[Pearl Mussin]

At what age do you introduce guns to your kids? I have a 2.5yr old and my wife dosent even want him to see my handgun. He dosent know the difference between fake and real. It will ALWAYS be out of his reach, out of sight.

Just wondering what your thoughts are on this topic?

I'd like to show it to him and make sure he knows it is not a toy but I think he might be too young right now.


Jeremy

 

[invssgt]

you teach them. Sooner or later, they are going to be around guns- and they might as well have learned the safe way to handle them. Then, there is the future of gun ownership that depends "building" new shooters.

So you teach them. It is a father's perogative- and duty. Too much is at stake if you don't.

http://thesixgunjournal.com/preserving_the_american_heritage.htm

 

[Verm]

I learned about firearms from my dad when I was 8. It all depends though on when you feel your son is able to understand and start learning.

 

[fliptopwillie]

I have a 5 year old daughter. I can take out my XD and point to the magazine, magazine well, barrel, slide, trigger guard, trigger and have her tell me what they are called. The only thing she has a problem with is the sights. She's got it in her head that they're called "spies." I started her on the XD because it's small, but she's been able to transfer some or her knowledge to rifles. She knows that firearms are not toys, but the way I figure, the more she knows about them the less of a chance there is that she'll want to just play with one. She knows that if she ever wants to see one all she has to do is ask and daddy will take it out and show it to her and talk to her about it.

 

[hobocircus]

2 1/2 years old is too, too young. Don't forget to teach him later, but he is way too young right now. Teach him some old fashioned common sense and manners, it's never too early for that. Be patient, they grow up soon enough.

 

[hummel]

my oldest son (13) started when he was 6 maybe 7 when he started but we also started teaching 1 year before he got a firearm to shoot...he went hunting with grandpa or me for about 4 years and after his hunters safety course he has been on his own....my youngest (7) he has kinda started but i have to get mama to let go a bit...she a little too protective..but that can be a good thing as well

 

[Pearl Mussin]

Thanks guys... I figured around 5-6yrs old.. I have to keep her tucked away and clean it when he is napping..


Jeremy

 

[mr0w1]

I was 4...maybe 5. My dad took my hand, put the tip of his finger in my palm, and said to tell him when it started hurting. He began pushing the tip of his finger into my palm, and as instructed, I told him when it started to hurt. He then said to me, if I ever got shot, that's what it would feel like, except worse and it would go all the way through my hand. That's why I should never play with a gun.

That lesson has stuck with me throughout my entire life. The reason I say this is that there is no point in teaching gun safety until they're old enough to remember it forever. If my dad said anything before then, I don't remember, and nothing I've heard afterward has stuck with me as much as that has (as a vivid memory, that is).

I agree that at this point in time, it's best to just raise the kid up to be a decent human being, and the time will come later to teach about guns.

(BTW, my dad isn't insane Just unconventional)

 

[dolanp]

Thanks guys... I figured around 5-6yrs old.

Yeah that's what I would suggest.

 

[FatMatt1981]

my stepson turns 4 soon....and he's already into playin cops and robber type games
i never really introduced him to anything.....the tv had alot to do with it
bein we only get a couple local tv channels, his selection besides tapes and dvd's was law and order etc.
then his papa got him one of them nifty neat toy shotguns with little shells that fly out and stuff
this is a very very good subject to have on here i think because advice to everyone with kids should be taken into consideration since every child is different
mine seems to be hyper active but at this time of year i can't blame him...it's too nasty for him to go outside since he gets sick very easily
i've already talked to him about going deer hunting and he loves camping
i'd say as time goes on he'll be just fine....he knows not to play with daddy's anything lol all my weapons are well locked and the keys well hidden
my dad never had a gun in the house till i was maybe 5-6 and he went out and bought a bb-gun....from then he tought me the basics with his close eye on me.....i never got a "real" gun till i was 13 and from then on it's been just me being me

 

[pjmaxm]

I forget how old I was exactly when my dad starting teaching me about guns and safety, but I do remember that safety came a long time before I ever even saw a gun. I think I was about 6 or 7 when he starting teaching me about guns and then I got a bb gun for my 9th birthday and could only use it with my dad. I started to be able to shoot his .22 when I was about 11 or 12, right around when I had to start mowing the lawn, haha.

