How young is to young for kids?

[WinchesterM1]

I just got done building a higher end 6.5 grendel AR, and I have 4 year old twin boys who know proper gun safety. But I cannot keep them from wanting to play with this AR. So how young is too young to let them go to the range?

[flyingmonkey35]

Well out of sight = put of mind.

It is never to early to teach proper firearm safety.


I would recommend starting with a single shot 22 cricket.

Or a pellet guns.

Teach them all a about safety. How guns are NOT TOYS.

Just remember they have the attention span of a surged up squirl at that age and will grow bored very fast.


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[MrWolf]

You know your kids best. I waited till my son was 16 due to a lot of things. Everyone is different

[dangitgriff]

Check with the range to see if they have minimum age requirements; many do.

[Buzz Krumhunger]

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

Four seems pretty young. They need to know that they don’t “play” with a firearm.

[bolivor]

Put the AR up where they can't get and tell them to play with their toys.The AR is not a play thing.

[country gent]

While not a toy to be "played" with ( Im assuming you meant handling and such more) they do need to know safe handling and the safety rules and such since firearms are in the home. There is a lot of curiosity wit young children and firearms.
My wife and I would stop and show a firearm to our children when they asked about one, Yes they were allowed to handle it, they were also shown how to check it was unloaded and cleared. This took a lot of the curiosity out of them.
Starting them shooting is a decision you have to make, this depends on stature maturity attention span. A good BB gun or single shot 22 ( pneumatic or even spring cocker air rifles tire you out to fast getting them ready) and ammo rationed by the shot works best. Remember they will turn to ask dad questions and the firearm is liable to turn with them or be dropped. Slow simple and close works best. I also recommend iron sights to start moving up to apertures then scopes.
The big plus to the bb gun is back yard in country or basement can be a makeshift range for them, a heavy big back stop isnt needed

[Love Life]

Holy scope height, Batman!!

[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.

[M-Tecs]

I started actively shooting under dads supervision at 4 or 5. By 8 I could take my 22 rifle or Dad's High Standard HD-Military anytime I wanted. By 10 I had my own snowmobile, 225 Winchester rifle that I actively hunted fox and coyotes with the . Dad purchased the sled so I could check the horse pasture after the snow got too deep preventing him from driving the pickup to check on the horses. It was about a 4 mile one way run to the horses. Even a minus 20 I made that run everyday in the winter. When I grew up boys in rural areas were expected to mature earlier. Today not so much.

[WinchesterM1]

My kids are very mature for their age, I shouldn’t have used to word “play” before he laid down behind this AR he asked if it was clear(his words not mine) only after I said yes he laid down to look through the scope. ALL of my ammo stays in the gun building, it does not come in the house, if it is in the house it is in the home protection firearms which obviously is well taken care of and they know not to touch them. I try to keep a AK and a AR around for them to get to know and to get comfortable being around since my job is literally shooting guns for gun mags and as a tester and loader for Lehigh Defense. I think he likes looking through scopes more than anything. I may mount a cheap scope to a 2x4 and let him carry it around. They both will turn 5 in June

[country gent]

How about this, pick up a cheap gun show stock or 2, something sized for the cricket or old boys rifles. Most of these the receiver and barrel were the same dia. Mount a dowel rod in the stock a set of see thru mounts and a close pin on the back a inexpensive scope mounted in the rings and a supply of rubber bands.

[djryan13]

Slap a 22 upper on that thing and be done with it. They can handle it if they are mature enough. When you teach them don’t “play”. Be serious. Use the word “tool” or “rifle”. Be happy you got boys who might like shooting. Some think shooting is just in video games.

[Hogtamer]

4,5, or 6 is too young mentally and physically in my opinion. BB gun training at 6

[Tripplebeards]

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.

