When it comes time to get your child started in shooting, there are several things that need to be considered.
But, before we get into how to pick out a gun for a kid, let's first talk about firearms safety and why it is so very important to learn at the youngest age possible.
The Importance of Teaching Safety:
Not too long ago, I had a friend and his teenager come over to show me their small collection of .22s. If you haven't already heard, I'm one of those “gun nuts” the liberals have warned you so much about. So when I heard the word “gun” I invited them over. Anyway, they came with a rifle and a few pistols. There were several times where the boy muzzled me—one of the pistols was actually loaded. Thankfully, I didn't bite the big one. After an intense lesson on gun safety, we moved on. Somehow, my friend failed as a firearms safety instructor. We should all be safety experts when we handle a firearm, whether loaded or not. Safety is everyone's concern.
The safety lesson included the regular stuff, like the four rules of firearms safety. But, it also went a step further than that. I told the boy that, even though we must treat every weapon as if it were loaded, before you hand a weapon to someone you MUST clear the chamber first. And, don't just clear it, show it to whoever you're handing it to so they can see that it is, in fact, a cold weapon. I told him that he must never hand someone a loaded firearm. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, like in an actual fire-fight. Other than that, I can't think of any other reasons why one person would hand another person a loaded gun. If I'm wrong on this, please feel free to let me know in the comments. Let's move on.
Age:
I often hear, “what age should I buy my kid his/her first gun?”
What kind of gun?
Well, I'm a firm believer that people need to work up to things. Think about it like this, when you first got a driver's license, you didn't jump right into the biggest truck you could find. More often than not, you started out with a regular sized car, and then moved up to a truck. If that is what you drive today, anyway. As I said above, the first gun I ever shot was a 12 gauge, and it wasn't the best experience. Why? Well, because it hurt like hell. I didn't' have the butt-stock seated in my shoulder pocket properly, and the gun smashed into my body. I urge you to start your children off with a .22lr rifle, instead of a 12 gauge shotgun. The reason for this, is if you want your kids to have an enjoyable experience in anything, don't hurt them. Sounds simple, right? Well, you'd be surprised at how many people start their kids off with a 12 or 20 gauge shotgun.
