Children and Guns

[quickdraw]

This is a pressing question on my mind as I have a two and half year old and an eight month old.  What was your method of training a child to be around a Dad or Mom who has guns, carries guns, and shoots guns?  Did you simply try to hide it till they were older?  Did you educate them as soon as possible about your guns?  When did you start letting them shoot?  MY daughter told my wife yesterday, "mommy I have my gun in my purse?"  I want to be clear, there is no unsafe handling of firearms in my home and everything that isn't on my person is locked in a safe.  I am just curious about you men and woman who have raised children in a home with Guns what techniques you used.

[chopprs]

It is my belief that when a child is able to begin to learn anything that will stick it is around six years old. Schooling goes along these lines as first grade seems to be the line where a child is given tasks to complete and non-completion or unsatisfactory completion comes with negative recourse for the child.

   I believe that any younger than this a child may not be able to understand the consequences of improper firearm handling so they should be locked up out of reach and out of sight.

   I was six years old when I fired my first firearm. Dad took me out in the woods with his Ruger .41 Magnum. He showed me how to load one round in it and fired into an old rotted log. The log exploded and he explained to me that it would do the same thing to anyones head so treating every gun like it is loaded is very important. He then handed me the gun and one bullet.....it knocked me on my ass! The point, as he explained whilst I regained my stance, was to show me how powerful a gun is. It worked and I have never forgotten it.  

   When we went back in the house he gave me my birthday present. It was a .45 caliber Kentucky Rifle. We hung it on my bedroom wall and I was not to touch it unless he was there. I never did and every time we took it out back to shoot it was a ball!!! We always had literally dozens of handguns as well as long arms around the house that were never locked up. I got a Crossman 760 Powermaster pump BB Gun when I was 7 or 8 and a Winchester Lever Action "Youth" 22 soon after that and was allowed to use them at my whim.

   ....just my two cents.

[solocanoe]

seems I was 8 when the Daisy Red Rider became mine.

   

   10 was the .22

   12 was the 410

   

   of course there were many hunting trips I went on but just 'tagged along'  

   

   each child is different, of course.  The toddler years are worrisome but the cool part is that later on you can start to share your hobbies and passions with your kids!

[ricart]

Due to my work at the time, there was always the danger of my being preoccupied and forgetting to secure my weapons.  So, I taught my son the basics of firearm safety at a very early age.  He learned never to pick up a gun unless I told him he could.  He was told anytime he wanted to hold or see the gun, I would show it to him.  It is my opinion that it's the "off limits" mentality of firearms that draw the children to them. Now, he owns firearms, and my grand children have received like training.  The grand daughters 11 & 12 are crack shots with their trusty Red Ryder bb guns, both  shoot my K-model .22 S&W at the range.  My 17 year old grandson is also a crack rifle shot, but seems to prefer edged weapons as he has been trained in martial arts since 10.    

   I do not hesitate to leave a firearm out when they visit.

[sirbarkalot]

My kids all grew up with dad a police officer and I came home for dinner in the evening most nights.  The gun was always present.

   

   To your question:

   

   From the time they were able to walk and you were telling them "no" for anything else, like anything sharp or fragile, the gun was a "No"! like anything else.  (when they would toddle up and want to touch the holstered gun for example)  when I came home to eat, the gun belt came off and went into the bedroom out of reach and the door closed.

   

   When I came home from work the gun was put away, first out of sight and secured, and after the first school shooting (we had one of the early ones in our City) I bought a gun safe and guns were in there after that.

   

   At about 6, when curiosity came up to speed and understanding was such as I thought they were ready, they went to the range with me, and under constant supervision, fired their first rounds.  For all 3 of mine, this ended any desire or curiosity until 10 or so and then we did a more thorough training with safety and allowed them to shoot under supervision pretty much as much as they wanted and this took care of the mystery and oddity of it.

