A fellow blogger sent me an Email yesterday, and I'd like to share a portion of it with you. It is a sensitive subject, so I'll wait until they give me the green light before I include a link.
I'd be interested on your thoughts about when is the right time to start teaching kids gun safety and how to shoot. My son will be turning 5 this summer, and I'd like him to know the basics of gun safety from an early (but appropriate) age. I grew up on a ranch and know how to shoot, but my father isn't a hunter and so most of what he taught me about gun safety was "don't touch".
My opinion is that one of the most important things a loving parent can provide for a child is a legacy, a tangible link between the generations that will last long after the parent is gone. A love of the shooting sports certainly fills this role.
I think that teaching the child to "don't touch, get an adult" when they come across a firearm is the right thing to do, and it should be done just as soon as the child has mastered enough language skills to be able to understand what is being said. Deciding when it is time to expand on that is a bit more difficult. Basically, it boils down to two issues.
The first is dependent on the child. Training in firearms should be delayed until they are mature enough to handle the responsibility.
Okay, so when does that happen? The answer is: Depends.
Each person is different, everyone develops at a slightly different pace. Most of the children of past eras who grew up in rural settings were expected to hunt and shoot by age eight or so, but they were raised in a social environment that valued harsh discipline. Delaying that by a few years might not be a bad idea in our more lax times, but it is ultimately up to the parent to decide when their child is ready to shoulder the very real and serious responsibility of safe firearm handling.
It is my opinion that the best benchmark for that is not whether the child could handle a firearm, but whether or not they could handle maintaining the guns.
Cleaning a gun is not only a task which demands concentration, but it also is mildly unpleasant. Talk to anyone who works at a gun store and they will tell you that well-heeled first time gun buyers will almost always ask "Can I hire someone to do that for me?" If a child can clean a few guns without throwing a fit or shirking the job, then they might be ready to learn how to get them dirty.
I would suggest that a parent looking to judge their child's readiness to learn how to shoot first make cleaning firearms a regular chore. Just like the experience of actually going to the range, it should be a bonding experience between parent and child. Don't just dump the guns in front of your kid and tell them to get crackin', but instead you should be with them and through the whole process. Both of you should clean, with the adult performing the more detailed or complicated chores, and you should talk to your child while it is going on.
The second factor doesn't have anything to do with whether or not the child is ready to learn how to shoot, but whether or not the parent can handle the job of teaching.
This is actually the most difficult aspect to judge since we all figure that we can impart our own skills to someone else without too many problems. But teaching is actually more of an art than a science, and sometimes a person is woefully inadequate as an instructor even though they are fully accredited.
So how does someone know if they are ready to teach their kids how to shoot? I'm afraid it is one of those things that you can't tell if you can do it unless you get out there and try. But I can give you two pieces of advice that might make it a little easier.
The most important thing to pass along is the 4 rules of safe gun handling. Other than that, it is extremely important to pay attention to your child and what they are doing when handling a gun at all times. Seems simple, I know, but they are some of the easiest rules to ignore.
Always keep in mind that handling firearms for the first time is an emotional and exciting time for anyone, child or adult. No matter what you do, your children are going to remember what happens until the day they go to their graves. It is entirely up to you whether or not it is a bonding experience, or a black memory that will drag at your relationship forever.
But no pressure.
UPDATE
Both Alan and Presto suggest starting out with a BB gun.
I should have thought of that. My bad.
Comments (12)
Start them on BB guns. Very little chance that they could kill someone when they do something wrong. When they start demonstrating proper gun handling with a BB gun, start moving them up to firearms.
Posted by AlanDP | January 25, 2008 10:09 PM
Posted on January 25, 2008 22:09
Thanks for your insight. I know the NRA does "Eddie Eagle" training in some areas, but apparently my area isn't one of them. I'm pretty sure I'm not the best suited person to really teach someone how to shoot, but as far as gun safety was concerned I was thinking about starting him out on a bb gun (when he's ready) and getting the four rules ingrained while practicing with something more forgiving.
Posted by Preston | January 25, 2008 10:37 PM
Posted on January 25, 2008 22:37
Sounds like great minds think alike.
