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Thoughts on BB guns.
Rack Ops
Member Posts: 18,596 ✭✭✭
I posted yesterday that I presented my son with his first gun.
Of course, it was a great moment for me and him as well, so I did not hesitate to share the photo with friends and family.
I won't say that I got any pushback, but I had several people ask me why I bought him a "real" gun instead of a BB gun.
Setting aside the question of if a BB gun is a "real" gun or not, my answer is simple: I believe BB guns blur the lines between guns and toys and I personally would not use them to introduce my children to firearms.
This is not meant to be an attack on people who do that, or on BB guns in general...they have their place.
I had several BB guns when I was a boy...and I did what every other boy I knew who had one did. I played with it....I shot damn near everything....cans, bottles, birds, squirrels....
I don't think I learned any responsibility at all....sure as hell didn't learn safety. And since it was a "toy" I was mainly left to my own devices. So when it came time for my own son, I decided to introduce a rifle first.
Thoughts?
Of course, it was a great moment for me and him as well, so I did not hesitate to share the photo with friends and family.
I won't say that I got any pushback, but I had several people ask me why I bought him a "real" gun instead of a BB gun.
Setting aside the question of if a BB gun is a "real" gun or not, my answer is simple: I believe BB guns blur the lines between guns and toys and I personally would not use them to introduce my children to firearms.
This is not meant to be an attack on people who do that, or on BB guns in general...they have their place.
I had several BB guns when I was a boy...and I did what every other boy I knew who had one did. I played with it....I shot damn near everything....cans, bottles, birds, squirrels....
I don't think I learned any responsibility at all....sure as hell didn't learn safety. And since it was a "toy" I was mainly left to my own devices. So when it came time for my own son, I decided to introduce a rifle first.
Thoughts?
Comments
I am getting my 8 year old daughter a bb/pellet gun this month, and you can BET she will be trained on firearm safety and safe handling of same. She already knows good firearm safety practices, but this will be the perfect opportunity to put it to practice.
But
I got into a lot of trouble with my BB gun but it sure was fun and I learned a lot about shooting with it.
I think a BB gun is fine but there needs to be some supervision at least at first with them.
Kids are going to be kids. They are going to shoot a window or something with a BB gun to see it break. They are going to dump powder out of a bunch of firecrackers to make a bigger firecracker you know the deal.
I just don't get too uptight about it.
in addition many states have declared a bb gun that shoots 700fps or higher is now a firearm
We went shooting from time to time....in the early years he leased land and had gatherings of people that were either selling or buying machine guns. It was a lot of fun. Every Thanksgiving my dad would load the trunk up with different things for everyone to shoot.
When my own kids got old enough to have things like BB guns and such the whole airsoft gun thing was going on. So, we had tons of that mess everywhere. I don't think I had a vacuum that wasn't filled with tiny plastic balls for ten years or more. My son killed some birds on our bird feeders and lost his BB guns for a LONG time.
That happened to me too. I shot some song birds and my Dad found them. He made be pluck them and cook them on a grill and eat them.
I learned my lesson that day.
I also got a * spanked good.
But then my Dad would be considered a child abuser in today's world[V]
My son got an original Medford Oregon Chipmunk when he was five. They were baby Model 70's and the best to be had. He still has it and recently had a son born, so it will go to him.
I don't think I learned any responsibility at all....sure as hell didn't learn safety.
Thoughts?
Yeah....but you learned technique! [:D]
I've told grown men who wanted to learn to shoot to get them. They can shoot into a trap/target in their back yard in town, or country, and learn to steady a site picture and squeeze a trigger. Not as good equipment as a firearm, but useful none the less. Everyone can't go to the range twice a week or afford ammo to do it.
IMO there is no blurring of lines as a BB gun is a BB gun and a firearm is a firearm. They both have their uses and place. I was raised in the country as were my older sons and a BB gun was great fun. My youngest son is raised with closer neighbors and the BB is great fun.
My 10 year old son shoots both and has a lot of fun shooting a BB gun here at home and a lot of fun shooting firearms when I take him out. Of the 2, he shoots the BB gun more because he can.
I'm in my 50's and still enjoy shoot a BB gun now and again. I like shooting wood-bees with a BB gun as well as just lobbing BB's at distant targets. Although it's less fun since it's rare to see the BB in flight now. When I was a kid I could see them all.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
When I was 12, a family friend gave me a Remington 41-P .22 single-shot bolt action. I consider a single shot great for a new shooter.
I was about 15 when I bought a Crossman 766, pump-up BB-Pellet rifle. I put a small weaver scope on it, and shot Pellets (they were more accurate than BBs). This furthered my shooting education. I liked the fact that pellets were much cheaper to shoot than .22 ammo.
