How young IS too young?

jonk

Cap'n Kirk locked out the topic on the Ask the Experts question where the (quite likely) fraudulant "youngster" was posting, but still it begs the question, how old is old enough to start shooting and or own one's own gun? Myself, I started shooting a .22 when I was 8 or so and had my first gun given to me when I was 14, a Marlin 880. I didn't shoot my first highpower gun however, until aboutt he same time. I had no trouble understanding the safety warnings and responsibility that went with a gun at age 8. Of course, people vary widely; some 5 year olds can handle guns (I knew one, but he is 14 now) while many 30 year olds shouldn't be near one. So how bout it? How young is too young?

"...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf

jonk

A good friend of mine has a buddy who lives part time in costa rica.
I was speaking to him yesterday he is a retired Army Major who lives like a king down there on his pension (2500)
The subject got around to his housing situation because I envisioned big hotels for the tourists and less formal accomadations for the natives. He informed me that he pays 400 a month for his 3 bdr house with a pool a veranda that overlooks the pacific ocean and a help, house mate (a 20 year old girl/female indigionus type sex machine). The first girl came with the house!! when she left a mother brought him her daughter!!![:0] a 19 year old. well our other friend heard this and being a happily married guy with a family he was appaled that this guy could do such things with a youngster...I say two rules apply here first the other version of the golden rule (he with the gold rules) and second, when in Rome....

muley

I think you've already answered your question. I got my first shotgun, a .410, at 8 yrs old. By the time I started High School, I had several more bought thru my father. I earned them all working after school and on weekends irrigating cotton and alfalfa fields, driving tractors, trapping gophers and hiring out to eliminate unwanted cats for farmers. I've known many adults over the years who shouldn't be allowed to pick a gun up. On the other hand I've known many young kids that I would trust completely with a gun. So, in my opinion, age is not an issue, within reason, in determining if a person should be allowed to use a gun.

muley

**I love the smell of Hoppes #9 in the morning**

bhayes420

Jonk, I think it varies with each kid. My son has been around hunting and guns all his life. He is as responsible as an 8 year old can be or should be. I got him his first "gun" when he was 6. A Red Ryder. When he turned 8, I bought him a .22. He knows the rules of gun safety, and strictly follows them. BUT...He is never allowed to get it out without MY being with him. As a matter of fact, he doesn't even know how to get into the safe to get it out. And if he did, ammo is stored separately. This year he wants to try to deer hunt, which in KY an 8 year old can do even though you can't get the hunters safety class until age 10. So I broke out the old Marlin 30-30 and he has been shooting it some. Yeah, it kicks the heck out of him, but he never complains and at 50 yards can keep a 2-inch group. I guess the point is that the kid themeselves will let you know when they are ready and mature enough. I didn't and don't push shooting on him, but he enjoys it. We have had some great father-son times out shooting. And hey, some colleges offer scholarships for rifle teams! Maybe a little practice now will save my pocket book later!

He Dog

I think bhayes420 has it right. Depend upon the kid. I guess I started at about 10 or 11, but was more like 14 before dad could afford my first .22, which I still have.

Obviously, some folks never mature enough to be safe.




A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand

nunn

Too young?

Maybe I am too old.

My first gun, a Winchester Model 37 in 16 gauge, was presented to me by my uncle when I was 11.

The following Christmas, when I was 12, I got my first rifle, a Marlin Model 99 semi-auto .22. I still have both guns.

I bought my first handgun, a Ruger Standard Auto, when I was 15, with money saved from a part-time job. GCA 68 had just passed, and my dad was a little unhappy about having to fill out the 4473 for me.

But it was MY gun. I kept it in the headboard of my bed, loaded. On the rack on the wall in my room were my Marlin .22, my Winchester Model 37, and my Benjamin air rifle. Ammo for all the above was always at hand.

When I was 16, I got a Driver License and a car. Now, I was mobile AND armed. My friends and I would load up guns and ammo and snake collecting equipment and head for the river bottoms. We would start off looking for snakes to catch and end up the day plinking. It was great fun and better than getting drunk, using dope, street racing, or trying to get somebody's little girl pregnant.

There are lots worse ways for a teenage boy to spend his time than becoming proficient with firearms.

A good many firearms have come and gone since then.

My next handgun was a Colt .45 Government. Another notable example was a little Beretta .22 short pistol. I discovered that it would not push a bullet all the way through a 2" board, so I fastened targets to a 2" X 6" board and shot it in my room.



SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Moderator of General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Visit www.gunbroker.com, the best gun auction site on the Net! Email davidnunn@texoma.net

offeror

Here's a story. I'll keep it as short as possible, and get right to the point. I got my SharPei pup and let her run in my big back yard when I wasn't home. Because I had an in-ground swimming pool, I knew she could likely fall in. So I put her in the water to see what would happen. The first time I put her in the water, she flailed and clawed uselessly at the vertical slippery side of the pool, tiring quickly and getting nowhere; running out of gas. So I started leading her toward the steps, teaching her to find her way out of the pool by putting her in the water when I WAS right there, and letting her learn that she should always head over to the steps (not the ladder, the steps). Every so often, to reinforce her memory, I'd toss her in the pool and make sure she remembered to swim directly over to the steps and climb out.

