Kids and guns

[rj1974]

I have never kept my firearms hidden from my son . The first time he went shooting he was around 5 . He is now eleven and knows how to operate most my our firearms and he is a hell of a shot . I drilled him with safety . I can have a half a dozen firearms laying out and he wont look twice at them . He knows if he wants to see one or handle one all he has to do is ask .

I taught him young so he did not have the curiosity to go looking for them when I was not around . The mystique is gone for him . I trust my son around firearms more then I trust most adults .

 

[rj1974]

And when the SHTF he can cover a window

 

[Maryland Hunter]

I started teaching my daughter gun safety at age 7, took her shooting at age 8. .22 Crickett rifle at On Target, and of course I was watching more of her gun safety than her marksmanship. She did well on both counts, though.

MH

 

[boss66tcode]

And when the SHTF he can cover a window

There are advantages to educating your kids on these things

 

[RG99]

I think you should definitely show both of them your handgun and just be clear to them that it is not a toy. That's what my father did, when I was about 7 my dad pulled out a shotgun and pistol and removed the magazine. He let me hold it and explained to me that it wasn't a toy and even let me shoot it at our property. IMO the earlier you introduce your kids to firearms and teach them the proper and safe way of using them, the safer they will be in the future with them.

 

[swinokur]

Once you remove the mystery for kids, and let them satisfy their own curiosity, I think that really helps prevent accidents.

 

[mvee]

I wonder if they could pick up any bad tendencies when they are not living with you. The time they spend away from you may cause them to be extremely curious when they do come back they might have forgotten what they were told.

A friend of mine brought out a 22 to show his son. The son had been getting curious about firearms. He got through telling him how he never should point the gun at anybody, etc. My friend took the bolt out and showed his son how to aim. This was in the kitchen. The son was aiming at things in the back yard when the mother walked into the kitchen. The son instinctively aimed the rifle at his mother an said "pew pew".

There are no longer any firearms in that house.

 

[Mdeng]

You should keep in mind that in MD it is a criminal charge to keep a weapon where a child under 16 could gain access. As long as you unloaded and trigger lock or keep them in somethng CA DOJ certified when they are in yur home, you should be ok.

There is an exception to the under 16 law. If the child has taken and passed a Maryland hunter safety course then this law does not apply.

I understand that this is not the OP's situation but I wanted to clarify. Also there is no requirement to keep the gun locked or in a CADOJ certified case, let's not give Maryland polititions any ideas.

Please don't take this as a suggestion that you leave the guns out for them to play with. They should be secured not only form kids but any other unauthurized person. A trigger lock will keep the kids safe but a safe will keep the gun safe.

I teach the Jr Rifle program at St Charles Sportsman's club. It a free program open to the public that teaches firearm safety and 4 position rifle marksmanship. We meet at 1PM on the first Sunday of each month. Send me a PM if you would like more details.

 

[hvymax]

My kids started learning safe gunhandling around 2-3 with toys. BB/softair at 4-5. 22-410 5-6. By 7-8 they could handle 12 ga. At 8 I had them do the hunter safety course so they have a state issued credential authorizing them access to loaded firearms. Sorry about the marriage but raising them to be safe and responsible is your obligation.

 

[boss66tcode]

There is an exception to the under 16 law. If the child has taken and passed a Maryland hunter safety course then this law does not apply.

I understand that this is not the OP's situation but I wanted to clarify. Also there is no requirement to keep the gun locked or in a CADOJ certified case, let's not give Maryland polititions any ideas.

Please don't take this as a suggestion that you leave the guns out for them to play with. They should be secured not only form kids but any other unauthurized person. A trigger lock will keep the kids safe but a safe will keep the gun safe.

I teach the Jr Rifle program at St Charles Sportsman's club. It a free program open to the public that teaches firearm safety and 4 position rifle marksmanship. We meet at 1PM on the first Sunday of each month. Send me a PM if you would like more details.

Thank you for clarifying. I have been asked in the past what constitutes appropriately securing one, and that's the only answer I have heard. I've heard no official word on this, does anyone else know?

 

[Mr H]

My Grandfather started me shooting at about age 8.

Took me on my first hunt at 10.

Bought me my first gun at 12.

We hunted a lot through my early teen years. Also skinning, reloading, all that stuff.

Would NOT let me near a handgun until I was 16 or 17.

In retrospect, I think it was a combination of his uneasiness with handguns in general, and that I while I was good about things, I could be a bit of a flake on occasion.

I agree that--depending on the kid--early exposure and safety instruction is the best. But, not all kids should actually handle them on a regular basis.

 

[Mr H]

I will now periodically try to hand them a gun with a closed action. They have yet to accept it from me, they always see the action closed and tell me to open it ad clear it before they pick it up from me.

Good job.

My sons are now 27 and 24, but "check clear" is always the standard here (and I will light them up if they don't).

 

[august1410]

My daughter started around the time she turned 8. She'll be 12 in a few weeks and is proud to have a few guns to consider hers.

She doesn't go shooting as much as she used to, but will occasionally.

 

[BlueHeeler]

My Dad was a cop and police firearms instructor so there were always guns around. Some were loaded.

He did the right thing by removing all mystery. The rule was safety first and any gun I wanted to see at any time I could if I asked. I would even ‘help’ him clean guns. The stove was more off limits than firearms.

The result was there was no mystery. I never considered accessing the guns without him because it was so easy to access them with him. Plus I knew I would be in an infinite amount of trouble if I pulled out one of his guns. The same rules applied to the table saw and band saw.

Keeping firearms as a forbidden fruit is a recipe for disaster.

 

[diesel-man]

I don't think there's such a thing as too young for exposure and safety. Handling/shooting may vary by age due to maturity, etc...

 

[krashmania]

good trigger control!

 

[huesmann]

Kids are naturally curious about [stuff] they don't know. If you teach them about guns, they will know about them and stop being curious about them (well, the kind of curious that gets them in trouble, anyway). Guns will basically be old hat to them, eventually. If they go to a friend's house and the friend finds their dad's gun, they will know how to be responsible with it, and if the friend is screwing around with it, they'll know to GTFO ASAP.

 

[Mdeng]

Thank you for clarifying. I have been asked in the past what constitutes appropriately securing one, and that's the only answer I have heard. I've heard no official word on this, does anyone else know?

I have posted the actual law here before, I can't get to it at this time since I am using my phone. You may be able to find it with the search. My phone always dcrews up when I try to us search.

 

[newmuzzleloader]

I don't think there's such a thing as too young for exposure and safety. Handling/shooting may vary by age due to maturity, etc...

ding!ding!ding!ding! Theres the winner.
You are right in showing them just so they don't get curious and wind up shooting each other like what happened in Harford co. a few months back.When my son was just a toddler I let him see and handle the firearms whenever he asked. I took him shooting when he was 5 and now that he is 7 he knows where the guns are and he also knows that he can go shooting whenever he asks. No hidden taboos, no unfortunate accidents.

 

[Blaster229]

Eddie Eagle is supposed to take care of this issue, right?