With all the talk lately in the news about guns, I'm curious what you think is the best age to start a kid on recreational shooting & teaching gun safety? (This is a general question. I don't have a young child).
Maybe it depends on a kids maturity and when their parents feel they are ready.
Sometimes it seems kids are getting such a late start, that they develop other hobbies instead of shooting sports.

In Wi, laws have loosened to allow increased youth hunts. Also, high school trap shooting teams are really becoming popular. But I seem to see an increase in people that have the thought process of 'no guns in their house if kids are present.' Obviously it is a major tragedy any time a gun is misused. Perhaps concerned parents could use trigger locks rather than outright avoiding guns in their house. In some ways it seems like kids are being taught that guns are evil.

Most NRA members that I know are not of the younger generations. Also, it seems like some states are seeing a decline in people gun deer hunting. Maybe it's partly because some folks are scared away from guns, I don't know.

AJE
Member- NRA, Second Amendment Foundation, and WI Carry Incorporated

When they start bringing home meat for the pot with their catapults,then its time to get them a .22 and a 410 to shoot.

That part is key IMO.

The earlier the better but the exact age depends on the kid.

Fully supervised!!!

3 1/2 years old...


first .22 - almost 5...

Once they are physically capable of safely handling a gun without assistance and understand that when you pull the trigger with something alive at the other end can die and not come back.


This will be a different age for eack person.

Some kids should start out with something else though!

as soon as they can pick one up.

Safety....... As soon as they can comprehend what you are trying to teach. Earlier the better

Actual Shooting. Depends on the person. Know 50 year old's who shouldn't be in the same county as a firearm. On the other hand hunted with a 7 year old this year who treated her firearm with respect and followed safety rules to a T

Safety and Maturity would be the key in determining what age is appropriate.


B

as soon as they can pick them up. They should be taught they are not evil, but they can be dangerous if improperly handled. If you take away the "mystery" of a gun, having guns in the house with kids is not a big deal. When i was growing up i remember having friends that were quite dangerous with guns...sneaking around and looking at their parents guns while not there. All because their parents NEVER took them out and taught them anything with any firearms.

Teaching children about firearms is as early as they understand the world NO. You always stress a gun is always loaded and pointed in a safe direction, even before they are allowed to pick up a real firearm.
This is reinforced with play toys and graduated to pellet rifles where they are always taught that once that trigger is pulled, there is never taking that bullet back.
The rules are always the same in not allowing guns to be handled when other children are around and other children never have access to a firearm in your home. It has to be taught from the start that guns are a responsibility and a matter of character so your child never attempts to show off for others or be led around by some idiot who takes control when you are not around.

The state has the right ages for hunting, but all of the above in teaching safety, marksmanship and responsibility is years in the making before that situation occurs.

I think I shot my Uncles 22 when I was 4 for the first time. I knew not to be picking up any guns ever at home or anywhere else or there would be (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) to pay. It was a different rural environment, but in our neighborhood of 30 some children, there was never any gun play, because the adults embedded a reality of responsibility, and I grew up with some of the wildest creatures to ever walk in two legs.

I am a great believer in Col. Charles Askins shooting for practice in pellet rifles. I love doing this and my targets are old shotgun shells set at various ranges in the little 410 to the 20 to the 12 to the 10. It is a great way to relax and invest time with children.

All of the above is a foundation is laid from the start, and no one is handed a firearm like they were born Annie Oakley, and we all have to learn to be safe, remain calm so that in excitement that white flag we are sure is a deer, turns out to be a mistake, as there is always another deer around.

I do agree with the above that some people should never have guns. My bro in law is one such idiot, as he was around 40 and laid his shotgun down as we rested from hunting upland birds, and went to pick it up, and it went off. He left a shell in the chamber, safety off, and just missed his dog and me. It was the last time I ever hunted with that moron. That is something children need drilled into their heads in to always watch other people, and if they get the first hint someone is not safe, they walk away and never go back as it is their life which is on the line.

This is true about other things, such as alcohol too.

We had small amounts of alcohol, with supper, a few nights, a week, if we wanted it, so it never fascinated us. Kids I knew, whose parents drank, who did not let them have any, stole alcohol from their parents almost every chance they got.

Keith

HA!

I've been shooting for as long as I can remember and I'm 15 I killed my first deer with a 243 in my yard when I was 5. In my opinion don't shelter kids of from guns then show them one years later cause when they see one they will want to play with it. My dad always taught me gun saftey and he would show me how to clean them and handle them safely and take me to gun shows. So in my opinion the earlier the better. But I am different than most considering I'm posting this on a trapping forum.

When they're big enough to keep both ends from dragging, and they show enough maturity.

