How young is to young for kids?

[wildwilly]

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

Friend...I couldn't have expressed it better, myself.

[WRideout]

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

I gave my oldest daughter a BB gun at age seven, and taught her to treat it like a firearm. Later I took my 9 year-old nephew to shoot with me, and he never caused any trouble or took an unsafe action.

wayne

[mattw]

I started both of my girls in their 5's with a Cricket. Best thing I could have done. But, if a safety mistake is made... put it up. That means some days you may only get one shot!

[mule1]

When I came up (not that long ago), my dad didn’t spend much on guns. This meant that I used full sized guns. I “helped” him shoot at an early age (6) but I was hunting by 8. I was expected to tote an adult sized 410 at that age. I think you start them as young as possible, even if they aren’t pulling the trigger. Seeing you handle a weapon with respect, and realizing that it is something to be had with maturity and adulthood will go a long way in developing a respect in them. Cleaning, disassembling the weapon, drawing targets, talking about the life of an animal and what it is sacrificing to give you food, are teaching moments. Don’t wait until they’ve got girls on the brain to try to teach them these things!

[M-Tecs]

While I do agree that young minds take time to develop a reasonable level of maturity it should also be obvious to all (unfortunately it is not) that culture and needs greatly influence how quickly most people mature. Look at WWII and the amount of 15 to 17 year old that lied about their age it enlist. It was younger during WWI and even younger during the Civil war. Up until recently 12 to 14 year old boys were expected to be adults.

At 20 when I moved from a rural area to a major city I was dumbfounded at the maturity level difference between city kids and rural kids. Lots of reasons for this difference but one thing is a fact it's not because brains are developing differently. No or limited expectation lead to no or limited results.

[mule1]

Amen brother

[abunaitoo]

The first, and most important, thing they have to learn, is that "a firearm is not a toy".
See it all the time at the ranger where people treat them as toys and are dangerously unsafe.
For some people, and age is NOT the right age.

[FLINTNFIRE]

Better to teach them from a young age then to not teach them yourself or something happen and them not be able to use one in defense of you or themselves , seriously kids can learn early , yes some never have the maturity or trust worthiness to have one , my kids were taught to respect them and how to use them and to keep fingers away from triggers and barrel pointed away , but if something happens I for one want my children to know how to use one in defense and self protection , seen adults who were never taught good common sense and firearm safety and they are dangerous , big ego little knowledge careless , those are things that worry me.

[M-Tecs]

On my moms the side extended family would get together for a communal butchering in the spring and fall. In the spring we would do 3 or 4 hogs and in the fall 1 or 2 steers and 2 or 3 hogs. Starting at age 7 I was the designated shooter. Nothing like dropping a 350 hog or a 800 or 900 pound steer with a 22LR to drive home the point that 22's weren't toys.

One of my uncles was legally blind. In ND 12 year olds could get permits to drive for farming actives. He had to be with them but they all drove loaded grain and cattle trucks on the highway at age 12. They matured because they had to.

On a side note you can get a learners permit at 14 and a restricted license at 15in ND. https://www.drivinglaws.org/resource...n-driving.html.

One more side note most farmers own their own tractor trailer rigs their 15 year old kids can legally drive tractor trailer rigs without a CDL. I know at least a dozen folks that were driving tractor trailer rigs at 15.

I took my drivers test on my 15th birthday and the day after I started working PT at the gas station. It was the only one open on the weekend (very small town). On Sundays I would be the only one there. If you had a wrecker call you hung a note on the door with the estimated time you would be back. That was before we had much for fire and rescue so the wrecker was called to help with the accident scene. In a small community you knew almost everyone so the people that were dead, dying or severely injury were people you knew. The only one that really got to me was on a nice sunny Sunday afternoon I was looking forward to going on a first date going to the movies at 7pm. About 5 minutes before closing time at 4 pm got a call of an overturned piece of equipment with someone pinned underneath. Turns out it was her dad. He was crushed from the bellybutton down. He gave me his last message for his wife and daughter. He bleed out in 30 seconds or less when the weight came off.

Kids shouldn't have to deal with stuff like that but on the other hand something is seriously wrong when you look at how many of today's snowsflakes have the inability to deal with even the most minor challenges or adversities. How did we go from the great generation to the failed generation?