James
Posted by James R. Rummel | January 25, 2008 10:42 PM
Posted on January 25, 2008 22:42
Both of my sons started with a cheap spring powered BB pistol when they were about 6 years old. It was powerful enough to hurt if they mishandled it (they never did), but could do little damage except to an eye so the safety glasses rule was a must. They then went to a pump BB pistol, pump BB rifle and graduated to a Ruger 22 rifle.
One went on to have an extensive collection of guns and still shoots often, they other lost interest, but occasionally goes to the range with me to stay in practice in case the need arises.
Posted by Jim | January 26, 2008 9:18 AM
Posted on January 26, 2008 09:18
I don't remember seeing BB guns around at all when I was young, and so I started off with Webley air pistols. There's a really old one in my garage that I was given by an uncle many years ago and a few more up in my loft. I don't think that the spring-powered guns were ever common over here, but perhaps I just missed them.
Posted by milo | January 26, 2008 12:30 PM
Posted on January 26, 2008 12:30
I'm 10 years old, going on 58. One of the reasons I don't shoot very much is the thought that after I shoot, "Eww! Ick! I'll have to clean it!"
I am sorry to say that I am a slob by nature and lack of training, and my autistic-bachelor non-housekeeping is in keeping with that.
Thank God for smokeless powder and stainless steel firearms!
Posted by Justthisguy | January 27, 2008 2:46 AM
Posted on January 27, 2008 02:46
One of the reasons I don't shoot very much is the thought that after I shoot, "Eww! Ick! I'll have to clean it!"
Some Glock owners take pride in never cleaning their guns. I don't agree with the practice myself, but it sounds like something that you might explore.
James
Posted by James R. Rummel | January 27, 2008 2:51 AM
Posted on January 27, 2008 02:51
"Eww! Ick! I'll have to clean it!"
Avoiding musket cleaning is one of the main advantages of being an officer rather than in the ranks for Napoleonic re-enactment.
Posted by milo | January 28, 2008 9:57 AM
Posted on January 28, 2008 09:57
Those black powder arms are a pain in the butt to get clean. I'd have to buy a commission, I think.
James
Posted by James R. Rummel | January 28, 2008 10:08 AM
Posted on January 28, 2008 10:08
We've gone out hunting as a family, but I am adamant about the safety rules- my daughter is scared by loud noises (she pulled skeet once, and ran back into the house because the guns made too much noise) but the boys are almost TOO excited about shooting things and playing with guns... they give me a bit of a nervous twitch during hunting season... and the rest of the year, too. I am afraid that they might get too bold and too cocky one day and do something stupid.
We have a few rules that I do think help, though...
We made a rule-that even when playing with green water pistols, we practice the four gun safety rules. If it is a gun, play or real, we treat it as a loaded firearm, even if it is a pellet gun.
I am not sure how else to make them understand how serious and important safety is when handling firearms.
I have made it clear that nobody in our house will have any involvement with firearms of any sort until they both know and can be trusted completely to follow at all times the safety rules... but I think at this point, they all think I am just a stick in the mud.
Posted by Megret | January 28, 2008 6:23 PM
Posted on January 28, 2008 18:23
Kids have a tendancy to listen to other adults beside their parents.One suggestion would be to check with 4H extension office to see if a 4H shooting sports club is active in your area.I know Ohio has an excellent program.Not only do they teach archery, gun safety,rifle,shotgun,and pistol they also work with the kids on personal development.It is also the largest growing club in 4H.There is no competition unless they want to participate in an event i.e state trap shoot.Check out there web site... http://www.4-hshootingsports.org/
Posted by burnlast | January 28, 2008 10:55 PM
Posted on January 28, 2008 22:55
My childhood wasn’t different from others of the Baby Boomer generation. Northern Virginia after World War II was an odd mix of The Walton’s and American Graffiti. The rural south still existed where we now call it “outside the beltway.” When Dad bought our Annandale house in 1954, State Route 236, aka “Little River Turnpike” was a 2-lane country road between Alexandria and Fairfax Courthouse, which wasn’t yet a city. Our neighborhood was surrounded by dairy farms, hardwood forests were full of game.