 

[Suppo]

2 1/2 years old is too, too young. Don't forget to teach him later, but he is way too young right now. Teach him some old fashioned common sense and manners, it's never too early for that. Be patient, they grow up soon enough.

I would agree it's too, too young to have the kid handle it and start naming nomenclature, but not too, too young to know NOT to touch the gun and to get an adult if one is found.

 

[MrTuffPaws]

My family taught me gun safety with a 22 cal pellet pistol when I was 6. Soon after, they bought me a BB gun and a single shot .410.

 

[XD_Dan]

We got into this debate a bit on a previous thread. Perhaps it will help.

http://www.hs2000talk.com/viewtopic.php?t=16571

I think age five is a good age to start teaching gun safety.

 

[Son of Norway]

In the mean time, out of sight isn't enough. Lock that pistol up. :wink:

 

[Ender]

My daughter is 4 years old, she can tell you how to field strip the XD. She knows that cleaning a gun takes time, and that shooting gets "****" in and on the gun. She is also well aware she is NOT allowed to touch a real firearm without a parents permission and a parent in attendance. (This includes displays and such like at Gander Mountain)

She has seen a milk jug full of water destroyed by a 10 guage, and a small watermelon disintegrated by a 25-06. She has a healthy respect for guns and an intrest in them. I am not sure there is a real hard and fast rule as to the age when you first talk to your kids about firearms, but you are better off having instructed them than having them encounter a firearm somewhere without the safty lessons.

I agree with whom ever told you out of sight is not really good enough that you should lock it up - there are several makers of good speed access type safes. In a speed type safe you can lay your hands on a weapon VERY qucikly. Kids move so fast, my daughter cut most of her hair off with a pair of childrens sissors while I was sitting next to her I was not looking directly at her for no more than 3 minutes - imagine what could happen with a firearm.

 

[tec]

I took my soon to be six year old daughter to the indoor range a couple of weeks ago. She loved it. But, she also saw the amount of damage done to the targets and is learning to respect what a gun truly can do, so much that she doesen't play guns anymore.

I learned when I was about 8-10. My dad bought a bb rifle (crossman 770?) showed me how to pump it up and that was all my training.

First my daughter is getting a 4-5 pound bow. She can learn to shoot that properly, if so then she can move on to a airsoft bb gun, then she will move on to a gun. All the while having good safe handeling techniques instilled into her .

Bear in mind,this plan only goes into effect if her momma don't kill me for getting the bow :wink:

 

[aiformula]

My first exposure was a 410 shotgun. My grandpa used to have a farm in southern ohio and we would go there once a month to work on the farm, camp, and shoot clays. I was about 6 and couldn't even hold the thing up so dad held the forestock while I held the buttstock to my shoulder, aimed like he showed me and squeezed off the trigger. I don't even remember if I hit the clay he had sitting on a stake about 30 yds out or not. I just remember that at age 6, that kick in the shoulder gave me an instant respect for what it could do. The same day I got to shoot his 22 revolver and was hooked. There probably wasn't a summer weekend that went by that I didn't at least ask if we could go shooting.

I admit his technical instruction was not very good at all, but the ideas of respecting the guns and treating them gently but firmly stuck with me. When I was 10 and went to Boy Scout summer camp, I spent most of my disposable income that year at the rifle range shooting .22's, and by the end of camp the second year, I had qualified sharpshooter. Get your kids involved in Scouting. Short of possibly you, they are still the best teachers of the outdoor skills.

 

[FatMatt1981]

I learned when I was about 8-10. My dad bought a bb rifle (crossman 770?) showed me how to pump it up and that was all my training

crossman 760 pumpmaster! i still have the old one my dad bought to "train" me with
i can still remember the bird he shot off a fence post when i was like 5 or 6...i cried lol
i still have it....the front sight fell off of it
i wonder if i can get that fixed

 

[[TASF]Overkill]

shooting gets "****" in and on the gun

Where and what are you shooting that you get "****" on the gun?