HankL,
Trust me you're not out of line asking those questions at all. Here is some background about our little darling!!
She has been around firearms since birth and thinks of them as tools nothing more. She has gone with me/us to the range on more than one ocassion and all she did was to play in the parking lot with other kids. Then again she has come up wanting to shoot a 30/06, 223, 45ACP, 38 spl and several other guns. I've never forced her to shoot just asked her if she really wanted to. Tonight I was cleaning the 308 PSS and as it was past her bed time she started crying as she wanted to stay up and help daddy clean the rifle. I promised her she could help tomorrow night after I went shooting, then she wanted to go shooting and skip school
This past weekend we went to the Wyoming Hunting and Fishing expo. She wanted to fire the pellet gun's and draged us to them, again and again we stood in line so I could hold up the pellet rifle while she shot the targets, did a good job by the way
Then she dragged me over to where they had a simulator set up shooting big game with full size rifles (lasers). She LOVED shooting bison, Bear and Deer.
She has the Eddie Eagle video, doll and other firearms safty things. The one thing she has grown up with is firearms safety and she practices it better than many adults I work with!!
We have been trying out .22 rifles and pellet rifles at the local gun shops and everytime she finds one that sort of fits all we hear out of her is "can I get it" This is the reason we are seriously looking for a youth rifle as she really wants one. I'm not about forcing her into anything as I think she would do better if she wants to and then we guide and teach her. Then she can teach her younger sister
Will see if I can find the Marlin 25Y tomorrow or mabey the "chimpmunk" rifle.
Thanks for the help!!!!!!!