One day, I came home from somewhere, and there was a big wet spot at the top of the stairs, and the dog was soaked. I knew that day that my training her to get out of the pool had undoubtedly saved my dog from drowning that day when I wasn't looking.

I don't think any age is too young to start teaching kids how not to get hurt by a gun. That basic safety training (what NOT to do) can start VERY young. The age at which a kid should graduate from toys to the real thing (like a BB gun, and then to a .22) is a decision best left to smart parents with a certain amount of common sense. You can't give a kid a gun unsupervised, at first, period. The more help, support and supervision, and time a parent is willing to devote, the younger you can probably start.

Responsibility about guns has a lot less to do with chronological age than with training in gun safety, and with the maturity of a young individual. The need for emotional maturity in any kid who is allowed to have a gun cannot be over-emphasized. Parents may WISH their kid was well-adjusted enough to be a young shooter, and I can understand that wish. But you've got to be able to judge emotional maturity and use caution if your kid is running a little low on emotional stability, regardless of your wishes. IMHO.

Immature kids are best left to work out their other needs first, before they are introduced to guns. When there is doubt, hold off, and only when the necessary maturity of mind has been demonstrated, let the first gun be part of the reward they earn for achieving a level of proven maturity. Just my 2 cents.

- Life NRA Member
"If cowardly & dishonorable men shoot unarmed men with army guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary...and not by general deprivation of constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878

rameleni1

My son is 6, and he is too young. I gave him his first pellet gun last month. Its a crossman .45 co2. I set up a few pop cans in the house, and shot them. I then let him try. I showed him how to aim, and he didn't get the concept yet. He could barely pull the trigger. I let him keep the gun, and I'm teaching him safety with it. He takes very good care of it, and keeps it in the original box, in his desk. I keep all of the co2, and pellets locked up. I give him co2 cylinders when he wants them. He dry fires them, and is learning how to aim. I teach him not to point at anything he doesn't want to shoot, expecially me. I teach him how the safety works, and when to use it. When he masters the safety, and aiming, I will try again with the pellets. I really think the trigger pull on this pellet gun is more than my 1911. I don't understand this concept. I know you have to be 18 years old to buy one of these pellet guns. What 18 year old wants to shoot a pellet gun?

Rameleni1

Harleeman1030

My kids have two guns now 8 year old has a double barrel model 311 .410.She also has a rem. mdl 700 .243.

My boy he's 5 does not shoot anything but the single shot .22 for now...But i have already bought him a 870.. 410.and a 700.. 243 also.

I shot my first deer with a . 243 at age 9
I had a H&R single shot .20 gauge at age 11

But what scares me is all the young people asking about semi-auto guns..And the truth is i think it's something instilled in them from T.V. and movies

I just wish they would take a good ol single shot and learn..

I have taken a friends son under my wing to teach him to shoot,hunt,But most important safety..He has yet to ask me to shoot my semi-auto..shotgun,pistol,or .22 mag i have..He shoots a model 37 .20 gauge...A model 110 savage .243...And a marlin. bolt action .22..He's 14 and goes about 5'8" 260 his dad is huge also..So he could handle about any gun you put in his hands..He has talked his parent's into buying a good bow set up ..Because i have taught him it's not how many shots you can get off..It's how well you place your first one..


NRA MEMBER

gmayes

I think to start letting your youngen shoot should be aroud the 6 or 7 year old. Then to let them keep the gun in thier room or go out alone probably around 11 or 12. Just an idea

ccasey612

I think it depends on the child. If they can handle it.

If you will blame gun makers for every shooting then blame car maker for every car accident.

Judge Dread

WELL my first gun was a slavia .22 pelletgun I converted into a german looking greasegun used the spring from an old clock as a magazine spring ...(I was 15 years old) and the spring from an umbrella as a block spring ...the thing was full auto ....and emtied the 30 rnd mag in a single trigger pull brrrrrrrrrrr..and anything in front of it was gone ,when i learned to shoot ? well i was 6 year
old when i took my fathers .38 colt and started shooting cans with it
well my father got realy mad ,(not at me for taking the gun) but for the reason I was a better shot than him ! He was MP sharpshooter!!! i
got a real spanking for spending his ammo on lowsy cans!!! well just think how ballistic he went as he finded out I was able to convert
a pelletgun into a machine gun at only 15 years old, well blame it to all thoose CIA training manuals I found on the trash from Catholic school I was assisting to (they had a Civil air patrol program) and
someone left the manuals there ...I memorized all...quite usefull
specialy the chicken barn blowing formulas and weapons of mass destruction pages (I did the 100LB propane bomb experiment)
2.2 acres of trees and grass gone!!!! an 80FT * crater at
grownd "0" whow! i wish to make all that again ! but the ATF papers
and licences are a pain in the *.

HEHEHE!

JD

400 million cows can't be wrong ( EAT GRASS !!! )

doomsknight62

I didn't get anything until I was 16. My parents were not anti-gun, but they weren't about to provide me with the tools for mischief. I had to do it myself. When I turned 16, I bought a CO2 powered pistol. I still have that gun. It doesn't work, but I still have it!

" God is in His Heaven, All is Right in the World. "