How young is to young for kids?

My mother has it wrote in my baby book that at 3 years old the only toys I wanted were cars, trucks and guns. Anything else was tossed to the side. Funny thing is it never changed. Ive got a picture of my son shooting a bearcat at camp when he was 3 years old. He absolutely loved it. My kids grew up with guns in the house and I don't ever recall a single instance when they tried to play with one. There was no real fascination with them because if they wanted to shoot them all they had to do was ask. They were taught guns safety and respect from the minute they were old enough to comprehend it. Probably even before that. I still remember overhearing my oldest daughter telling here friend that "in this house we don't touch dads guns." For my oldest grandsons 9 birthday he got a smith ar22. He loves it.

Would you rather they satisfy their curiosity with you or without you?

But I cannot keep them from wanting to play with this AR.

You do not let them play with the guns, if they able to get it easy .Lock it up, only let them handle it with you or adult is with them.Also like other say guns are not a toy to play with. You can teach them for you know your kids the best. Also have them to not touch the guns unless they a told they can , treat it loaded no matter it is not. You never know.Also have them treat every gun the same.

My girls (8 and 6 now) both started being allowed, under careful supervision, to shoot, around age 5. My boy is 3 now and I suspect he'll be shooting by 4.

Surely it goes without saying that letting them shoot under supervision isn't the same as 'giving them guns' to be responsible for on their own.

I do believe that your son has 2 fingers on the trigger. I dry fire, you dry fire, but young children should not dry fire. They don’t understand the basic rules, and creating exceptions complicates it greatly.

You’ve already made the decision by leaving them about. I suppose at this point you aren’t deciding when to start training, but how to train them. I suggest a toy for the house, maybe airsoft, make them demonstrate unsnding of safe handling and basic range rules while shooting cans with you in the yard. If you think they’ve learned, then make them carry it around the house for a week, if they pass they can shoot cans without you. And in the meantime, no they should not be handling your guns.

Good luck, it’s not the worst mistake you’ll make as a parent, not by a long shot.

That is something that depends on the child and the parent. Two aspects are when a child is 1) physically, and 2) mentally ready.

Too young to start teaching? No such thing. You decide when to start them shooting but teaching starts now. Yesterday.
https://youtu.be/lZaRiDsqgqU
Mickey has some good thoughts and ideas, actually a lot of them.

I started teaching my oldest daughter (4) this past christmas with a red ryder bb gun. Shes not big enough yet to shoulder it properly but it sure is a lot closer than my marlin 60 or henry golden boy youth.
Teaching her the destructive capabilities of guns by using water balloons (and pumpkins) as our targets.

Twin 4 year olds at a active gun range....good luck with that. Remember to bring another adult to watch the one your aren't supervising shooting a 22 of some sort, if the range allows and you choose to pursue this. I assume you live with these boys and realize how children are, be careful, use prudent judgement, as you are the adult in this situation. The time will come when you know they are ready and you don't have to ask others to try to justify your actions.

I taught my two what guns could do as soon as they showed any interest whatsoever in Dad's toy's.
Four years old sounds about right . The first thing I did was shoot some water filled milk jugs , water melons , cantaloupe's and filled soft drink cans with high velocity JHP's ... I wanted to impress on them what happens when a guns bullet hits something . The exploding cans , jugs and fruit and me pointing out the terrible wounds that would happen if carelessly fired must have worked .
Both became very safety aware with guns from an early age . The other day my 47 year old said she still remembers me showing her what bullets do and then the fun we had shooting my Ruger 10/22 at targets .
Make a big impression on them...show them the effects a bullet and then SAFETY lessons...
You can't be too safe when shooting . Teach them young .
Gary

I started teaching my son at age 4 with a Crossman 760 pellet gun,then moved him on to a ithaca model 49 single shot lever action at 6.my daughter didn't care anything about guns till she was a teenager

One last thing

I firmly believe in a safe. Or a gun cabinet.

Firearms should not be propped In a corner of the house.


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Originally Posted by flyingmonkey35

One last thing

I firmly believe in a safe. Or a gun cabinet.

Firearms should not be propped In a corner of the house.


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I agree, I have a concrete building with a safe door, those ARs were there to take to the building

I bet I was 6 when dad gave me a bb gun. Now look what happened I have guns in the double digits.

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Originally Posted by WinchesterM1

So how young is too young to let them go to the range?

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In my opinion there is no "too young." But be very careful of hearing protection. Young ears are easily damaged.

