Here's something else you may want her to learn:

Seven steps to make a modern firearm safe

1) Keep the muzzle in a safe direction
2) Keep the finger off the trigger and on the frame
3) Engage the safety, if possible
4) Remove the magazine, if any
5) Open the action
6) Remove the bullets
7) Visually and manually inspect to ensure that it is unloaded.

#3 can be a problem depending on the action. The CZ-75 or 1911 action can't be opened nor can it be disassembled if the safety is on. The student should be aware that some safeties cannot be engaged to do the other steps.

Heck, if you 6 year old can demonstrate safe handling, then begin teaching her sight picture. Determine what eye is her dominant eye, what hand is the dominant hand. Teach her firearm stances first (classroom stuff for the classroom and preserve valuable range time for shooting). Once she knows this stuph, take her to the range. She may become another Ann Coulter.

 

[10-Ring]

More than a chronological age, maturity is what is most important. I know a few guys now that shouldn't be anywhere near firearms or sharp objects. If your daughter is mature enough to proper take instruction it sounds like she has the proper basis of instructors to not only learn to shoot properly, but safely too.

 

[Standing Wolf]

I've seen closely supervised four-year-olds shooting safety and having a grand time; I've also seen plenty of adults shooting unsafely.

 

[Triad]

Isn't there a little .22 rifle made just for little kids? I think it's called the Chipmunk? IIRC it was designed so the kid couldn't fire it unless an adult cocked it for them.

 

[JohnBT]

All the youngsters in my family started shooting at an early age and no safety violations were allowed.

I started shooting unsupervised when my grandparents gave me a BB gun, wall rack and cleaning kit when I was 5. Not .22s and such, just BB guns unsupervised.

But I was a big kid. I was almost 2 feet tall when I was born and weighed nearly 10.5#.

John

 

[AK103K]

Isn't there a little .22 rifle made just for little kids? I think it's called the Chipmunk? IIRC it was designed so the kid couldn't fire it unless an adult cocked it for them.

Both my boys got one of these basicly when they were born. The Chipmunks are great little rifles that are sized for children in both weight and dimensions. They are well made and will make a nice hand me down for their kids if thats in their future. Both our boys started shooting when they were four, but gun safety was started at birth and they were well versed by the time they started shooting. If you wait till they are older to start at least the basic safety training, you will be behind the curve. Kids are very smart and this is the best time to teach them. The closer to "teenager" they get, the dumber they get. Dont hesitate to show them exactly what a 12ga will do to a grapefruit at close rage with birdshot as soon as they can grasp it. Nothing makes a point like this and they pick up on it quick. Your kids are as safe as you make them. Its not their fault if they dont know any better, no matter what the age.

 

[cool45auto]

Just started my daughter. She's 7.

 

[dandean316]

I think you will worry no matter what - and speaking as a new parent, I worry about everything. As long as you can trust the person going with them, I'd say you are ok. Or maybe you could go too! Actually, I think it's a good thing to teach them young. They are less curious then if you don't teach them and if taught all the safety rules they will do good.

My dad taught me like this: Range time, target practice, over and over for a couple years. I started around 5. Then we finally went out into the field, we'd small game hunt, but I could only carry an empty .22. If I "did good" - not pointed the muzzle at what I shouldn't have - the next time half way through I'd get to load my gun and walk along. One shot, not chambered. And on and on until I could prove I could carry a loaded gun. The carrot he dangled in front of my face was eventually I could carry the .410 shotgun! Boy did I want to do that. I think that's why that's my favorite gun to this day. Anyway, if I so much pointed the gun in the wrong direction, the day was over and it was a long, long walk to the truck and drive home.

I found with young shooters (and new shooters), it's easier at the range since you can keep the guns pointed down range and it's basically shoot, set the gun down on the bench. It's actually a lot safer than in the field with the excitement of flushing game and walking through brush and all.

Well, try not to worry and stay safe.

 

[Nightfall]

I had hoped to start my nephew shooting sometime around now, as he's about 6.

Too bad his maturity level and ability to listen to adults is somewhere on the negative side of 0. He won't be going anywhere near a firearm (or anything that shoots anything other than foam or water) around me.

