eclipse1
Member
lets say youre cleaning the gun, here comes your 4 yr old. will you guys tell them or try to explain to never touch daddys gun? what would you guys do in this situation?
thanks guys..
thanks guys..
kids and guns
- Thread starter eclipse1
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Standing Wolf
Member in memoriam
If I'd had children, I'd have started taking them to the range with me as soon as they were old enough to walk and wear pint-sized hearing protection. I've seen children of four shooting happily and safely under very close parental supervision.
I think the message shouldn't be never to touch Daddy's gun, but always to ask him for permission.
Kids are innately curious. Better, I think, to satisfy their curiosity and encourage them to learn what's what about guns than try to frighten them away. Four-year-olds may not understand cause and effect very clearly, but if you ever want to see a child's eyes grow positively huge, take him to the range and show him what happens to a can of tomato sauce hit by a bullet.
The sooner kids learn firearms safety, the safer they'll be the rest of their lives.
I think the message shouldn't be never to touch Daddy's gun, but always to ask him for permission.
Kids are innately curious. Better, I think, to satisfy their curiosity and encourage them to learn what's what about guns than try to frighten them away. Four-year-olds may not understand cause and effect very clearly, but if you ever want to see a child's eyes grow positively huge, take him to the range and show him what happens to a can of tomato sauce hit by a bullet.
The sooner kids learn firearms safety, the safer they'll be the rest of their lives.
Take him shooting
and use your most powerful gun. Have him watch, while being close enough to hear the full blast (use proper saftey equipment) and see a milk jug full of water get blown apart.
Explain that someday he may be allowed to shoot under your supervision, but for now your guns are off limits because of their powerful nature.
and use your most powerful gun. Have him watch, while being close enough to hear the full blast (use proper saftey equipment) and see a milk jug full of water get blown apart.
Explain that someday he may be allowed to shoot under your supervision, but for now your guns are off limits because of their powerful nature.
Very true. I think you have to keep it very simple at that age. I just had a talk today with my 9 year old twins. They were very curious to know the specific parts of the guns and how they function. Pretty cool.
I always clean my guns in the basement and I never let the kids in there, due to the various fumes floating around, so I never ran into that specific scenerio.
Randy in Arizona
Member
Use it as a teaching opportunity!
Gently explain that this is a tool daddy uses to hunt, target shoot, protect you and mommy or whatever the case may be for the particular gun. Tell them that like any other tool it must be clean to work properly.
Explain that it can hurt people and animals that we don't want hurt if not used safely.
Explain that it is not like the guns in the cartoons & movies.
Explain how it works if they are interested.
Explain that they must NOT touch or play with it when you are not around. If they have a question or want to handle it, tell them to wait and ask you to let them handle it. Promise to let them handle it under those circumstances!
Explain that this is something that they should not talk about with other children or the wrong people might find out about it and come and break in and steal it. If you no longer have it, then you can’t use it to protect them and mommy, or what ever the case may be for the particular gun.
Explain about how the same thing might happen if the wrong people at school find out about it.
Get them a BB gun and teach them to shoot at home until they are big enough to handle a 22.
Don’t try to scare them out of handling the gun, just emphasize that it is a no-no to handle it without you there.
Just use clear language and answer their questions. If it is not anything mysterious or forbidden it just won’t be a big deal, as it should be.
Gently explain that this is a tool daddy uses to hunt, target shoot, protect you and mommy or whatever the case may be for the particular gun. Tell them that like any other tool it must be clean to work properly.
Explain that it can hurt people and animals that we don't want hurt if not used safely.
Explain that it is not like the guns in the cartoons & movies.
Explain how it works if they are interested.
Explain that they must NOT touch or play with it when you are not around. If they have a question or want to handle it, tell them to wait and ask you to let them handle it. Promise to let them handle it under those circumstances!
Explain that this is something that they should not talk about with other children or the wrong people might find out about it and come and break in and steal it. If you no longer have it, then you can’t use it to protect them and mommy, or what ever the case may be for the particular gun.
Explain about how the same thing might happen if the wrong people at school find out about it.
Get them a BB gun and teach them to shoot at home until they are big enough to handle a 22.
Don’t try to scare them out of handling the gun, just emphasize that it is a no-no to handle it without you there.