Yeah, I think BB guns can be a great first gun for young ones.
That said, Your son looks like he's probably seven or eight years old at least. A .22 is not to advanced for a kid that age. With adult supervision
But like I said, even when my grandkids get older. They are not going to be allowed to run amok with a BB gun. A BB gun is not to be given to a child as a toy to play with at his own discretion, because it's not a toy. At least until they get to be 12 years old and pass a hunter safety course. And show that they are responsible enough to handle the responsibility of a tool that can launch a projectile, even a BB
And anybody that says that a BB gun is it toy that a child can run amok with, is a blooming bleening idiot. Because it's not a toy, it is a gun in all sense of the word
But, like was mentioned earlier I bought my first BB gun with money from hauling hay. My grandfather was deathly against any of us kids having any kind of firearm including BB guns. I learned years later that my father had a twin brother who was killed when my father and him were out hunting. My father was carrying the gun when it "went off" and shot his brother and killed him. My father was never the same after that, I'm told. Anyway I learned how to shoot with a daisy red rider BB gun and it served me well for years.
Pellets deform and rebound at greatly reduced rates, and with greatly reduced energy.
Further, Most pellet guns shoot with more energy, thus can handle larger game, longer distances.
That said, Your son looks like he's probably seven or eight years old at least. A .22 is not to advanced for a kid that age. With adult supervision
Full disclosure: He's 5.
That being said...at this point it's more about safety than anything. Right now I am trying to teach respect and responsibility....marksmanship will come later. The rifle will be rested at all times his first year at least....and I will of course always be right there with him.
Some people, including some here, may believe that he is too young to start shooting. I respect that opinion. If at any point I feel like he isn't grasping things the way he needs to, I have no qualms about putting the gun in the safe and trying again in a couple of years.
quote:Originally posted by remingtonoaks
That said, Your son looks like he's probably seven or eight years old at least. A .22 is not to advanced for a kid that age. With adult supervision
Full disclosure: He's 5.
That being said...at this point it's more about safety than anything. Right now I am trying to teach respect and responsibility....marksmanship will come later. The rifle will be rested at all times his first year at least....and I will of course always be right there with him.
Some people, including some here, may believe that he is too young to start shooting. I respect that opinion. If at any point I feel like he isn't grasping things the way he needs to, I have no qualms about putting the gun in the safe and trying again in a couple of years.
If you son is mature enough to learn to shoot more power to you both. I learned to shoot a 22 pistol @ age 4. It was under constant adult (Dad) supervision.
Now, on to the BB rifle bit: I received a Daisy Model 99 target BB rifle on my 8th birthday. Dad set up a range in the basement and I spent countless hours/days developing my marksmanship skills. This was a bonus when I started competition in Jr Rifle.
The current Daisy Model 499 is unlike to old Mdl 99 versions (mine was circa 1965) and are single shot 'muzzle loaders'. There are move structured events for these rifles and the intent of the single shot is for sons (and daughters) and Dads (and mums) to work as a team at the matches.
https://www.daisy.com/education
I'm not a fan of young folk taking a BB gun outside and pot shooting living things. Yeah, I know, I'm old and funny that way.
quote:My son killed some birds on our bird feeders and lost his BB guns for a LONG time.
That happened to me too. I shot some song birds and my Dad found them. He made be pluck them and cook them on a grill and eat them.
I learned my lesson that day.
I also got a * spanked good.
I think your dad & mine were cut from the same log!
When mine caught me smoking, I had to smoke an entire pack and then an * kicking![:)]
WWII veteran and brought us up the right way!
Spare the rod, spoil the child.[;)]
But then my Dad would be considered a child abuser in today's world[V]
That is what is wrong with "today's world!
I always liked calling them "air rifle's"
quote:Originally posted by remingtonoaks
That said, Your son looks like he's probably seven or eight years old at least. A .22 is not to advanced for a kid that age. With adult supervision
Full disclosure: He's 5.
That being said...at this point it's more about safety than anything. Right now I am trying to teach respect and responsibility....marksmanship will come later. The rifle will be rested at all times his first year at least....and I will of course always be right there with him.
Some people, including some here, may believe that he is too young to start shooting. I respect that opinion. If at any point I feel like he isn't grasping things the way he needs to, I have no qualms about putting the gun in the safe and trying again in a couple of years.
Not me!!! The sooner the better. I let my four-year-old grandson shooy my 1911 with a 22 conversion on it. Of Courses he was sitting right on my lap and I was watching every move he made...
Get them started young and get them started right.
