When did you buy your kid their first gun?

[Carry Big Stick]

Hi everyone. This is my first real post on THR and I'm proud to be a member here. Been lurking around the forums for a while. I did a search on it but I couldn't really find anything on it. If there is a thread on this already sorry to beat the dead cat. I've got two girls and another girl on the way. My oldest is going to turn 7 later this month and I want to buy her just a simple BB gun to get her started with the basics of safety with firearms. I told my parents this and they both asked me if I was kidding. Told me she is gonna shoot her sister or the dogs. And that I need to wait till she's 10 or 12. Not to mention she's a girl. Tried explaining to them that the BB gun will stay in our closet up so high that not even my wife can get it. So she is not just going to sneak in there and go play with it. Then explained to them that she is not going to be given it to just go outside and play with. It's gonna be just her and me outside no dogs or siblings. I thought I was getting a late start on introducing her to the fun of firearms. The liberal schools are already trying to teach her that guns are bad. Even told me that cops are bad cause they have guns. I've been trying to explain to her that guns are not bad just sometimes bad people use the guns for bad but they can be used for good to. Am I on the right track with starting her at this age with a BB gun? Sorry for such a long post. Just bothered me that my parents would say that, I've always thought they were all for guns. I think guns are great but you just got to have respect with them. Thanks in advance for all the help I'm sure ya'll have for me.

 

[Chipperman]

I have three sons. The Twins are 6 1/2 and the youngest is 3. I bought the Twins a pair of BB guns two years ago, but they have not yet been given. I was planning on giving them this Summer when they turn 7.

I have a similar plan of only allowing them to be handled under direct supervision of myself. The rest of the time they will be locked up with my guns. I figure when they turn 9 or 10, I'll buy them .22's, but that will depend on their maturity level.

If your daughter is turning 7 and probably already more mature than my Boys, I think you should be fine.

Remember the eye protection!

 

[TAB]

when they are old enough to understand thier actions have consequences.


generally thats in the 7-10 range... of corse wee all know that guy that is 40 and has still not learned that.

 

[Feud]

Don't have kids yet, my dad got me mine at age nine, seems like as good a time as any.

 

[brighamr]

don't have kids yet. When I do, i plan on buying a 22 the day they are born, but not giving it to them until they are probably 9 or 10. (I shot with my parents from as young as I can remember. I have pictures of me shooting at 5 with dad's help, but I didn't get my own gun until I was 10 and had learned to clean every gun my dad owned as well as illustrate safety procedures with a BB gun for a couple years)

 

[dewage83]

i MIGHT hold off but i do not have children(but KNOW i wanted my parents to introducing me to guns early, even though their anti's) and i do not know the maturity level of your daughter. if you think she can handle it she can. but with proper TRAINING.(like you have implied)

 

[45Badger]

5 years old- Daisy "Buck" BB gun with stock shortened.
6 years old- Davy Cricket .22, upgraded to Marlin 15Y
8 years old- Ruger Bearcat .22 SA
10 years old- Sig Mosquito then 1911 with .22 conversion
11 years old- Ruger Mk2 stainless competition model
11 years old- .243 Win, Remington Model 700 youth, M1 Garand
12 years old- Ruger 10/22, AR15, M1A,

He's 12 now, and wants to move up to center fire pistols. He can handle light target loads with a 1911, but I want to keep him on .22s for another summer to sharpen his technique. Beats most adults in the local steel challenge league.

Depends on the kid's maturity level. My younger son (9) plinks with a .22 rifle, and a Walther P22. He does not have the focus, interest, and discipline that his older brother does, so he is highly supervised. Both get the 4 rules.

 

[siglite]

I think my boy was 9. He'd been shooting and hunting with me for a while, but did not have "his own" rifle. He'd demonstrated impeccable safety habits with his bb gun for two years. He had seen the results of a bullet impacting flesh, from hunting. He clearly understood that dead meant dead. Bambi or Rocky the squirrel weren't EVER getting up.

He was allowed to have "his own" .22 at that point. I think his 9th Christmas. It came with some accessories, both of which he loved.

It's turned out that my timing was about right. He's exhibited nothing but perfect safety in firearms handling, and is fast becoming quite the little marksman.

