The Liberal Gun Club Forum

My boy, who is now 5, is currently at a summer camp with his mom. He called me lastnight, clearly very excited, to tell me about his time there. Of the many activities he participated in these are the ones that surprised me: 1) archery 2) sling shot and 3) rifle shooting I was surprised by the gun thing because my ex-wife absolutely hates guns, so the fact that she let him participate in that activity was a head scratcher. My son told me, "I got to shoot a gun and the bullets flew out." I took this to mean that he was likely shooting a bolt-action .22lr and that he was describing the brass casings being ejected.

Any of you expose your children to shooting at an early age? If so, how old were they?

Glad he enjoyed it and that his mom didn't stop it. A 22lr with CBs would be very mild to shoot for a child with little noise. JoelB mentioned that he got his grandson who is 6 years old a 22lr rifle.
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I didn't have any children of my own and my ex is an extreme gun-hater. She has a daughter I helped her raise from about 8 years old. I don't have much contact with them anymore. I am in the camp that children simply want guidance and when they are about 9 or 10 they are capable of asking for advice and making decisions. My ex is definitely not in the camp of allowing children to make their own decisions.

Most women understand that for children to grow up healthy and mentally fit they have to make their own decisions. Since there probably was a certified instructor your ex was confident your son could have fun and be safe.

The "guns are bad" meme has taken hold. If guns are bad, knives are bad, vehicles are bad, and anything that might cause injury or death is bad.

I had a BB gun at 6 and a .22 at 9. My son, now 16, had a BB gun at 7, was shooting 4H 10 meter air rifle at 8, and has been shooting 'his' .22 since he was 10.

Congrats on the camp experience - it sounds like your son had fun and that there's room for mom to grow a bit as well. Sweet!

AndyH wrote: Thu Aug 16, 2018 1:42 pm I had a BB gun at 6 and a .22 at 9. My son, now 16, had a BB gun at 7, was shooting 4H 10 meter air rifle at 8, and has been shooting 'his' .22 since he was 10.

Congrats on the camp experience - it sounds like your son had fun and that there's room for mom to grow a bit as well. Sweet!

I'm waiting for them to return from camp so I can get more specifics from her. My goal is to buy my son his very own .22 when he's 11 or 12. I think he has to be in that age range to take the DNR firearm safety course. He's really into Nerf guns but he has a bad habit of pointing it at me when he's playing, so i'm trying to get him to understand gun safety through play, as in, never point your gun at me or anyone.

Ironically, I went to a super-Progressive camp as a young child--I mean SUPER-Progressive, so much so I knew people who went rightward after they grew up to become more "conservative", and therefore joined the Young Socialists' Alliance!

Despite that, the summer I turned 8, we had regular shooting chances, where we took turns with a .22 short single-action rifle, carefully instructed. They also had a .22LR for the older kids to shoot. Imagine that! And nobody ever got hurt! I've always enjoyed the rare chances I've had to shoot long guns and I find I still enjoy them better than hand gun shooting, which while I can enjoy it, is more like learning life-saving or fire drills--necessary for family safety, and hopefully never needed.

But that's me, just me.

No children of my own, but I got my first BB gun when I was 5, and used to take it to the range (outdoor, very basic) when my father went with his guns (Luger, Radom, and a couple of rifles). He would let me fire his guns as well. Got my first .22 when I was about 12.

My daughter was around 10 when she got introduced to shooting a 22. Firearm safety instruction was much earlier as we've had some difficulty impressing on certain family households (that shall remain nameless) that secure storage is necessary. She's 14 now and shoots once or twice a year with me (rimfire rifle, she doesn't like rimfire handgun) but always closely supervised. She's a little to spacey for me to trust on her own with a firearm yet. Plus, the only place she'd get to shoot is when I load stuff up to make a range trip. I'll probably get her behind an AR before the year is over.

I bought my own bb gun around 10 or so. Never shot my (or anyone else's) eye out. I took one bird before my conscious said that was fucking stupid. I did shoot a lot of rats off the wires at my grandparents, though--fond summer memory.

He’s definitely shooting a .22 bolt action

It's a personal thing, the parent has to decide when a kid is ready to take on the responsibilities of safe shooting. My son was introduced to shooting when he was 4 yrs old. my oldest granddaughter when she was six. This is a picture of my granddaughter at a range five years ago shooting her little 22.

Ugh. My boy is really into Nerf guns right now. Even though they're toys I'm still finding myself talking to him about muzzle control and that he shouldn't point his gun at me or threaten to shoot me. He still says stuff like, "I'm gonna shoot you in the face," which makes me apprehensive about buying him a real gun when he's older. Maybe it's just a phase but I have to take this stuff seriously.

Any of you experience this with your children? I know quite a few parents that won't let their kids play with Nerf guns because they're still guns. My son knows that his Nerf guns are toys, but that still doesn't make it acceptable for him to talk the way he does. How would you talk to your child about gun safety?

I don't think most 5 year olds are capable of rational thought, so give it some time. That said, I definitely would not put a firearm in his hands until he's able to distinguish right from wrong in regards to muzzle control.

Yeah, I kinda agree that your kid has to completely outgrow the Nerf gun mentality before he can grow into owning a real gun. Hollywood “bang bang” stuff has to be firmly locked in the fantasy part of the mind before any true responsibility for firearms can develop.

Carl_Spackler wrote: Thu Jan 03, 2019 11:27 am Ugh. My boy is really into Nerf guns right now. Even though they're toys I'm still finding myself talking to him about muzzle control and that he shouldn't point his gun at me or threaten to shoot me. He still says stuff like, "I'm gonna shoot you in the face," which makes me apprehensive about buying him a real gun when he's older. Maybe it's just a phase but I have to take this stuff seriously.

Any of you experience this with your children? I know quite a few parents that won't let their kids play with Nerf guns because they're still guns. My son knows that his Nerf guns are toys, but that still doesn't make it acceptable for him to talk the way he does. How would you talk to your child about gun safety?

My dad didn't talk about gun safety when I played with cap guns or sticks, but it was made clear starting with BB guns. I did the same with my now 16 YO. I found that my son understood the difference between playing and reality well before age five. It took his parents longer than that to feel comfortable, though that was our problem, not his.

Don't stress about play behavior at this point. You'll see a TON of changes in his maturity that'll happen very quickly. I'd bet you'll be feeling better when he's five, and won't hesitate to hand him a .22 at six.

Enjoy the time, Carl - it goes by way too quickly!

ETA... When he's younger, your actual gun time will be highly controlled, right? That's very different from play time. And - the structure will remain during range trips. My boy didn't have any trouble understanding the difference between a Nerf match, room clearing with an airsoft SMG, and shooting firearms at the range.