Jr. stayed home

[SSN Vet]

So I'm getting better acquainted with the husband of one of my wife's friends from church. Very nice guy and we have very similar values (fiscal, moral & political).

He is also an NRA member, though he doesn't get to shoot much (probably because he works a LOT of hours), so I invited him and his son to the rod & gun club Saturday.

The son decided he'd rather stay home and play video games

...and I must admit that I can't relate to this at all. I didn't like hanging out with my dad much when I was a teenager, but if he wanted to take me shooting cool guns, I'd have been all over it

So we took pics to post on Facebook, so he could see what he missed out on.

AR15
1911
BHP
S&W revolver

Maybe he'll decide to join us next time.

 

[CajunBass]

Good plan.

Can't hurt anyway.

 

[larryh1108]

I've learned that they think the guns on the video games are more fun, more cool and it's interactive. You can't pry some kids off of their game controllers.... for any reason except food.

 

[yugorpk]

My dad would have kicked the chair out from under me and ordered me out to the truck much as I kick the chair out from under my kids and order them to the truck. They can do whatever they want and live wherever they want after they turn 18.

 

[entropy]

My kids like playing COD and such as much as any, but always prefer the real thing.

 

[shafter]

Honestly, video games are often more fun than simply shooting guns at a paper target under a hot sun with mosquitos and lots of safety rules. That's why I choose to not own a console or any games even though I know I would enjoy them greatly. I would spend too much time with them.

Shooting and spending time outdoors is still great fun, but it's so much more wholesome and beneficial.

 

[jhb]

Not surprised at all. Most kids today have little interest in much besides their smart phones and video games. Course there is still exceptions, but regardless im not surprised.

 

[vamo]

Not surprised at all. Most kids today have little interest in much besides their smart phones and video games. Course there is still exceptions, but regardless im not surprised.

I'm 30 love my smart phone, video games, and my guns. Which one I'd choose as an afternoon's entertainment option is entirely dependent on the situation and my mood.

 

[Bula]

My boy gets bored shooting at paper. That's when empty 12g hulls standing up on the 10 and 15 yard burm lines come into play. My club only has reactive targets set at 200yds. The ar still beats him up a little, but he's only 10. Maybe offer up some shoot and see zombie targets? I can't set up anything at the range that's reactive, kind of a bummer for him. I still manage to strongly suggest that he's going to the range with me. No semi autos for him yet either at the pistol range. He'll get to shoot those when he's a little bigger. For now it's bolt guns, lever guns and single actions. All in 22lr. Just stay after him, he may come around!

 

[HGM22]

The son might just be shy or something too. Though I agree, kids spend WAY too much time on smart phones/video games (and I'm what many here would consider a "kid"). I know if something like that occurred when I was younger (a family friend offering his/her time) my parents would have basically forced me to do it, as its not only rude to turn it down, but new experiences are good for character-building.

 

[bannockburn]

My son still loves playing his video games though not as much as he use to. Other things in his life, like working and being in a long term relationship, have pretty much cut down on the amount of time he has for that kind of activity.

But if it was a chance to go shooting with me he never missed an opportunity as he had his own guns to shoot and is a very good shot with them. When he got tired of punching holes in paper targets we went to more fun things to shoot, like plastic bottles filled with water, old soda cans, and various seasonal fruits and vegetables like watermelons and pumpkins.

 

[pdsmith505]

A friend of mine brought his son out to my hunt club to go shooting with me the other day. When I pulled out my SBR AR-15 with it's can the kid said, "Is that a honey badger? You have a honey badger!?!?"

I had to look it up when I got home. The honey badger is a special gun from COD: Ghosts.

At that point I felt old.

I'm only 28.

 

[chicharrones]

Shooting at paper is extremely boring for many compared to shooting reactive or live targets.

For many of us, we put up with paper because it is our "hobby" and we either like or feel compelled to get better at shooting a particular gun, type of shooting, or ammo load.

I tell you this, if the kid isn't interested, don't force that kid to partake in something outside of necessary things like education or working. You may turn that kid off from our "hobby" forever. Then which side will that person lean politically in the future? Our way? Or will they be influenced by an outsider of the family which leans against our way?

I say the above because my dad loved fishing. He didn't particularly like taking me and my brother, and it became a military exercise each time we went. This went on for years on end. I'll let you guess which "hobby" neither my brother or myself wanted to do again once we were adults.

 

[Warp]

Video games are fun, and often have a very strong social angle these days...lots of games use clans or groups or teams, Jr may be spending the day playing with his friends from the comfort of his home instead of with his dad and some other old guy at who knows where

 

[bannockburn]

For my son video games have always been about the competition against other gamers. He enjoyed going shooting even more so because it was the "real thing" and also, much like his video games, he was very good at it.

 

[Kookla]

Maybe his dad can split the difference. He can offer to play some video games with his son and share in his son's hobby and maybe next time his son can share in his and they can shoot. Or maybe they do something completely different. All that matters is that they spend some time together.

 

[bannockburn]

Kookla

He can offer to play some video games with his son and share in his son's hobby and maybe next time his son can share in his and they can shoot.