   

   A bit older, and they were truly interested and I trained them like I would any police recruit (it was helpful to be a firearms instructor) and my youngest daughter shot on the police Explorer pistol team and actually came in 13th in the nation at national competition in Flagstaff AZ.  My son had his own k-38 (that stayed in the safe when not in use) that he shot with locally, but he never got to go to nationals, just local.  When he got tired of it as he got older and interested in girls and cars, he sold me his gun and this is the son that is now in the Navy.  He still likes to shoot but likes auto pistols now.

   

   My oldest daughter never really cared about shooting but had the opportunity and did go with me to the range and went up to the office/store and helped the range guy in there who was great with kids to sort brass, and reload ammo while I shot.  It was all social with her.

   

   in summary, when young:  "NO!"

   

   when older, let them shoot so they know it makes noise and has recoil (we had them shoot 22's, as I don't believe in scaring kids with a hard kicking gun) and talked safety and "not a toy".

   

   When shooting age, TRAIN THEM, TRAIN THEM, TRAIN THEM!  Knowledge takes away the mystery and desire to sneak in and take a look when you are not there.

   

   When my son was 16 or 17, and in "that age" one of his "friends" (neighborhood kid) got hold of a gun belonging to a grandfather.  My son got him to hand it over to him, and he unloaded it, made it safe and got it to the grandfather.  He did good, because he respected what it was, but was not afraid of it like it would bite him like an untrained kid is.

   

   That is my two cents and what worked for me

   

   Barky

[cedarview kid]

The best thing you can do with kids is remove the taboo and fascination factor with guns. Do that by introducing then to guns early and allowing then to go shooting with you. Don't hide them or make them sound off limits, because that will only increase their curiosity and they'll get into them when they are alone to find out what's so scary about them, when nobody is around to properly teach them.

   

   You also need to make sure they are secured, because their friends may be over to visit and they may have the fascination for them because their parents may not have decided to expose them to firearms.

   

   And, of course, when you do take them shooting, make sure you educate them on the safety of shooting and owning firearms.

   

   Guns have been around for a long time, but it seems the issues with "kids and guns" has only arisen recently. In the days when a rifle was over the fireplace, kids didn't see them as taboo and therefore didn't try to experiment when adult supervision was not available.

   

   Despite what the media tells us, kids and guns CAN mix and even be a source of bonding and education.

   

   Dar

[bud]

I don't know if I was one of the many or one of the few, but my Dad never owned a firearm or fired a gun in his life. I had a fascination with guns at a very early age. I would run home from school so I could listen to the Lone Ranger on the radio. Probably ordered every Lone Ranger gadget they sold over the radio. They bought me a R.R.D BB gun when I was around 10. Any firearm safety I received was trail and error.  

   

   As an adult, I removed the mags and tubes from the rifles, and mag. from the pistols, AND kept the ammo in a different place, away from the guns. My two daughters and son never showed any interest in firearms until later in life. The problem is [as NAA collector points out] is friends that would come over to visit. Even though they showed no interest in guns, I stressed safety, and showed how dangerously they could be.

   

   It seems as though there are more gun related accidents now then there used to be. Maybe because there are more guns or more kids then there used to be.

   

   I now have a large gun safe, and keep ammo and guns locked up. I have 5 grandsons, [oldest one is 10] and all of my firearms are willed to them.  Two of them have a B.B. gun, and I just bought my 8 year old a sling shot. For some reason, all the boys show an interest in guns! I have stressed gun safety to their dads, and hope they pass it along to the kids, as I had none when I was their age!

[crufflersteve]

Does the NRA still have the Eddie Eagle program? It is a simple animation explaining when they find a gun to leave the area and tell an adult. I had that video and loaned it to a lot of parents. I was a single Dad so I spent some time with my son teaching him the difference between fake & real guns. When he was 3 or so I took him to see some western re-enactors do gun fights. A big part of their demo was showing how dangerous blanks were. He was impressed.