When I was six I was allowed to shoot my older brother's BB gun under supervision. By the time I was ten we shot my brother’s open-sighted Remington Model 511 .22 bolt-action out the upstairs bedroom window to kill woodchucks raiding Dad’s vegetable garden. Dad paid us 25 cents for each one we killed, then showed us how to tan the hides. The young ones went into the pressure cooker with fresh vegetables and were served that night with biscuits and gravy. The old tough guys went for dog food.
Our neighbor was an avid hunter who let us "help" him butcher deer and other game and feed scraps to his two German shorthaired pointer bird dogs. When I turned 12, he showed me his deer rifle, a Winchester Model 94 in.30-30. Like any kid who watched TV cowboys of that era, I was enthralled!
The opening, in 1963, of Interstate 495, the now-infamous “Beltway,” put “my world” on a fast track towards destruction. By the time I became old enough for Dad to allow me to have a rifle of my own, the fields and woods around us were rapidly falling victim to Till Hazel's bulldozers. Within a few years we were immersed in suburbia, strip malls, and the Cold War. Our shooting activity moved indoors to Fort Belvoir. This meant that my first rifle would be a Remington Model 513 target .22, the targets paper, and life would never be the same.
Summer visits to Dad's ancestral home in West Virginia prolonged our sanity. There was no TV, so instead we learned about reality. Meat doesn’t come from a seed planted under cellophane-covered meat trays in the grocery. Veggies don’t grow in the can. “If you eat, thank a Farmer.” Outdoor recreation is a celebration of God’s Creation which rewards you with peace, solitude, time for contemplation and rest after completing a day’s cheerful labor.
Uncle Bill told us the truth about guns. His stories were different from what we saw on TV. His .30-30 Winchester Model 94 had guarded coal trains from Nazi saboteurs, kept order during mine labor disputes, ended the suffering of sick or injured farm animals, and helped feed starving neighbors during the Great Depression. This rather plain rifle had been carried by a humble farmer, who never expected to see armed combat again after returning from the Pacific after WWII. But, when deputized to serve on a sheriff’s posse he had to fire it to take out a “bad man who tried to kill my friend.”
Recalling the event invoked no pride, but a simple wisdom explaining that “grown ups” acknowledge that both good and evil forces exist in our world, which sometimes compel honorable men to make difficult choices which are necessary to protect our country and those whom we love. A suppressed tremor in his voice reflected deep conviction as he explained that our Second Amendment isn’t just about hunting, gun collecting and target shooting. Guns aren’t adult toys, but serious tools. Too many shooters today have forgotten that simple fact.
While my older brother, Rick and I both had shot .22s and knew our fundamentals well enough to hunt without supervision by age 16, firing our first center-fire, watching the Winchester .30-30 explode a pumpkin, accompanied by the smack of steel butt-plate against T-shirted shoulder and ringing in our adolescent ears made a lasting impression!
My choice of firearms in early adulthood was influenced by high school ROTC, small bore and NRA service rifle shooting on high school and college rifle teams, coached by WWII and Korean War veterans. My first center-fire rifle was an 03-A3 Springfield from the DCM. It was to be accompanied by a National Match M1 I bought at Camp Perry in 1967 after completing the Small Arms Firing School there. DCM surplus Ball M2 meant that I didn’t need to start hand loading until the free or cheap GI ammo dried up.
When I help train youngsters today we start with a BB gun when they are mature enough to separate TV violence from reality, respect elders, follow instructions and accept responsibility.
This varies depending upon the kid. After basic instruction with the air rifle or BB gun transition to a .22 LR bolt action can be immediate. Once they develop basic coordination and demonstration of some fine motor skills you can introduce them to a semi-auto .22 rimfire upper receiver installed on the AR-15. Once they are accustomed to how it operates they will not be intimidated by the noise and recoil of service ammunition.
We don't have a draft today, but in today's world I would want kids both male and female to know how to operate a military rifle and pistol. Hopefully by age 18 they will have become proficient with the military rifle. Then it's time to introduce them to the service pistol.
I learned to shoot the .45 as an ROTC cadet in my freshman year of college. That's about the right time. By then they understand what it's for.
Posted by ke4sky | February 22, 2008 3:00 PM
Posted on February 22, 2008 15:00