Poll Re: Kids shooting

[DaveH]

Re: When and How to Discuss With Children

What is the youngest you have personally take a son or daughter, grandchild, or great-grandchild shooting -- i.e., taught them to shoot a true firearm, watch the actually shoot a true firearm, etc?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Crowman]

There is no one right age.... Depends on the parent(s) and the child.........

[DaveH]

There is no one right age.... Depends on the parent(s) and the child.........

Yup!

Never intended to suggest that there was one right age.

The tone of some of some of the comments in the cited thread got me to thinking.

Thought this would be a fun thread. No more, no less. No assumptions, attitudes, or agenda. Just fun.

[MAZ7869]

I don't have any kids but I know I was 6 when I got my first .22 and hunting by 8. I plan on doing the same when I do have children.

[mcp1810]

I think my youngest was eleven. He tried his hand with shotguns (with the Boy Scouts) this last weekend. Says he likes handguns better. When his uncle comes back to town we will see how he likes rifles. I might have to buy another shell plate for the progressive and start bulk loading for the AR.

[goldshellback]

I was seven or eight when I started shooting firearms with any regularity, but I grew up in the country around guns and that was just how things were done.

Crowman said it best, depends on the child, the parents, and the enviroment.

[BugDude]

I started taking my daughter when she was 7. After many discussions, I felt she was ready...and she was. After a couple years, she lost interest in it but she knows if she ever is interested in it I will be glad to take her anytime. Took the mystery out of the equation.

My son is now 4, and we talk about guns and he wants to go but he's no where near ready to go yet. As soon as he is, I've got me a new range buddy.

[lchamp]

I was about 7 when we went plinking out in the SoCal desert. I think my daughter was about 6 or 7.

[phreddy]

You should start talking to them and demonstrating through your actions as soon as possible. Actual shooting depends on the individual child. My daughters went for their first time when they were 7-8. My oldest was probably ready when she was 5, Daddy wasn't ready yet.

[Lish]

I haven't taken mine formally to the range yet - trying to watch all 5 in that environment while helping one shoot just seems like a nightmare. They do have a couch outside the range window where some could watch, but that would leave them unattended out there while I'm inside so that doesn't really work by myself either. The older 3 would be fine, it's the younger 2 that would try and goof off together.

I have shot with all of them on my property. The older 3 (14, 11, and 10) have shot my xd and the younger 2 (7 and 5) have shot my .22 once or twice.

[suntzu]

My son learned how to hold a gun properly (finger of the trigger) and not to point it at people when he got his firts toy gun at 3 (?). So that is all he knew. Started BB's at 4 or 5. .22 at 7 (?).

[BillK01]

Took both our boys (5 & and almost 8) shooting last week. Both did good. They shot my Smith and Wesson M & P 15-22 and loved it.

[padom]

My son is 3 and begs me to take him to the range with me practically daily. I have gone over how to hold my pistol, always keep finger off trigger until your ready to shoot, etc. with him a few times.

I learned young and grew up around guns all my life. My father had his CCW, cousins in the Marines, and we were a family of hunters so I learned young.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S III

[ep1953]

Actually shooting is very different from teaching firearm safety. I took my son shooting at 6 yo but I started teaching him safety at 2 yo.

He has also started my 6 yo grandson shooting but the safety instruction has been going on since he was two as well.

[zamboni]

It depends on the child. It's a personal dissertation on YOUR child's personalty. My oldest was 9 and my youngest was 5. We were in the Scouts and it just worked out that way.

The place we were camping at once had a range offering BB-guns, 410/20/12g shotguns, and 22's. They both shot up to the 410g and when my oldest got to get knocked on his a$$ "3 out of 12 rounds", while shooting a 12g, LOL&FOMA, they both were were sold!! We've been shooting and hunting together ever since.

I was going to take my oldest out sooner but the opportunity never really presented itself till then, since too, I didn't get out to hunt for a couple seasons.