My little girl is asking alot of questions....

My 10 yr old has gone with me to the range, she has shot a 22 bolt action (nice groups at 15yds) and lately she's noticed that I'm carrying....She likes to jump on me (Ah ha!) when I come home, yes, I eat it up.....and then one time she banged her head on a 226 when she grabbed me from behind....."ouch, hey, is that a gun?"....calmly she said, trying to raise my shirt at the same time rubbing her forehead, and calmly I replied, "yes it is." "Cool.", she says....although now she keeps asking me if I got it on etc....I feel that it's good that she's curious and that she asks and I do my best to explain that it's a tool....not a toy....she recites the basic safety rules to me on the way to the range....she's just likes to talk and I don't want her to slip at school (NYS) and say, "My dad let's me shoot guns!", innocently, ya know?

First, good for you for teaching your kid(s) about gun safety and handling skills early in life.

Second, I'd suggest taking a "family secret" approach. Explain to your daughter why you don't want the world to know you carry, and put it in terms she'll understand. Convince her that it's a family secret - just like "private parts", etc...
There's no 100% sure-fire way to guarantee she won't tell her friends, but that's probably your best chance.

Peace,
Pete Zaria.

Thanks Pete...makes sense....gonna try that.

Thats good advice Pete ...

Also, maybe you can contact a local firearms safety instructor, explain that you have a little girl who is interested in shooting and you would like a student hunter education booklet. The instructor should be able to either give you one or you may have to pay a small fee but either way, it would be a good booklet for her and you to approach firearm safety a little early. Typically, hunter education is for ages 12 and older but if you explain her interest and you're willing to help teach her with that booklet, he will most likely give you one. I think as long as she is interested in guns, she should start out the right way.

I'm an instructor myself and have given out student books many times to adults who would like to review hunter safety in advance of actually taking the official course.

This may help with your search info: NYS Sportsman Education Program - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation


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I use the "Familt Secret" method and it seems to work very well with my six year ols daughter.

I can understand your concerns about having her ask if you've got you gun on you at an inopportune time... heck, I share the concern, though my daughters are a bit older... but why is her mentioning that you take her shooting to her friends a bad thing?

Heck, I've gotten the opportunity to introduce several youngsters to firearms though just such a conversation.

I agree with the 'family secret', though I go a bit further than that... my in-law's and extended family have no reason to know I carry... but be very careful that you don't teach your children that shooting, owning, and carrying firearms is something to be ashamed of!

Me and the little one are shooting on the range together and god bless, shes a natural talent. Guns are familiar to her and she knows the safety rules.

She assumes them to be normal, so its (or has been) not a topic for her.

Kids can keep secrets, better than us adults are able to.
Depends on the kid, if one has to make a secret out of it. Not saying that this would be bad, I just took another approach which works fine.

Will be funny, when she meets her first boyfriend and he realises better not to mess with her ;-)

I have a 12 YO girl. She knows I go shooting often, and have firearms, and carry. I think some liberal at school attempted to convince her guns are bad. How ever, I have corrected that thought process. She now knows there are sheep and sheepdogs... Those that will be victims, and those that pay attention to their surroundings, and do what is necessary not to be the victim.

She begs me to take her shooting now. She will be getting a youth Henry 22 for Christmas. I'm looking for a long stocking to put it in...

You might consider getting the Eddie Eagle GunSafe® Program material from the NRA. Eddie Eagle Safety Program

Maybe you could even get her school to use this program.

Ken

I became so accustomed to pocket carry because I figured my nephew (then 10 years old) would raise my cover garment and say, "Look what uncle has!!".

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Originally Posted by cmidkiff

I can understand your concerns about having her ask if you've got you gun on you at an inopportune time... heck, I share the concern, though my daughters are a bit older... but why is her mentioning that you take her shooting to her friends a bad thing?

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All the liberals that feel that only LEO's should have guns are moving up here (lower Hudson Valley) and are always on the lookout for problems...last year I went on a school trip with my 10 year old, 9 at the time....I so felt the need to have something with me on that outdoor into the woods trip. There were two parents that I know are local PD that were on the trip with us....you think one of them had something with them? Nope....complacency.....how do I know? Because most cops I know don't know how to conceal when off duty....

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Originally Posted by FunkyColdMedina

I became so accustomed to pocket carry because I figured my nephew (then 10 years old) would raise my cover garment and say, "Look what uncle has!!".

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My nephew(s) would only raise my shirt once to show off my gun...after that he wouldn't be able to raise his arms...:blink::rofl:

I think most young family members can understand 'family business'...that is, if you have a real family.
Some parents never talk to their kids...solid families can get the point of private family matters across to the 'entire' family.

I taught my kids from a young age to respect firearms and to keep dad's secret. they are now 12 &13 and still know the rules.

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Originally Posted by matdicdad

I use the "Famil[y] Secret" method and it seems to work very well with my six year ols daughter.

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Same here. My daughter will be 8 in a few weeks and just found out that I have been carrying a gun her whole life. She grabbed onto me one day and felt it. I was suprised that it took so long actually. She wasn't suprised becuase she lives in a "gun nut family". She did ask me if the police would arrest me or if it was legal for me to carry it. I explained everything to her.

We have always raised her to not talk about our guns to people. Both becuase some people are not educated about guns and are scared of them and becuase people will come and steal them if they know we have them. So, it's a secret of sorts that we don't share with people. I was raised the same, because one of my dad's best friends who lived up the street from us kept his gun cabinet in the living room for all the world to see and sure enough, someone broke in and stole all of his guns while he was at work one day. So we didn't talk to people about dad's gun collection.

I told her the secret also applies to daddy carrying a gun and don't ever say anything about it or if she grabs me in a store and feels it, don't say "Is that your gun dad?", because it may scare some people and they might call the police and I will have to explain everything and it will cause a big hassel and she will be in deep do-do.

So far there has been no problem at all. I know she has felt it uner my shirt at the store at least twice and didn't say a word.

P.S. She is allowed to tell the boys at school that she shoots her BB gun because they are always talking about shooting their BB guns. She can probably out-shoot most of them:-)

The original post made my hardself smile. Keep up the good work, Dad.