Any "toy" gun that my son got that launched a projectile of any kind out of the barrel was treated like a real gun. Him having a baby sister was critical that he never ever pointed or fired one of his guns at his sister or one of us adults or any one else for that matter.
+1 on this. Every gun, even Nerf guns shooting darts are not shot at people. Trigger control, muzzle direction, etc is all taught starting with them. I set up cool targets to keep their interest.
There were a lot of kids where I grew up and about 3 out of 4 of the boys had BB guns so it was inevitable that we had wars. We had rules and there was not to be any head shots but you know how that goes. Luckily no one was seriously injured but it's a wonder.
The kids that didn't have BB guns would be using homemade bows and arrows. Those old Bull Weeds made pretty good arrows on the run but if you hit something with one you were just lucky. You shoot one any distance it would curve so bad it was almost like a boomerang. [:D]
We did have one kid get shot with one of those old Bull Weed arrows. John stuck his head out behind the corner of an old abandoned house during one of our wars and one of the kids shot an arrow at about that time and hit one of John's ears. It was left dangling in his ear. Not in the canal but through the side of his ear. John was doing a dance and blood was going every where so we thought he was dying. A bunch of us grabbed hold of him and managed to hold him down and pulled the arrow out. The first thing he said was, what am I gonna tell Mom when she sees my ear? He said she'll kill me if she finds out we were playing war again and then tell Dad.
We all got together and came up with a story that we were running though the woods and he fell down and jammed a stick in his ear. If she didn't believe that then it was going to be bad news for everybody. First thing she would do is tell John's Dad and then John's Dad is going to beat the crap out of him and make him tell the names of everybody with him and then his Dad would let everybody else's Dad's know and then the whoopings would commence! [:0]
The only kid that really got hurt with a BB gun in our group through the years was not in one of our wars but rather he decided he would shoot a 12 ga. shotgun shell with his BB gun. Bad idea! He shot the primer and the primer fired back out of that shotgun shell and put his eye out. He was one of the older kids, I'm almost 68 and Leroy is about 72 now. I saw him 2 or 3 years ago and the first thing I noticed was his glass eye. He spent a life time with that glass eye over that one bad idea as a kid.
BB gun .... real rifle ...... doesn't matter, the safety rules are exactly the same.
I taught my son the exact same way, My son just like me, could shoot the balls off of a house fly at 15 yds with the daisy by age ten.
quote:Originally posted by remingtonoaks
That said, Your son looks like he's probably seven or eight years old at least. A .22 is not to advanced for a kid that age. With adult supervision
Full disclosure: He's 5.
That being said...at this point it's more about safety than anything. Right now I am trying to teach respect and responsibility....marksmanship will come later. The rifle will be rested at all times his first year at least....and I will of course always be right there with him.
Some people, including some here, may believe that he is too young to start shooting. I respect that opinion. If at any point I feel like he isn't grasping things the way he needs to, I have no qualms about putting the gun in the safe and trying again in a couple of years.
Different kids start at different ages, that depends on the parents just as much as the kid. Nothing wrong with starting them out young if the parent has the patience and desire and the kid has the ability to listen and is interested.
Have all the fun you and him can stand. The most important thing you can give a kid is time, shooting time counts.
One summer I shot 33 birds but street lights were the most and then
the old man found out about it and him being a cop didn't want his idiot
kid acting like a moron and I got the gun taken away and hidden.
I finally found it and his first trade was a carpenter so I had plenty of
finish nails and they worked fine while shooting icicles off the edge of the roof and shooting shaken beer cans (he kept a good supply of beer down cellar).I never saw that BB gun again. I'm not going to reveal what his punishment was but it certainly wasn't being grounded to my room.
Looking back I gave him enuff grief to to shoot me and bury me out back.
Anyway we had a lot of fun with it and now he is going to use it with our grandson who is six years old. I gave him the safety speech and trust that he will be VERY CAREFUL.
I think I will check in with him/them from time to time to make very sure that GUN SAFETY is what it is all about. A BB gun is not a toy! It is a gun and should always be handled as such.
I learned how to shoot well with my BB guns I believe it helped my marksmanship tremendously
I also took gun safety in 4H that also reinforced gun safety commandments and rules
I enjoyed the competition shoots in 4H also, learned how to use peep sights at these events
my brothers and I learned that we could kill rabbits/birds easily but squirrels were a lot tougher and yes mama cooked the rabbits and squirrels for us
good times growing up[:)]
after we got shotguns, started with 410's and then moved up to 20's and 12's, we could not believe how easy it was to kill anything with shotguns!
I am grateful to have had BB guns growing up [^]