What age were you exposed to firearms?

By the way my youngest daughter shot my Colt Python the first time when she was about 5, she would shoot it and I would catch her from behind when the recoil knocked her off the shooting bench she was leaning across.
She also shot in her one and only pistol match (.22) when she was 6 and was mad as hell that she placed second and sure the winner was an old woman of at least 8 and should have not been shooting in her age group(the match was for the 5 to 7 year olds).
She expressed an interest in going and shooting my .45s the other day, I guess I wont have to catch her this time as she is as tall as I am. Her older sister also wants me to take her shooting, so I guess I will take them one at a time. :)
 
My recollection is this:

I was only two minutes old, my skin still drying off.
My Father went outside and fired off a round from the shotgun to celebrate. Or maybe to try and kill that damn stork, not really sure.
 
As far back as I can recall I was exposed to firearms. My Dad kept the firearms locked in a gun cabinet. He would let me see them when I asked and would use those times of interest to go over the safety rules. My wife and I do the same thing with our daughter.
My first firearm was not a firearm but a spring powered BB gun at age of 6. Then at age of 10 a multi pump air rifle. At the age of 12 a 20 Gauge bolt action shotgun.
Always supervised when I used any of them.
From this I have a strong sense of respect of firearms and derive a lot of enjoyment from firearm sports. My daughter is on the same path. :)
 
I've been around guns from day one, was given a BB rifle for Christmas when I was 6, was dove hunting w/Dad by age 8.
3 to 4 years is a good age at which to give youngsters a demo of the power of guns. Fill a milk jug with colored water (not red) and shoot it while the kids watch from a safe place. They'll see a graphic result of what guns are capable of doing. Then you can explain to them that a gun will do this to whatever it's fired at, and that's why guns are not toys to be played with, but rather instruments of power to be respected and handled carefully.

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Shoot straight & make big holes, regards, Richard at The Shottist's Center
 
Wow, Bandit, my first rifle was the Ithaca Model 49 levergun, too! 4th grade, right around the same time my dad let me go bunny thumping with his side-by-side 10 gauge and I pulled both triggers. Luckily the snow in Wisconsin was deep, he pulled me out and told me to go get a shovel from the barn to dispose of "Bugs". My mom kinda peeved our family doctor during deer season, Dad, Mom, and the doc were all at the campsite when Mom's contractions started. Maybe it explains my sister's and my predilection for hunting and shooting. I still have Doc's hunting knife, God bless his soul. Since we're on the topic of early exposure to firearms, I was talking to my sister the other night, and in grade school we used to commandeer the basement locker room every Thursday night for Junior Rifle Club, there was a boilerplate backstop/bullet trap against the far wall, and 50 feet uprange was the firing line with shooting mats. Guns issued were Remington 5-series bolt action single shots, or the kids could bring their own, as long as they weren't autoloaders. I still have the Remington 521TL my dad bought for those matches after the Ithaca kept breaking it's extractor. My sister used her Winchester Model 52, which she still has, also, some 20+ years later. Trophies and plaques were handed out at the annual Awards Banquet in the school gymnasium, which was a big thing, lots of attendees, high profile folks, etc. For at least two seasons my sister and I were fighting each other for first place, and I came really close to eating some crow. Could you imagine how this kind of after-school activity and community behavior would wash in today's climate? "Oh my goodness, you're training kids to be killers?" My sister did tell me she plans on taking her son out to the range with her Winchester 52 and Swedish Mauser as soon as he's old enough, which warmed my heart to no end...
 
The Rambo age

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"Get rid of that nickel plated sissy pistol and get yourself a Glock" - Tommy Lee Jones

"Chi Chi, Get The Yeyo" - Tony Montana
 
About four or five, my Dad took the time to teach me in hopes of me passing it on. I remember the first time I shot a S&W M29 It was my tenth birthday and my Dad took me to the range, He loaded it and gave it to me and told me to have at it. Well needless to say it was the first time I swore aloud if front of a parent, but I didn't drop it..

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ACCEPT NOTHING LESS THAN FULL VICTORY!"
General Dwight D. Eisenhower-- June 6,1944
------------------------ http://www.homestead.com/gunrights/Guns_and_Gunrights.html
 
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