Just use clear language and answer their questions. If it is not anything mysterious or forbidden it just won’t be a big deal, as it should be.
ChopperKen
Member
My daughter is 5 now,I've been teaching her about guns since she was able to walk.
She knows that she isn't to touch daddy's guns unless
1. She asks permission
2. I make sure its unloaded and she double checks it(looks for ammo in the chamber and or a mag in the well)
After 1&2 are done I have no problem letting her hold and look at any of my guns.
She knows the 4 rules and has for years, she knows what a gun can do(she's seen the hole a rifle makes in a deer)and we go over them every time she wants to see one.
I'm a strong believer in taking the mystery out of guns for kids.
If you teach them young and don't forbide them acsess to guns(supervised)
the kids will be safer around firearms.
It dosn't matter what I'm doing if she asks to see a gun we go get it out for her..
Hideing guns from kids is like hiding christmas preasents from them,they know where they are and whats in em in no time
I Love my daughter and think she deserves to know about a tool that can save her life.
Ken
She knows that she isn't to touch daddy's guns unless
1. She asks permission
2. I make sure its unloaded and she double checks it(looks for ammo in the chamber and or a mag in the well)
After 1&2 are done I have no problem letting her hold and look at any of my guns.
She knows the 4 rules and has for years, she knows what a gun can do(she's seen the hole a rifle makes in a deer)and we go over them every time she wants to see one.
I'm a strong believer in taking the mystery out of guns for kids.
If you teach them young and don't forbide them acsess to guns(supervised)
the kids will be safer around firearms.
It dosn't matter what I'm doing if she asks to see a gun we go get it out for her..
Hideing guns from kids is like hiding christmas preasents from them,they know where they are and whats in em in no time
I Love my daughter and think she deserves to know about a tool that can save her life.
Ken
Stickjockey
Member
My son was two when he first got interested in Daddy's guns. At that point I took him to the gunsafe, opened it up, and sat down in front of it with him on my lap. He pointed to one that caught his eye, and I pulled it out, opened the action and checked to be sure there were no cartridges in it. He then got to play with the bolt (it was my Ruger M77), look through the scope, dry fire, flip the safety back and forth, the whole works. Then we went to the next one, and so on. We still do this, and every tme I take a gun out and put it in his lap (with me in control of it, of course) the first thing he does is open the action, look into it, and point out to me that there's "none in there."
We're still working on the "finger off the trigger" thing, but he's getting it.
We're still working on the "finger off the trigger" thing, but he's getting it.
All three of our children grew up around guns and were taught gun safety by my wife and I. All three of them have been thru a hunter safety course so they could hunt. I am proud to say we are now working with our grand children.....
erik the bold
Member
Repeat the litany for gun safety, ad nauseum. Make them repeat it. Burn it in until they can recite it verbatim. Make them practice it with their toy guns. Then take them shooting. My 4-1/2 yr old repeats it to his friends in school. Last time I took him shooting, he got 8 of 10 on the paper with a Mark II at 20 feet (with dad's help and supervision of course..... ) He'll now sit with me in the deer blind, because he someday wants to go hunting. How many 4 yr olds can sit quietly for 2-hours at a time ??
) He'll now sit with me in the deer blind, because he someday wants to go hunting. How many 4 yr olds can sit quietly for 2-hours at a time ??Bobothebigdog
Member
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What ever you do don't make them seem mysterious. Kids love rummaging through sock draws and things they shouldn't be into. Locking them up in a safe would take care of that.
Taurus 66
Member
ajkurp says it pretty good:
The full blast energy from the shot, plus the caused damage, will scare the bejeesus out of him the first time and continually hold his respect for that gun each succeeding shot thereafter. Make the whole scene the biggest attention getter you can with your arsenal! You must also let him know that if he picks up a gun, he can hurt people or do much worse ... so he should never touch any firearms. He must be officially certified by Dad before he ever gets the privilege of handling a gun on his own. Make him work for everything step by step.
The full blast energy from the shot, plus the caused damage, will scare the bejeesus out of him the first time and continually hold his respect for that gun each succeeding shot thereafter. Make the whole scene the biggest attention getter you can with your arsenal! You must also let him know that if he picks up a gun, he can hurt people or do much worse ... so he should never touch any firearms. He must be officially certified by Dad before he ever gets the privilege of handling a gun on his own. Make him work for everything step by step.