 

[Edward429451]

I think that one should not underestimate a childs ability to learn and do right, and at the same time not underestimate their ability to make mistakes. They might have 10 range trips in a row with no violations, then make a mistake. Don't baby them and make em wait until their teens, but don't get complacent once they start doing good, mistakes WILL be made. The grey area is responding to mistakes they make. Its a fine line between responding sternly enough to drive the point home, and yet, not so sternly that you turn them off to it by getting them in too deep doo doo for a mistake.

My kids were shooting 22shorts in the Bearcat at 3 unaided, but I was very close. 22 rifles before they could hold them up. But like stated, depends on the kids. By age 6 they were shooting 45ACP somewhat, and 223's from the rest. (I waited on the bigger than 22 stuff until they asked with no prompting, and did not turn them down.) Both of them could hit a 2 pound coffee can at close to 25 yards from a rest with iron sights, with a Mini-14, by age 6.

but everytime they go out to the range I have the worries in the back of my mind,

My wife said this also. My response? Honey, I'm only human, there's 2 kids. When I hand one a hot gun, my attention from the one kid will be obviously decreased to keep focus on the one with the gun. It'll probably be OK, but realistically, you should be there just in case. She started going also. Solution? GO WITH THEM. No one can be expected to watch for the kids safety as much as the momma.

There's no such thing as too much safety with kids & guns. Let the kids hold the gun and trigger it though. When they were real young, I'd let them hold the Bearcat and just surround them with my arms and held them at their forearms.

Demonstrated the power and finality of guns to them by shooting a shaken soda pop for them to watch. Then gave them the destroyed can and told them to "fix it", "make it better", "this is what would happen to your brother if you shot him", "This is not TV, this is REAL", and so forth.

Loads of fun and never had a tradgedy. Patience. (Go with them!)

 

[Chicken-Farmer]

What age?

My daughter was 3 years old when she went shooting with dad, she is now 5. I purchased her a chipmunk single shot .22 and she sits indian style on my lap. From day one she was taught the proper safety rules, gun handling, gun cleaning, and nomenclature. When she first started to shoot we shot at pop cans 10 yards away. From her first shot she was dead on, i think thats why she has so much fun, because she is good at it! Just yesterday we went out shooting and she is now up to 25 yards away. We go over to the local dollar store and find fun targets to shoot at. She works the bolt by herself now, loads her own cartirde into the chamber, and cocks the hammer.
Introducing children into target shooting and responsible gun ownership needs to be fun and safe. Don't start your youngsters at 50 yards off hand or he/she will soon become tired of missing the target. Instead start off with fun reactive targets like pop cans or knock down targets. Start off at short ranges so the child can have fun while learning the proper sight picture. Comment the child when they make a good hit, but also explain to them what happened when they don't. I have done this with my daughter for 2 years now telling her "good job, nice shot" when she hits what she's aiming at. But i also tell her "just high and to the right, we'll get it next time" when she misses. That way she realizes that she needs to move down and to the left for a good hit. The funny thing is that now she tells me where my shot went when i end up missing the target. "Dad up and to the left, you'll get it next time." Always end on a positive note. Tell the child how well they practiced their gun safety and how proud you are of them. Involve the child in the post range clean up ie:cleaning of the guns, hand washing. It may take twice or three times as long to have your child clean their own gun, but it instills pride and confidence and teaches a valuable skill.

 

[Glockster35]

I too had this a while back. At the time my sons were 6 and 4. I did n't think the 4 year old was old enough to understand the rules well enough to let them fire the .22.

So I told them that I would teach them to shoot a BB gun, and once they proved themselves with it, then I would get out the .22.

A few months later my 6 year old had become a really good shooter, and was a very safe gun handler. The 4 year old was still learning, but was having a difficult time because he is "Right Eye Retarded", which means he is right handed, but left eye dominant.

We got our orders and moved to Germany before I cold take them out to the range and fire the.22. But when we go home to visit, the guns are coming out to play.

They are 7 and 5.5 right now, and both are doing very well. We are about to join a German Archery club, so they can learn the fine skills involved in a real hunt. After discussing this with my wife I went to work and discovered that one of the Germans I work with is a World Class Bow shooter...gotta love it.