 

[kamagong]

I'm not a father yet, but I plan on buying my kids their first guns soon after they are born. I won't let them touch the guns until they are old and mature enough, but I plan on giving them their .22s on their 18th birthday and their 1911s on their 21st. The really cool thing is that the guns will be as old as they are.

 

[hso]

Not to mention she's a girl.

What in the world do they mean by that? There's "old fashioned" and then there just ...:banghead:

My daughter got her first gun when 2 years ago when she she was 7.
A preban AR15 with a .22 CZ dedicated upper.

This Christmas "Unca Paul" gave her an ultralight custom 10/22.

 

[wolf13]

I got a bb gun when I was in 2nd grade, not sure how old that is though. I was around guns from since I could remember as my family hunts and owns property which we hunt on. Sometime around 10 years old my grandfather had me shooting a .410 at the blackbirds on our rice. I think it all depends on the person. I was surrounded by guns since I could remember and knew what was allowed and what was not. My parents actually never really talked to me about gun safety going over it directly, just common sense things.

 

[XDKingslayer]

My first daughter got her first gun when she was 10. 10/22. My youngest will probably follow suit.

 

[Hot brass]

Daughter, .22 before she was born.
RedRyder at 8 yrs.

Son, .22 when he was 2.
RedRyder at 5 yrs.
10/22 at 10 yrs.
.177 RWS 24 at 10 yrs.
.177 RWS 34 at 12 yrs.
12g 870 at 15 yrs.

SA 45acp this summer?

 

[AK103K]

Both our boys had a Chipmunk the day they were born. Both were shooting them with live ammo at age 4, although they had "fired" them thousands of times by then on the living room floor.

They each got an FR8 and High Power around 8, and a 1911 and a Winchester 1300 at 12.

 

[middlechainringguy]

For my girl, 8 was the right age -- after three years of her asking, finally the mental responsibility and physical coordination modules all came on line together and sync'd, and she was ready. It's *her* gun (CZ Scout rifle; highly recommended) but obviously it sits in *my* safe, and I'm with her whenever it gets used. Which is, because of my schedule, not often enough ...

--middlechainringguy

 

[NetJunkie]

First son is due any day now...he already has two items in the safe. They won't be the first things he shoots but they are his for when he is old enough. I am afraid he won't be able to buy them by then. Not too long after he gets here I'm sure I'll go grab a .22 for the first one he gets to shoot.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Son when he was about six months. Daugther when she was about three.

 

[bensdad]

My daughter is 9. She's had a Henry Minibolt for a long time now. My son is 6. He got a Henry youth lever .22 several months ago.

 

[Georgia Gunner]

I got my first bb gun at age 4 and by age 5 i had a .22 ,but my parents always said i was really mature for my age. I agree with them i think it has a lot to do with the kids maturity level because I have a nephew who is 10 and he still isn't ready for a .22 yet. You will know when the time is right.

 

[Eyesac]

I think 6 is perfect so long as the kids are ready...

 

[Claude Clay]

BUY

more like ' daddy, i like this one.....'
at 7 it was my 10/22....at 9, my trailside. lots of years later and i am still thought of as a convenient lending library--open return dates and good selection

 

[Mr White]

I have 2 boys, 11 & 13. I haven't bought them a gun yet. I buy ME guns that I allow them to shoot and which they will someday inherit.

 

[scurtis_34471]

I bought my daughter a Ruger 10/22 for ther 9th Birthday. She's 10 now and is extremely responsible for her age. All of the adults at the range comment on how consistent and safe she is with her gun handling. I routinely set her up in her own lane and just let her go to town. Nobody objects or even thinks twice about it, because of her maturity and handling skills.

 

[mekender]

i take my 9 year old to the range at least once a month... i started last year when he was 8... i wish i had started when he was about 5...

drill the safety rules in, dont start her our on anything big, and shoot only to the point where she gets tired of it... dont make her sit around and watch you... shell be fine, and you two will bond like nothing you could imagine

 

[Carry Big Stick]

thanks to everybody who's replied so far, some really good answers here. I think she definetly understands what dead means. We lived on a hunting ranch for a while so she has seen all the dead deer, turkeys, rattle snakes, or coyoties i brought home. So I think she has a good grasp with once you shot it it's not gonna get up and run off so don't point your gun at anything you don't intend to shoot.