Gun lessons? When is to early?

[chocolatelab]

So spent the weekend with wifes aunt and uncle in Santa Fe. Amazing couple. During the course of dinner i find out that he is into the two gun challenge scene down in St Augustine.

Only reason I had ever heard about it was reading posts about it on this forum.

I know next to nothing about guns but my 8 year old didn't miss a word about it at dinner.

He "really really really really" wants to take gun lessons.

Any suggestions? Any recommendations for firing ranges/lessons/ect down in Orange County.

I think it might be a great Christmas present, thoughts.

[Superman]

Gun lessons. Hmmmm....

My gun lessons started before I could ride a bike. I had a dad, and a grampa, who took guns seriously and that's the part I learned earliest. If I had pointed even a toy gun at someone to pretend to shoot them, I'd have regained consciousness at the other side of the room. As long as your boy gets a full dose of the importance of gun safety, he will be okay.

With the safety aspect FULLY ingrained.....heck, he can start shooting any time. He'd have a blast. So to speak.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by chocolatelab

I know next to nothing about guns but my 8 year old didn't miss a word about it at dinner.

He "really really really really" wants to take gun lessons.
....

Originally Posted by Superman

Gun lessons. Hmmmm....

My gun lessons started before I could ride a bike. I had a dad, and a grampa, who took guns seriously and that's the part I learned earliest. If I had pointed even a toy gun at someone to pretend to shoot them, I'd have regained consciousness at the other side of the room. As long as your boy gets a full dose of the importance of gun safety, he will be okay.

With the safety aspect FULLY ingrained.....heck, he can start shooting any time. He'd have a blast. So to speak.

That's about the age I became enamoured with guns too and like Supe, I grew up around them. I first began shooting .22s at YMCA "day camps" and later Boy Scout camp with proper instruction, and still remember my dad letting me shoot my first shotgun on Thanksgiving day when I was 9...his 12 guage . I too had "safety" ingrained & instilled early on and don't think I've ever picked one up without checking to see if it's loaded and muzzle direction and trigger prudence is second nature. Unlike Supe though, as kids we knew the difference between "real" and "play", and romping through the woods playing "army" and "cowboys and indians" was part of my childhood. Before I make it sound too romantic...my best friend that I've known for over 25 years took a shotgun blast to the face (lucky to live) when he was 16..."just two kids horsing around in the house"....so if the boy isn't "mature" enough and "absolutely" proves it...don't go there until he's ready. YMMV...

[Tim Hancock]

My grandfather was an avid hunter and I had a bb gun before I was 10 that I could shoot whenever I wanted, a .22 by 12 and a single shot 12 ga at 13 or 14 all of which I used in the woods behind our house whenever I felt like it.

Under my supervision my daughters shot my bb guns and .22 rifle starting at 6/7 y.o. and each got .22's when they were 11/12 y.o.

As long as basic gun safety is preached from the start (safety glasses/muzzle & trigger discipline/etc), I think the younger the better.

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

My Wife started with a .22LR at seven. I had a bb gun at 14. Maybe different maturity levels?????

[jriera]

I don't think that there is a 'too early' age.

My oldest kid got his NRA Distinguish Expert in Rifle the day he was turning 10 and he is on track to get his DE in pistol shortly before he turns 11.

My 8 years old will start the Rifle program in early January.

[svandamme]

i learned to shoot .22 at age 7-8.. dad made sure i knew not to point the gun at anyone..and be safe.
By 9-10 i cleaned his guns when dad came back from the hunt..

[Danimal16]

8 years old for me. Safety was drilled into us. You will be amazed that most kids I have seen for the first time on the range, take the responsibility very seriously.

[SXSMAN]

There is never an age when gun safety is too early.

Gun handling , thats a different story.

Don't think there's a magic number (age) to allow gun handling,depends on the maturity of the individual.

Think I was 10 when I learned and earned safe hunter and shooter,was taught by a WWII vet at an indoor range.

Again , never too young to emphasize gun safety.

[cstreit]

I started teaching basic gun safety to my son when he was 6... Untill I am sure he's got it 100% that's as far as we go. Right now be handles my paintball gun. (He's 7 now). Keeping it simple for now:

1. Only point and what you want to kill
2. Finger on the trigger only when you are ready to shoot
3. When not doing the above, gun is pointed at ground or sky.

Really depends on their maturity level. I know my son is not quite focused enough to have him controlling one independantly. WHen he is focused, no issue, but *SQUIRREL!!* sometimes he gets distracted.

[5String43]

My gun lessons started before I could ride a bike.

Same here. First with a bb gun and later with a .22 lr rifle, which I still have. I started my own kids out when they were in cub scouts.

From my perspective - and yours may be different - I think they need to learn as early as possible that the things have to be treated with great respect.

It ain't about the shootin'. It's about the safety training.