   

   When he was 6 I bought a Chipmunk rifle and started taking him shooting. The first few sessions I was standing right behind him to disarm him if he did anything wrong. As he got to shoot more on his own he had to follow the safety rules and any violations led to him having to sit in the car while I shot. He learned and now is his 20's is really safety conscious.

   

   Steve

[cedarview kid]

Yup, my kids know the rules. Don't touch, run away, and tell an adult.

[jcoop1]

education is the best tool, I took my kids to the range i took my boys hunting with me, they were allowed to handle the guns, shoot them etc. They are all responsible adults and we never had a problem with safety in our home.

[lewiss]

Chopprs, great story about shooting your first mag. I grew up in a house with guns. Dad went hunting, and I was along before I had my own gun. I got my .22 single shot rifle for Christmas when I was probably 12 (don't remember exactly). I went squirrel hunting with "the men" after that. A cousin had a 12 gauge and had me shoot it once. I thought I flew clear across the yard! They laughed until they cried. Not sure I learned anything, but to this day I have never again shot a 12 gauge (and I'm aproaching 60). Just never got another chance, really. No, really. I'm not scared! Not me! I'm all growed up! Now, where's my .22 rifle...

[grayelky]

I raised 2 boys. The youngest is 26 and both have a great love and respect for guns. I taught them from an early age guns are not to be feared, rather respected. Just like the electrical outlets, they can be good if treated properly, or bad if not treated with respect and care. They both knew they were not allowed to touch my gun(s) unless they FIRST came to me and asked me, and then they had to watch me take the bullets out so it was safe to handle - not play with. Our agreement was I would stop whatever I was doing, unload it and let them hold it. Yes, that became very inconvenient on a couple of occasions. The same held true for when their friends came over. They were permitted to use whatever means necessary to stop their friends from touching a loaded gun, even at the friends house. Several times I had the opportunity to to show their buds the gun was unloaded, then allow them to hold it. By the time they were 5 or 6, both wanted to shoot my service revolver (LEO). I pointed out how big and heavy the S&W was, and how big the .357 mag round was. It was also very hard to hold up. However, the little S&W 22/32 Kit gun was just their size, and the .22 LR would not be too much for them to handle. They wanted the .357, 'cause it was Dad's gun. We took both. I loaded the .22 with HPs and shot a drink can full of water. It almost tore the can in half. Each of mine were amazed such a tiny bullet could tear a metal can apart. It presented a fine object lesson to ask them what it might do to their little bodies, or that of a friend? Then I shot a can of water with the 357. Object lesson was complete. They both decided to shoot the .22.

[chopprs]

Gray that is a very good point about not fearing but respecting. This is what happens when you are not paying attention to what you are doing. About a year ago I was cutting a couple pieces off of a bike frame with a 12 inch cut off wheel and it yanked out of my hand,.......I almost lost my best friend. Caution and safety are the best lessons that anyone can ever teach you!

   

   

[Uncle_Lee]

In this day and age, I have no idea how to teach a child anything. (I never had any)

   I can say that Dad taught us that guns were tools and how to use tools. You just didn't bother a gun unless you were going hunting. I was hunting by myself with a 22 before I started school. Where we lived it was at least two miles to the next house that I might hit if I missed and I better not miss. Dad counted the shells before I left and when I got back and there had better not been any wasted. That was back when a parent could whup a kid.

   My early childhood was more like the early 1800s.

   

   Times are different now. So are people.

[bud]

Good shot Chopprs!!  

[quickdraw]

One should only be circumcised once chopprs.

[miniman]

would like yo buy a 22lr cylinder to fit a mag frame any help would be greatly app the wife says the mag is way to loud for her thanks curt

[chopprs]

Miniman, if you go to the bottom of the index page you will see a "Start New Thread" button.

   For an extra cylinder for your gun you must send it to NAA to have the new cylinder fitted to your gun. With shipping it will cost you around $75.