HI express
Member
No
Sorry guys, the great state of California doesn't allow us to take our children to a gun range until they are 12 years old.
My daughter was about three or so when I explained to her when she showed curiousity about my 1911 GM how to not point the pistol at anyone, to only point it at the ground, and to keep the hands out of the trigger area. I had her carry it several times and told her that it was dad's and reinforced the training. From then on the loaded magazine stayed in my pocket away from the gun and I left the gun on the coffee table and she didn't touch it until she grew old enough to ask if she could shoot the gun or if I asked her to bring dad the gun.
Funny, one time when an acquaintance who is anti-gun dropped by unexpectedly and I was talking to her in the house when my daughter walked in with the GM, holding it correctly..hand out of the trigger area, holding it two handed, and pointed at the ground. She announced proudly, "Here dad, your gun." She was only about four years old at the time.
The acquaintanace freaked a little and asked in a strained voice.."Is that a real gun." I said, "It's the latest in kid's toys." and asked my daughter to take it back to dad's room. She toddled off to put the unloaded gun back on my nightstand. Funny, never saw that lady again.
Sorry guys, the great state of California doesn't allow us to take our children to a gun range until they are 12 years old.
My daughter was about three or so when I explained to her when she showed curiousity about my 1911 GM how to not point the pistol at anyone, to only point it at the ground, and to keep the hands out of the trigger area. I had her carry it several times and told her that it was dad's and reinforced the training. From then on the loaded magazine stayed in my pocket away from the gun and I left the gun on the coffee table and she didn't touch it until she grew old enough to ask if she could shoot the gun or if I asked her to bring dad the gun.
Funny, one time when an acquaintance who is anti-gun dropped by unexpectedly and I was talking to her in the house when my daughter walked in with the GM, holding it correctly..hand out of the trigger area, holding it two handed, and pointed at the ground. She announced proudly, "Here dad, your gun." She was only about four years old at the time.
The acquaintanace freaked a little and asked in a strained voice.."Is that a real gun." I said, "It's the latest in kid's toys." and asked my daughter to take it back to dad's room. She toddled off to put the unloaded gun back on my nightstand. Funny, never saw that lady again.
geekWithA.45
Moderator Emeritus
I've had a slightly different experience....
When the kids came home from Russia, they were 1 and 2.5, and didn't speak a word of English.
"Don't touch" was one of the first things they learned, in relation to things like hot stoves, and so on.
When they finally noticed my holstered sidearm and tried poking at it a few weeks later, they still didn't have enough English to get anything more than "don't touch! Dangerous!"
They haven't tried to touch it since, although they do use it as a convenient foothold when climbing up on my back.
They pretty much just accept guns for what they are for the time being: something mom & dad strap on that they aren't allowed to touch.
The other thing I've found that helps is that we keep a non firing replica of a single action army colt hanging on the kitchen wall.
They've asked me about it perhaps 3 times, and I explain that I'll teach them all about it when they're a little older.
When the kids came home from Russia, they were 1 and 2.5, and didn't speak a word of English.
"Don't touch" was one of the first things they learned, in relation to things like hot stoves, and so on.
When they finally noticed my holstered sidearm and tried poking at it a few weeks later, they still didn't have enough English to get anything more than "don't touch! Dangerous!"
They haven't tried to touch it since, although they do use it as a convenient foothold when climbing up on my back.
They pretty much just accept guns for what they are for the time being: something mom & dad strap on that they aren't allowed to touch.
The other thing I've found that helps is that we keep a non firing replica of a single action army colt hanging on the kitchen wall.
They've asked me about it perhaps 3 times, and I explain that I'll teach them all about it when they're a little older.
It's interesting how many people in this thread have relied on an object lesson at some poin to show the kids the power of guns, what they're capable of. That happened to mine one day when I eliminated a rabbit caught in the garden. The handiest thing was my .222, and at around 50 yards, the 50 gr. HP didn't leave a whole lot of the rabbit's internals. I went and got what remained, brought it back and displayed it to the kids. I, too, got that great big round-eyed look: no words necessary.
Use Curiosity as a Teaching Aid.....
as so many here have mentioned. As soon as a child starts to display an interest in firearms, is a good time to start their training.