I agree. Below ten years of age should be spectators and not trigger pullers during hunting season. It’s fine to get them active at younger ages for target shooting but imo they should not be out hunting even when in arms reach. The maturity level is not there. To much excitement, lack of experience and judgement, and emotions running wild are not a good combination sitting behind a firearm. If you want to do it on your own private property where no one else is hunting and is going to be in danger then more power to you. I’m not a fan of our special youth seasons either. It screws up bow hunting and pressures deer back to being nocturnal around my area. When I was 12 In the early eighties I hunted opening day in very close sight of my dad. It worked just fine. I also already went through hunters safety and had several BB guns since I was 8 So I was well aware of gun safety and how to shoot. I could actually shoot better then my whole hunting party at 12. At 10, I had a 7.5 horse outboard and v bottom boat and sailed the Mississippi all day by myself...but lived on the river, had swimming lessons at the Y non stop since I was 4 and went through several lifesaving courses by 10, and I had my boater’s safety certification. I’ve witnessed some of these modern under 10 year old youth hunters who get upset, cry, and a step away from a melt down when they miss an animal. That is not the maturity level I want in the woods behind a forearm. A few more years and they should be mature enough to be able to handle the rejection of missing.

Target shooting safely on your own private property go for it. Hunting at that age is a big no for me.

[frkelly74]

I saw Crickett rifles mentioned , and they are great rifles. But they are loud, so when we were at that stage I used the CCI Quiet rounds and we went hunting balloons. My daughter still says, when she sees balloons, "I hope they don't charge us". She is 21 now. Don't forget the ear muffs!

[FLINTNFIRE]

Firearms should be taught early , my kids older and younger were taught early the safety and respect for firearms and I have let them shoot as I was with parental supervision not any gun safety teacher or other person who was considered by whomever to be a expert , it begins at home from a early age , firearms safety training and shooting , only you can make the decision of what age or size , I would never even ask it here as the amount of criticism you will get for each yes you will end up with a no . My father taught us early , and I think its important to teach early as then you will not have kids playing with guns and making mistakes , I do not believe you meant playing in the true sense of the word , I think you meant becoming familiar with them and being allowed to learn about them , teach them young and they will remember it where did I hear that at somewhat paraphrased by the way . Our children are our future .

[shooterg]

Pop let me shoot his old trapper .22(Springfield 15Y, $2.98 from Sears before WWII) at age 6 . He was a Marine and never owned a handgun but made sure I could handle that rifle - when he was home ! Next year turned 7 in July, he let me start squirrel hunting with that single shot(yeah, I still have it) in the fall . After that I was turned loose, and every time I had change, I'd walk to the hardware store, reach UP to the counter to pay for another box of 50 ! Gramps payed me a bit for every pigeon shot eating the pigs corn, more for crows and groundhogs, occasionally a skunk trying to sneak around the henhouse and once, even a fox !

Pop would NOT let us have BB guns- too many stories of kids shooting each other(you'll put your eye out !)

Started my daughter at 8(same age as Annie Oakley supposedly) with a Chipmunk, started my grandson at 7 . He's 9 and getting a MP15-22 for Christmas this year. He's more safety conscious than most of the adults at our local Range, but we still have 80 acres for him to cruise anyway. No kid is the same - some ain't ever going to be ready to handle guns. They'll most likely grow up to be Democrats.

[facetious]

I think I was about 7 or 8 when I found a .22 in my grandpa's grainery and told my dad. That was when he started to teach me how to shoot and be safe. I wanted a BB gun but when I turned 10 he got me a .22 single shot. I didn't get a BB gun till I was 12. Years later I asked him why I got a .22 before I got a BB gun. He said that if I learned with a real gun I would learn to treat it like a real gun if I learned with a BB gun I would learn to treat it like a toy.

In WW ll he was a armorer and told me that he like to go to the range to watch the new guys learning to shoot. He said you could tell the city kids from the farm kids just from watching them. I didn't think about it much till I was much older but looking back the Viet Nam thing was starting and I can't help but think that he was trying to give me a head start. The war ended before I turned 18 so now it is just a hobby.

[Win94ae]

I don't know why my dad didn't let me play with his service revolver when I was 4. I had to play with my toy double barreled shotgun... you know the one where you would lose the corks and have to use mud in their place.

I did get to shoot his revolver when I was 8 or so, when he took us to the strip mines.