[dverna]

No lecture....and my experience is mine so not relevant to you.

If you had to ask, you must have doubts. Think about that for a bit.

One size does not fit all. Some kids should not be trained until later than others. You and your wife know best. If in doubt, wait a bit.

Good luck

[Stephen Cohen]

No lecture....and my experience is mine so not relevant to you.

If you had to ask, you must have doubts. Think about that for a bit.

One size does not fit all. Some kids should not be trained until later than others. You and your wife know best. If in doubt, wait a bit.

Good luck

Well put Sir. Line two is a good point and I never picked up on that till you pointed it out. Regards Stephen

[white eagle]

when is to young
probably when they stop thinking of an Ar as a play toy
when they no longer want to play with the Ar it's time to go tho the range

[FISH4BUGS]

My son and daughter were introduced to guns at about age 9 or 10.
We started with 22's. My daughter was a crack shot right out of the chute.
Both had fired suppressed full auto guns by the time they were 11.
Both have enormous respect for guns and the safety needed when using them.
I think it all depends on the maturity level and how much you trust them.

[popper]

But I cannot keep them from wanting to play with this AR Guns are not toys!! Until they realize that, keep it locked up. Kids are curious and some end up dead or wounded. Do you 'play' with it? They will copy YOU. When old/big enough they will try your steering wheel too.

[PNW_Steve]

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.

Sounds very much like my early years.

I don't remember how old I was when I first started shooting with my Dad. I do remember getting my first rifle of my own. I was seven and incredibly proud to put my new. .22 in the display case next to my Dad's rifles.

[Dapaki]

All of my children shot a single shot bolt action 22 when they were four years old but they were never allowed to play with any weapon, ever! By the time they were around 10, they were allowed to shoot larger calibers and by the time they were 13 they got to see what bullets dead in real life to animals. My children are all grown adults with their own families and continue does tradition, the granddaughter who is 6 will shoot her first 22 this summer.

[facetious]

What were the things that influenced you when you were a kid? John Wayne movies, westerens , friends, family look at how much has change from when you were a kid. Insted a fight behind the school you have a drive by or some kind of shooting. It seems like every thing thy know about guns and shooting thy learn from TV and the movies were you can solve problems by just shooting them and walking away. No one gets cought no one has to live with the things thy do. As a kid you knew what was going on at your school in your town and neighborhood. Now with the internet thy know what is going on in every school every town , it has created a place were we are abale to to divide our selves in to groups of us and them. Thy can see what others like them are doing. The anonymity of the internet lets them say or do thing thy would never have in real life. It is a chance to be some one you never were and may well never be but some kid some where will look at some of this stuff and wonder if it worked for them maybe it will work for them too. We make heros out people who arn't and some where some one wants to be just like them.

It isn't just you raising your kid any more it is the whole bleeping world and thy don't care about your kid. What thy care about is profit that can be made and agendas that can be pushed and thy want your kid to be a tool thy can use. This is what you are up against, you can have the best kid in the world and do the best you can raising them but you still have to overcome evey one else and every thing else that wants them to be just like them.

[DukeConnors]

It's up to the individual kid. It isn't angel it is an ability to follow direction.

[M-Tecs]

It's up to the individual kid. It isn't angel it is an ability to follow direction.

Yup. All people and all kids are different. The one common denominator that I see with the kids and adults that lack maturity is that they never were taught or they had an inability to learn the value of respecting other people and other people needs or wants. It really manifest itself in their lack of respect of consequence for their own bad behavior.

[Kev18]

Im 22 years old... I can tell you that its never to young. Don't hide it and act like the rifle isnt there. Let them get familiar with it. Its better to show them what it is then to try to restrict them. They are kids, they will find a way to go see it and touch it. Trust me, I was there not to long ago. If you think its safe, in a vault, its not. I figured out what I had too to get to my dad's guns, and went to go see them plenty times when my parents were out of sight.
And don't forget, you have boys. We like guns, guns are cool, guns are fun. They think the same way because we adults do. Everyone here saying, that they can't play with them because they aren't "toys". True... How many times do people talk to there buddy or whoever, and mention the "new toy" they just bought while the kids are listening. For a child, a toy is a toy. Don't tell him that its not a toy when you just got off the phone with Jerry the neighbor saying that you just bought a new toy. They can't comprehend metaphors and sarcasm.