irish52084
New member
This has been well covered, but I'll toss in my 2 cents. I have 2 sons, ages 6 and 1. I use a gunvault for my home defense pistol and keep my other guns unloaded if not in a safe. Luckily for our children both parents grew up in homes with guns and were trained in their safe use.
As soon as our oldest began to show a real interest in shooting, hunting, fishing we decided he was ready to be taught about firearms. He was about 5 maybe just a bit younger when this happened, each child is different and you just have to feel them out to decide when is the right time. I don't make guns a mystery and if he wants to see one or handle one all he has to do is ask and he has a few times, usually when a new one arrives.
I've just started him on my really old daisy air rifle and when he shows us he can be safe and responsible with it, he can move on to my bolt action .22. When he's safe and responsible with the .22 I think I'll give it to him or buy him one of his own. As he matures and progresses, so will the firearms he can have access to. I can't wait till he is a little bigger and a little more mature so he can start hunting with us. His uncles, and grandfathers will be thrilled at the chance to get him into the field, he's got some seriously good hunters to learn from and if he enjoys it, he'll be a good hunter himself.
I think these kinds of things are great to help kids gain responsibility, maturity and confidence. I truly think it's sad how many kids never get a chance to do some of the things I did as a kid. It seems like as a society we try too hard to keep them protected from anything that challenges them. How can they grow without an occasional challenge or learn if they are never given the chance to make mistakes?
As soon as our oldest began to show a real interest in shooting, hunting, fishing we decided he was ready to be taught about firearms. He was about 5 maybe just a bit younger when this happened, each child is different and you just have to feel them out to decide when is the right time. I don't make guns a mystery and if he wants to see one or handle one all he has to do is ask and he has a few times, usually when a new one arrives.
I've just started him on my really old daisy air rifle and when he shows us he can be safe and responsible with it, he can move on to my bolt action .22. When he's safe and responsible with the .22 I think I'll give it to him or buy him one of his own. As he matures and progresses, so will the firearms he can have access to. I can't wait till he is a little bigger and a little more mature so he can start hunting with us. His uncles, and grandfathers will be thrilled at the chance to get him into the field, he's got some seriously good hunters to learn from and if he enjoys it, he'll be a good hunter himself.
I think these kinds of things are great to help kids gain responsibility, maturity and confidence. I truly think it's sad how many kids never get a chance to do some of the things I did as a kid. It seems like as a society we try too hard to keep them protected from anything that challenges them. How can they grow without an occasional challenge or learn if they are never given the chance to make mistakes?