[intakexhaust]

Without any doubts, encourage and give them the best lessons possible and the age is ANYTIME THEY feel ready. Kids are amazing and will soak up everything learned especially drilling safety - but it's up to the parents to guide them CORRECTLY. I grew up in a large family with a wall full of guns - unlocked (ammo of course hidden away) and we always had visitors. Nobody, ever, ever touched them unless Daddio was with us and supervised. Makes me want to find pics of me back then with some gun action... great childhood memories with my father. We also shared tossing and learned skeet in the backy forty. Cousins from the city would come out and join in the fun.

[Rot 911]

My daughter at 7 (now 11):

[Superman]

Originally Posted by Tim Hancock

As long as basic gun safety is preached from the start (safety glasses/muzzle & trigger discipline/etc), I think the younger the better.

Well sure, of course I had toy guns, then BB guns, then .22, blah blah. Sure, I've pointed toy guns at playmates and got away with it. Tim, above, makes the point I was trying to make. And in my always-humble view, you take no prisoners when it comes to gun safety. A gun you believe to be not loaded......does not become a toy you can point at people. Every gun should be treated as though it were loaded with the safety off. I actually am disturbed by most gun shop counter workers. They apparently had grampas who were different from mine. Mine killed thousands of big game animals, for food, and was a bush pilot in Montana until he died in his sleep in 1972. I love guns and am not the slightest bit afraid of them. But if your gun-handling safety position is the slightest bit careless, I will not hunt or shoot with you. In my humble opinion, your boy should learn that same value.

[onewhippedpuppy]

My son had a BB gun at 6, and has been shooting a .22 since 7. All supervised by me, with safety being beat into his head since he was very young. I have guns and my in-laws are avid hunters, they are not a novelty and he's fully aware of the danger they pose. I think removing the novelty value is key, kids react better when you don't attempt to hide things from them.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

My son had a BB gun at 6, and has been shooting a .22 since 7. All supervised by me, with safety being beat into his head since he was very young. I have guns and my in-laws are avid hunters, they are not a novelty and he's fully aware of the danger they pose. I think removing the novelty value is key, kids react better when you don't attempt to hide things from them.

+1


IMO, it can also help to have a kid see up close a freshly shot varmint flip flopping from nerves in a pool of it's own blood. The kid instantly realizes the serious deadly capabilities of gun's. My daughters both witnessed varmint deaths at a young age and it definitely showed them how devastating a gunshot can be. I could tell the next time that they handled a firearm they approached it with a more serious attitude.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Superman

My gun lessons started before I could ride a bike....

Now a couple of you have indicated this, so now I'm curious...when did you learn to ride a bike ? I distinctly remember my first "ride" (without training wheels) down the driveway when I was four years old...but like many others, I was 6 or 7 before I shot my first .22. Lot's of good advice on this thread...

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by KC911

Now a couple of you have indicated this, so now I'm curious...when did you learn to ride a bike ? I distinctly remember my first "ride" (without training wheels) down the driveway when I was four years old...

Probably four years old for the bike as my parents have 8mm film of me riding dad's 1970 Honda Z50 when I was 5........ My feet were up on the crankcase as my feet would not reach the pegs. Dad would set me on it and get me going in first gear and then I would ride in circles in the front yard. When I wanted off, I would yell and he would run up beside me to get me stopped so that I could climb down.

[KFC911]

Guns, bikes with no helmets, "be home by dark-thirty"...how the heck did we survive?

[Seahawk]

The preceding posts are all excellent. I started my kids around 6.

Interesting thing happened last weekend, one I am not proud of but it should serve as a warning to other parents.

A friend of my son's, who has shot here for years (one of his older brother shoots skeet and trap for the Naval Academy and he learned it all on my farm) came over to shoot with his BIL, a great guy.

We parked the trucks at the little range I have set up: there were three trucks, two forward facing the range and the middle truck backed up, about halfway along side the two outer trucks.

As usual, we draw the shooting line, etc. I always act as range safety since it is my place, etc.

About a half hour in, the BIL is leaning on the hood of the truck opposite mine, I am leaning on the hood of my truck, talking with him. The other truck is, as I mentioned between us and slightly out of sight.

I knew Jack was reloading from the bed of my truck and I thought his friends was doing so out of his...they are both behind me and out of my sight.

All of the sudden a shot is fired from behind me, and the round goes between the BIL and myself.

Jack's friend, for reasons no one can quite grasp, decide to use the window sill on an open door on the middle truck to steady his aim and fire down range.

I honestly couldn't believe it happened. Instead of going ballistic, I made him empty the rifle, pack up and go. I asked the BIL to have his Dad call me when they got home.

I was pretty shaken: It was my responsibility to manage the shoot. I let my guard down because I was very familiar with these young men and they know the drill, at least I thought they did.

So, I have made some changes to how we park, where we reload and re-instilled the "range hot/cold" protocol, which until this time had never been breached in over 17 years of shooting here.

This was a cheap lesson. Gun safety is only part of the equation. Range safety and awareness (which I failed to heed) are equally as important.

Cheap lesson.