What age do you think it is appropriate to teach a child to shoot?

[99TROUBLE]

I think we started my son & daughter @ 6&7 years old W/ alot of saftey training.One of the best things we did was to take them out & let them see firsthand what gunshots can do to a person by means of shooting pumpkins w/a wide variety of guns [very graphic realization]. My son now owns 5 of his own guns & is deadly accurate @ 11 years old. You should have seen the looks & comments we recieved @ Academy when we where sizing him up w/ the new Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22.

 

[LtCCMPUnit42]

My son is 14 months, and I bought his first rifle for him about 3 months before he was born. I bought him a Rossi single shot .22/.410 convertable that has a keyed hammer lock. I can lock the hammer w/the key while I am teaching him to safely handle his firearm and I don't have to worry about even the remote chance that he can load/fire it without me having full control. Have started letting him fire .22 blanks and beginning to teach him proper shooting posture even though his little arms are not long enough for the stock yet. Safety, safety, and more safety. I am teaching him not to point even his nerf guns at poeple and to always keep his muzzle in a safe direction. (he gives the wife's cat hell w/his nerf gun though, gets me and him both in trouble)

 

[ChiefT]

I started my boy out when he was 5.

 

[TimWTaylor]

My son was 5 when I taught him. The ghost ring sights were hard to explain to him, so I made cardboard cutouts of them and showed him how to line them up. After that, he hit 24 out of 25 with it at 100 yards.

At that same shooting session, I showed him with gallons of water, watermelons, and gallons of jello how damaging bullets were. He is now 14 and he has an absolute respect for all guns and always treats all guns even air soft bb-guns with utmost respect.

 

[Robert871]

not a parent, so feel free to tell me to shut up. but i would say it is kind of up to the kid. if they are ready or not, they will show interest, and try it (with help of course) if hes able to hold the gun, he can probably shoot it with help and guidance.

also, the sooner they learn to properly handle a gun, safely, checking breech, muzzle control, and proper uses and respect for a firearm, the better.

otherwise i think that is how stories where children shoot another by accident playing with a gun in their house, well that and perhaps poor storage methods of parents....

 

[flatwins]

not a parent, so feel free to tell me to shut up. but i would say it is kind of up to the kid. if they are ready or not, they will show interest, and try it (with help of course) if hes able to hold the gun, he can probably shoot it with help and guidance.

also, the sooner they learn to properly handle a gun, safely, checking breech, muzzle control, and proper uses and respect for a firearm, the better.

otherwise i think that is how stories where children shoot another by accident playing with a gun in their house, well that and perhaps poor storage methods of parents....

Agreed AND... many parents have a gun in the house but prefer to hide it from the kids and pretend that they'll never find it. Kids are curious and unfortunately we all know what can happen. The gun won't give the safety talk on its own. It is up to the parent or grandparent to sit the kids down and "bake" the safety lecture into them. In my opinion it is far better, as a previous poster said, to take the kids out and let them see what a gun will do to tree stumps, watermelons, etc. and they will gain respect of the firearm. My dad made a huge point of those demonstrations and I remember it like it was yesterday. My son was getting the safety lecture several years before he fired a live round. Even my 6 yr old daughter knows to not touch a gun without asking me first.

Shooting can be a very enjoyable time for a family. It is among some of my best memories growing up.