You know I tried playing some of my son's video games but I'm way too slow to keep up with that high speed-low drag kind of lifestyle. I could barely keep up just watching him play with those futuristic story lines and "action packed" scenarios that the games had. I always thought that besides all of the other things we did together going shooting was a great alternative for him to do something we both enjoyed doing.

 

[Ryanxia]

When I pulled out my SBR AR-15 with it's can the kid said, "Is that a honey badger? You have a honey badger!?!?"

I had to look it up when I got home. The honey badger is a special gun from COD: Ghosts.

They may have added it in video games but it's a custom .300BLK by AAC. I've seen guys in the shop with that honey badger logo sticking out on the AR lol.

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/11/foghorn/aac-honey-badger-whats-it-all-about/


I'm surprised the kid didn't want to go, I played video games as a teenager and still do occasionally (I'm 29) but trip to the range always trumped games (especially as a kid when it's not your money/ammo lol).

 

[Kookla]

bannockburn

You know I tried playing some of my son's video games but I'm way too slow to keep up with that high speed-low drag kind of lifestyle. I could barely keep up just watching him play with those futuristic story lines and "action packed" scenarios that the games had. I always thought that besides all of the other things we did together going shooting was a great alternative for him to do something we both enjoyed doing.

That's awesome that you tried it. I've been trying to slowly introduce my daughter to shooting. Waiting for my son to get older.

 

[230RN]

I got seriously interested in guns when I came out to Colorado from New York City.

Most of the time I spent shooting up in the mountains and the Grasslands at targets of opportunity like rocks and cowpies and pine cones at unknown ranges. Occasionally a paper target on a cardboard box if I wanted to "group" a firearm.

It was literally two years before I actually went to a formal range to shoot.

I also did a lot of shooting at the Boulder City dump, which is now the formal range of the Boulder Co. gun club.

A buddy of mine and I had great fun with tin can races, where we competed to see how far we could get our respective tin cans to move with a given number of shots.

That was "fun shootin'" and when I finally got to a formal range, I didn't like shooting as much. Why heck, you couldn't even set up a tin can on the backstop and make it dance.

So, times change, and if you can get the boy out somewhere that you can just "plink" at stuff where you don't need a spotting scope to see if you made the little holes in the right places, he might change his mind about how much fun gaming is by comparison.

There's nothing like the smell of the exhaust of a .22 rifle or the sight of a tin can bouncing around or the disintegration of a pine cone as you shoot.

Terry

 

[bannockburn]

Kookla

All of my kids enjoy going shooting, just not to the great degree that I have. At least they showed an interest in it and I always tried to do the same with whatever they were into as hobbies or social activities. I think one of the best things to do in getting them interested in shooting was to get them their own gun. I let them try out as many as I could (always starting out with a .22 of some sort), and buying what they thought handled tge best for them. I believe having some sense of ownership and the responsibility of having their own gun helped to keep them involved with shooting.

 

[yugorpk]

I could never get my youngest son interested in shooting. He's go with me because he really didnt have a choice but he'd sulk in the truck the whole time. Paper target shooting bores the hell out of me and him. I found a good place to shoot at the base of a deep draw. I fill up balloons and the wind currents push them up the draw . That kid will shoot those moving balloons out of the air with his Buckmark all day long. Great practical training for moving targets and definitely not the kind of thing they'll let you do in a shooting range. He begs me to go shooting now.

 

[Kookla]

bannockburn- thanks, I'm going to have to look into that. My daughter is 8 and my son is 5. I've briefly introduced her to shooting a bb gun. I have a couple of daisy 499's- maybe I'll take your advice and give her one, but paint up the stock how she'd like it.

 

[buck460XVR]

You say Jr. is a teenager. Many is the teenager in High School that is busy all week with sports and other extracurricular activities. My two boys were a prime example. Sometimes they looked forward to just spending a lazy Saturday/Sunday afternoon on the couch doin' nuttin' or playin' video games. Getting them to go shoot, hunt or fish was like pullin' teeth. Now that they are older, they love to do all three, but now I deal with it with the grandkids. You introduce kids to things that we enjoy, encourage them and hope they enjoy it too. It don't always happen. It does nuttin' to force them, that may only drive them away. Don't condemn the kid or the dad without knowing the whole story.

 

[sydisticpixi]

Its funny, video games are what got me into guns. As a kid I loved all the cool guns in games and movies. Old westerns, action movies, and especially the more realistic games like Rainbow Six. As a teenager I could buy my own airsoft guns. I bought the ones I liked from video games. As an adult I can buy real steel guns. Most of the guns on my want list are still my favorites from video games.
What drives me nuts is all the shooters who hate on Call of Duty and the like. Video games are a perfect way to get people excited about real firearms. You can engage those cellphone-tethered kids about their favorite gun in a game, and interject a little real world gun talk. I've done this a few times in gun stores. When other people just roll their eyes, I'm like "Hey that's a sweet weapon, they've got a weapon a lot like that over here". Once I start rambling about 3-gun shooting, their eyes get real wide.
So don't blame video games. Blame the disconnect you have with video gamers. And don't be surprised if your old guy kind of shooting doesn't peek their interests. Shooting needs to be about fun. Tradition, heritage, politics, and all that crap can come latter.