what age to start teaching to shoot

[jburris]

i have a 4 yr old niece that i am thinking about starting the basics with next spring. she will be 5 then. do you think this is to young. what age do you start teaching your children

 

[Shay]

I started my son at 3. Enforce safety above all else, go to the range when it's empty, make the lessons age appropriate and fun and you'll have a great time.

 

[Jay]

I completely disabled an old pellet gun (handgun) and left it lay out. The gun lay around for over a week before one of the boys noticed it and asked about it. I answered his questions, and not trying to stretch his attention span, dropped the subject. As days went by, more questions, more answers. This let the boys investigate at their pace, with my total supervision, and the "forbidden item" syndrome never occurred. They've been shooting incident-free since they were 4 and 5 respectively. If you try to "hold classes" too soon, you'll push 'em the other way. If it's "their idea" they'll be more receptive.....sooner.......

Just my opinion.

 

[shooter521]

I'll be letting my son get his first (heavily supervised, of course) trigger time next spring. He'll be 4. He has been interested in my guns since he was about 2, and likes to look at them and handle them when I have them out... after we go over the safety rules, of course.

 

[Mr. Habib]

My daughter got her first gun, a pink Cricket rifle for Christmas three weeks before her fifth birthday. Shot it that afternoon. She had been asking question about shooting and handling various guns with me to learn basic safety rules for several months prior to that. She is six and a half now and is safer handling firearms than most untrained adults.

 

[nighthawk80]

I say it's never to early to teach them gun safety. As for taking them shooting, it all depends on their level of maturity. I think I'm going to take my Daughter out next year (she'll be four), but for now, I just go over the 4 rules with her. She just likes to hold the guns and tell me that when her hands get bigger, she can shoot Daddy's guns with Daddy!!

Oh and some good links!

Cornered Cat - Table of Contents

Eddie Eagle Safety Program

 

[hammeralan]

I got started when I was four I plan on starting my kids around the same age. Yay only a year and a half left.

 

[JByer323]

I was five when I started shooting BB guns in grandpa's basement, six when I got my first .22.

 

[Dtruck260]

My son is 4, helps me clean and maintain the guns I own, as stated before by someone else, I let it be his idea then explain the why's to him.

I was never allowed to have a gun when I was younger, let me tell you the things I did when no one thought I could! (moral, kids always find away, my hope is to teach the right way before an incident occurs!)

 

[paulgl26]

the girl is 10 and the little one just turn 6 he started 2 years ago with a 10/22 and for his 6 birthday he got a p-22 [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jD7D84wq-E]YouTube - Abby at range with p-22[/ame], [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyxPo--Ds_0]YouTube - nicu at range[/ame]

 

[jerp239]

I started my son last year when he was 3, he goes out with my father in law and I. He has a cricket and my old Daisy BB gun that he shoots when we are out. A couple weeks ago he said he wanted to shoot the "black one" so I stood behind and collapsed the stock all the way down on my M&P 15X and he fired off a couple rounds. Now he wants to shoot it every time we go out.

 

[jburris]

being at the range byourselves is no problem, as i have my own range on my property. I started teaching her safty last year. she is doing real good. Im gonna buy her a pink red ryder bb gun for christmas. she will be so excited. took her to the store the other day to buy her a new doll, and she latched on to a toy pistol, did not want to put it down. explained to her that gun was not a toy and she would have one next spring. and she was fine with that. she has been excited about it for about a week now

 

[Fireman85]

I was so young when my day bought me a toy gun that looked like his and every time he went out target practicing or he was cleaning it I was doing the same with my toy gun. I learn to enjoy and respect the gun. I started hunting with a gun around the age of eight or nine.

 

[floatch]

My dad bought me a BB gun when I was about 9, and I learned a lot from him about safety and respect. That knowledge has served me quite well for the past 25 years!