Birth

ok that might be a few months to early

Starflakes is right about as soon as they can understand NO

step one when they understand NO teach them not to touch the gun you leave out unlaoded you might even pullthe bolt out of it so that it is essentially inert they won't understand that they need to learn no don't touch.

then as they start asking questions you do your best to answer them , they may not need detailed specifics but you should not sugar coat anything

when they start asking if they can see a gun , go show it to them , keep it in a safe direction , sow them how to tell it is unloaded but emphasis that unloaded is not enough also a safe direction and never at people.

if they continue asking , keep showing them , but start making them wait first a few minutes then a few more till you finish what you are doing say if your doing dishes make them wait a few minutes then dry off your hands and go show them.

when they know they can ask and be shown any time and then ask wait a short time and be shown is will be about as interesting as the dictionary.

marksmanship training comes as they fit the equipment and as they start to have a longer attention span.

Stop right here and check eye dominance before shot 1

when my kids were about 4 I got a red ryder , larger targets at 15 feet or so. you concentrate on sight alignment , sight picture and squeeze , add follow through and later respiratory pause

when you have exhausted the accuracy potential of the Red Ryder it is time to move up

be it a 22 or a good air gun

our 4-H program starts kids at age 8 and in third grade , sometimes I wish I got them sooner to catch bad habits they formed but really that is when the equipment starts to fit them and we keep some cut down stock air rifles that are very short because even at 8 and in 3rd grade some are very small.

very little about marksmanship can't be taught on a good air rifle Pneumatic , I don't care for spring because they recoil forward

our 4-H program starts 22 rifle , 22 pistol , shotgun and muzzle loader with 12 an passed hunters ed , we have reasons for this but if the kid did well on air rifle at any age moving them to a 22 is a good thing one on one as a parent. remember your there within arms reach to grab a muzzle if it is headed in the wrong direction


with my own son he had just turned 4 and we did the Red ryder , then about 5-6 he was on a 22 at the range because I didn't have an air rifle for him yet at 7 we got him a good air rifle Daisy 853 , by 8 he was shooting 22 regular as well as air rifle , he was shooting handguns when 9 , more rifles and getting better , he bought his shotgun at 10 , at 11 he bough his 22 rifle. days after he turned 12 he started shooting club level action pistol at 13 he built his AR.

he shot his deer at 12, 13 and 14

he has been competing in club level action pistol and while we don't get to it as often as he would like because it is late for a school night he is progressing well he runs a Glock 17 for that.

while he hasn't qualified rifleman yet with a rifle he is so close

he is decent to 200 yards with a rifle.

working on it , we will get there so that he is good at 400.

stay close answer questions , be a good example of what TO do .

Most comments are spot on in my opinion. At what age do we teach them about heat, electricity and ofher potential hazards to their well being? That’s when I taught my children about firearms. I had them around the house unloaded from the day of their birth so they where familiar with them and could teach them at every opportunity. When they were mature enough to “understand” the proper handling and physically able to safely handle them, that’s when they learned to shoot them. My grandfather taught me to shoot a Colt Detective Special when I was 5 and I have never looked back. Remember that age doesn’t nessesarily equal maturity.

Mine started at 2.5 fully supervised still. He has great judgement but he is still a child.He gets it that guns kill but again. He is a child. Im also not indoctrinating my son to kill,i never kill for sport. There was a time i thought it was fun but that ego trip ended many many yrs ago. I kill for food(rarely) because I have food. I taught my son to trap also because the coyotes are too close to us now and eating our chickens etc. I had a job trapping and hunting that supported me most of my life and I only do it when it needs done. I hope my son gets that too. To each his own.

Started my nephew and daughter shooting with 22s when they were 4 years old. I cant count the times I let them handle an unloaded gun before I put a bullet in. Give the kid a talk and then let them handle a gun. You can tell right away which kids understand the potential seriousness of an accidental discharge.
If you want to teach them at a young age without the possibility of an accident then get them a NERF gun and talk to them as if it were a real gun. Once they are comfortable and most importantly safely handling a real gun then just make sure you keep LOTS of ammo around for them. Ive been shooting since I was 2 years old and had access to unlimited 22 ammo. Unsafe practices get handed from adults to the kids just the same as safe handling gets passed on from responsible teachers of course. I was always taught that a gun is the most valuable TOOL because it will feed your family. I was never told that a gun is a toy, a piece of sporting equipment, etc. Its a tool. Potentially dangerous when mishandled, just like a skil saw. My son is like me, hes been shooting since he was 2.

I only taught them 2 rules. Rule 1 is never aim at people (directly or indirectly) Rule 2 is to stay calm and make your shot count. What more do they need to know?

Started all my kids and grandkids off with bb guns. when they were paying enough attention with a bb gun they got to shoot a 22. all of them lost bb gun privilege's a few times before I let them handle a loaded rifle. I know a 13 year old I don't trust with a bb gun or even a pocket knife. there is no magic number

One of the great privilege's of parenthood is deciding these important questions. Every kid, family and parent is different.