I underwent pretty rigorous gun safety training, starting when I was 4 years old - we lived in Alaska, and at Christmas I got a Remington 571 single-shot .22 for Christmas!
The fall after I got the .22, I started carrying a toy gun in the field while my father hunted moose and caribou - but I had to treat that toy gun as a LOADED REAL GUN, to show that I understood the importance of gun safety and could carry the gun in a safe manner. Did this every weekend that fall as well as on a week-long camping/hunting trip, and again for half the following hunting season.....then I got to start carrying the .22 unloaded, would load up when we came across rabbits or ptarmigan. After two falls of safety training and showing I understood what was at stake, I was allowed to carry the .22 loaded in the field.
Good luck with your children, hope they love hunting/shooting as much as we do!
as so many here have mentioned. As soon as a child starts to display an interest in firearms, is a good time to start their training.
I underwent pretty rigorous gun safety training, starting when I was 4 years old - we lived in Alaska, and at Christmas I got a Remington 571 single-shot .22 for Christmas!
The fall after I got the .22, I started carrying a toy gun in the field while my father hunted moose and caribou - but I had to treat that toy gun as a LOADED REAL GUN, to show that I understood the importance of gun safety and could carry the gun in a safe manner. Did this every weekend that fall as well as on a week-long camping/hunting trip, and again for half the following hunting season.....then I got to start carrying the .22 unloaded, would load up when we came across rabbits or ptarmigan. After two falls of safety training and showing I understood what was at stake, I was allowed to carry the .22 loaded in the field.
Good luck with your children, hope they love hunting/shooting as much as we do!
Ivy Mike
Member
As soon as you feel they are old enough, I would start them off with a BB gun. Teach them proper handling techniques and gun safety. A BB gun gives you a little room for error should Jr. screw up.
Once they have demonstrated capability with the BB gun, I'd move them on to a .22.
This is ONLY shot under close supervision and ALL rules are still followed. Reactive targets are nice as well as the occasional varmint/bird.
This is pretty much the way I was taught. Dad got me a BB gun and I got to shoot it whenever I wanted in the back yard. He taught me everything I needed to know about it. After a few years of shooting the BB gun and going shooting with dad and his big guns (that 12ga was HUGE back then) he bought me a .22 of my own. I got to shoot with it and I let him shoot it a few times.
I've been pretty safe with guns since although I did get an interesting lesson in the four rules not long ago.
Once they have demonstrated capability with the BB gun, I'd move them on to a .22.
This is ONLY shot under close supervision and ALL rules are still followed. Reactive targets are nice as well as the occasional varmint/bird.
This is pretty much the way I was taught. Dad got me a BB gun and I got to shoot it whenever I wanted in the back yard. He taught me everything I needed to know about it. After a few years of shooting the BB gun and going shooting with dad and his big guns (that 12ga was HUGE back then) he bought me a .22 of my own. I got to shoot with it and I let him shoot it a few times.
I've been pretty safe with guns since although I did get an interesting lesson in the four rules not long ago.
benEzra
Moderator Emeritus
I do the toy-gun-treated-as-real thing with my kids (age 5 and 4) as a way to safely teach basic gun safety rules. My daughter is already very careful to keep the muzzle of her green plastic toy pistol pointed in a "safe diwection, finger off buttmon"...the toy is handled only under our supervision, just like a real gun.
Also, to defuse the "forbidden fruit" aspect, I do let the kids touch a clean, unloaded gun WITH ME HOLDING IT, emphasizing the safety rules to them just like with a toy. I figure as they get older, if I let them examine any particular gun under my direct supervision whenever they want, and take them shooting at the range, there will be that much less temptation to surreptitiously handle a gun. We also have a safe, so I'm not taking chances there anyway, but I think portraying guns as "mysterious, rarely seen power objects" sets up the kid for curiousity that just isn't safely satisfied except under direct parental supervision.
FWIW, my daughter has already claimed my folding-stock mini-14 as hers when she grows up...
Also, to defuse the "forbidden fruit" aspect, I do let the kids touch a clean, unloaded gun WITH ME HOLDING IT, emphasizing the safety rules to them just like with a toy. I figure as they get older, if I let them examine any particular gun under my direct supervision whenever they want, and take them shooting at the range, there will be that much less temptation to surreptitiously handle a gun. We also have a safe, so I'm not taking chances there anyway, but I think portraying guns as "mysterious, rarely seen power objects" sets up the kid for curiousity that just isn't safely satisfied except under direct parental supervision.