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Originally Posted by GhostHawk

I taught firearm safety for 15 years. Under 10 as a general rule they do not have the maturity to take it serious. And it needs to be taken serious.

There is a reason they teach firearm safety in 6th grade. By the time they are 12 or pushing 12 they can understand the difference between a toy and a weapon that can kill. Firearms are NOT toys, should not be played with.

They want toys, buy them a pair of airsoft AR's. Then shoot each one in the butt, once, jeans on.
Then tell them. Any human, dog, cat, farm yard animal gets hit with an airsoft pellet and you will take that AR out back and destroy it with an axe.

And when they do, (and they will) follow through. Do what you said. Make them realise how serious it is.
And if it was me I would keep the ammo locked away unless I was there to supervise target time.

IF, they can make it through a year without losing their guns they might be ready for BB guns. Same rules.

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nah Not so much. Most Firearm Safety guys I’ve met are way over the top in book sense and not so much on practicalities. I was 5. Single shot bolt action .22 Never had a BB gun. I was prolly 8 by the time I could take it without Dad supervision anymore. In all fairness each situation requires its own analyzation. 2 of my 3 boys (now men) were 5 also. The 3rd we waited til he was about 8. The point being that if you expose them to correct handling and usage early on guns won’t be such a mystery. They are tools, weapons, and also a thing of enjoyment. Dad never locked them up. As I would go into his den for our convos each time I would grab one and be handling it as we talked. Then put it back in the case as I was leaving. Yes. There is a responsibility with guns. But just as an ax, hatchet or chainsaw you need to get past the fear and recognize it for what it is. A tool/resource. None of those items I mentioned will do anything on its own. Only what you tell it to do. btw- Ammo was always locked up. And we all know that a gun with no ammo is.... well, a hammer. Lol

With one of my grandsons,who wanted to "play" with my guns, I showed him how to check if the gun is empty. I used a bolt action rifle,semi-auto rifle and pistols and revolvers. I would use an empty cartridge to show him the difference between "loaded and empty". Even though he was too young to work the actions he had to tell me how to do it. When he found a loaded gun ( which I sometimes set him up) he has to go tell grandma he found a loaded gun.
At about age 5-6 he would dress up with cowboy hat, bandanna, boots, and two SA Rugers in twin holsters. At age 7-9 he could hit a pop can at 30 yards 90% of the time. He had to put the stock under his arm pit to sight through the scope.
Now he is 19, he never picks up a gun without checking to make sure it is unloaded. He enjoys shooting and I have to make up the rules if I am going to beat him.
I never gave him a firearm to shoot that I thought would scare or bruise him from recoil. At age 16 it was a .41 Magnum and a 45-70 that he wanted to shoot. And always eye and ear protection.

They are not mentally developed enough at that young of an age - and let's face it - some adults aren't either.

While it is never to young to teach gun safety - the same with you don't touch a hot stove or play with knives - but a "child" of 4 should have nothing to do with an AR regardless of how cool they think it is to "play with". Lock it up where it should be - especially if there are kids in the house. In the wrong situation - i.e. the wrong people seeing a four year old "playing" . . . or "shooting" an AR - you might just find yourself charged with child endangerment. Use some common sense - you kids will grow up - start them out when they have the ability to know right from wrong and that guns are not toys - they are weapons that can kill. A BB gun or a pellet gun to start - graduate3 to a 22 but 'under supervision until you know they are mature enough to know the rules you set for safety - remember that you our your spouse may not always e around and and a less mature friend visiting with access to firearms equals a potential catastrophe. I speak from experience - I've seen the results of such things way too many times when I worked ambulance and fire rescue. C O M M O N S E N S E

I learned in my backyard with my dad when I was probably about 5yrs old. Learned with a .22 Benjamin pistol no less! Still have it too!

I think this depends on the kids to be honest. Are they willing to learn, can they understand the safety rules and do they understand the dangers.

If so, a pellet or BB gun might be a good starting point or perhaps a little youth rifle like a Crickett. Some form of quieter ammo like Quiet-22 or standard velocity Shorts/CB caps. The Aguila Colibri's would be perfect too if they are in a shorter barrel like the Crickett.

I got my own rifle, a single shot H&R .22 before I was 10 and my own semi auto after that.

I guess I was a late bloomer. I started hunting with my Dad and our family friend Mr. Hogge at the age of eight. It was at the late and mature age of 12 that I received my first gun, an Ithaca M66 Super Single 12 gauge shotgun. I still have it.