Starting the kids shooting

[toyotaslave]

I've been having the gun safety and awareness talks with my two kids a LOT. Today we got out and they shot a Red Rider my son, 8 got for Christmas a couple of years ago. He had no interest in shooting anything else though. To each his own. At least he will be properly educated (I think).

He shot my Ruger mkIII ONCE. He'd had enough. My 3 year old daughter on the other hand wanted to try. I made sure she understood about safety (as much as a 3 year old girl's brain can comprehend) and held the Ruger with her. She snapped off 8 shots and begged for a reload! She did shoot the dirt...a lot, from 15 yards from target, but she pulled the trigger all by herself!

Who'da thunk the pink princess would be daddy's shooting buddy? Man this melts me! I'm so proud of her!

 

[barrelmaker_2002]

I compliment you on educating your children about gun safety and shooting.

However, I cannot recommend allowing a three year old to shoot a gun. Maybe an air gun, but probably not anything else.

4-H shooting starts at 8. Other programs do not have minimum ages, but common sense applies in these situations and until a child can truly understand the potential consequences of not shooting safely, it is not advisable to let them shoot.

I will say that there are no hard and fast rules and I will defer to your judgment. But hearing about a 3 year old with a firearm makes me cringe a bit.

 

[toyotaslave]

Well I was holding it pretty much. Just clinching her hands out of the way and letting her pull the trigger. My point was how surprised I was of how shy my son was and how unflinching the girl is. Maybe that's not such a good thing. The daughter may be too brave :P

I'm not about to turn either loose with any gun. Even the boy is closely guarded with a BB gun. Just testing the waters with them and reporting my surprise findings to you all.

Not that I don't value your input, quite the contrary. If I had read that I too would be a bit frightened. I guess it's one of those situations you have to be there for.

Anyone else have any kid shooting stories to share? Please chime in!

 

[M88A1]

started my son at 9 with the Red Rider. He's now 12 and I gave him a bolt action .22 for his birthday. Nice to be able to shoot at home. I can stand back and just supervise.