FWIW, my daughter has already claimed my folding-stock mini-14 as hers when she grows up...
Selfdfenz
Member
I can't think of a single issue or object in life it's not better to discuss with your kids and teach them about than it is trying to hide it from them. (or them from it).
Firearms would be just one example.
eclipse1 can your 4 yo swim yet?
S-
Firearms would be just one example.
eclipse1 can your 4 yo swim yet?
S-
chas_martel
Member
12 years old before they can fire a weapon?
Do they get sex ed by that time in CA.
I hate to be harsh, but it sounds like time to move.
It's for the kids!
Literally...............................
Do they get sex ed by that time in CA.
I hate to be harsh, but it sounds like time to move.
It's for the kids!
Literally...............................
eclipse1
Member
selfdfenz,
my 4 yr old cant swim yet
i still have to expose her to a lot of things
thanks for all the replys guys
not thinking of moving yet chas martel
my 4 yr old cant swim yet
i still have to expose her to a lot of things
thanks for all the replys guys
not thinking of moving yet chas martel
chas_martel
Member
eclipse1,
I feel for ya man.
I have lots of relatives in CA. They are slowly but surely getting out of the
place for many reasons, guns being just one of them......
For fun you can tell some of your friends there that in Texas
we wait until they are about 7 before we let our kids play with title 2
weapons. My started off on .22's around 6.
I could send you a picture of my 9 year old
weilding the Uzi. He prefers it over say an M-16 because
of its size. Although, my daughter - 13 yrs old - has no problem with
a tripod mounted beltfed. She is also NRA certified, been to summer camp twice in the last two years where she gets two weeks of daily training. About
two hours a day. She understands the concept of a "group".
I know the above is totally lost on the average CA moron, but I don't
think society will ever have anything to worry about one of my kids
going postal. Course they are likely to be one of the ones that stops
someone else that goes postal.
There, that should be enough to rile some of those CA anti's up.
Funny, but they show no intrigue whatsoever in the average pistol
they are likely to encounter. And yesssss they know to run for the hills
should they see another kid with a gun.
I feel for ya man.
I have lots of relatives in CA. They are slowly but surely getting out of the
place for many reasons, guns being just one of them......
For fun you can tell some of your friends there that in Texas
we wait until they are about 7 before we let our kids play with title 2
weapons. My started off on .22's around 6.
I could send you a picture of my 9 year old
weilding the Uzi. He prefers it over say an M-16 because
of its size. Although, my daughter - 13 yrs old - has no problem with
a tripod mounted beltfed. She is also NRA certified, been to summer camp twice in the last two years where she gets two weeks of daily training. About
two hours a day. She understands the concept of a "group".
I know the above is totally lost on the average CA moron, but I don't
think society will ever have anything to worry about one of my kids
going postal. Course they are likely to be one of the ones that stops
someone else that goes postal.
There, that should be enough to rile some of those CA anti's up.
Funny, but they show no intrigue whatsoever in the average pistol
they are likely to encounter. And yesssss they know to run for the hills
should they see another kid with a gun.
Hot brass
Member
I did not know it was illegal to take kids to the gun range to watch and or shoot. I started teaching my kids about guns at the tender age of 18 months. My kids have been shooting for most of their lives. Both own their guns. When my son was 2 yrs old I bought him a .22 single shot. At the age of 10 yrs old I bought him a 10/22. I bought my daughter a .22 single shot before she was born. She is 15 and he is 12. Both love to shoot. Both have shot daddys shotguns, rifles, and pistols. Both agreed that the 44 mag with full house loads is the most fun to shoot.
I live in California and I've never heard of a law that children must be 12 to shoot.
I've taken my 9 yr old to several local ranges and the one I belong to requires kids to be 8 to shoot.
Unless you can cite a Penal Code provision, I think your 12 year old rule is a local range rule.
I've taken my 9 yr old to several local ranges and the one I belong to requires kids to be 8 to shoot.
Unless you can cite a Penal Code provision, I think your 12 year old rule is a local range rule.
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