Children and guns: When is the right time?

If you haven't already, I would recommend reading my previous post on Firearm safety. This post will rely heavily on the information I mentioned in that post.

When it comes to children and firearms, my opinion might vary from other people. That is great. Let me know in the comments if you agree or disagree.

I am going to start with the  bombshell, and work backwards from there.

I think you should expose children to guns as soon as it is safely possible, which may be different for every child, but should still be rather early.

bombshell, right?

"What? child + gun = bad! What are you talking about, crazy person?"

Stay with me here... One of the most heartbreaking things to hear on the news is that a child happened to get a hold of their parent's gun, and ended up killing themselves or someone else. We want to avoid that as much as possible, and despite your first reaction, that is my first concern with this.

Remember when you were a kid? no... probably not very well... well... I am young enough, let me clue you in... Basic psychology has many different theories about child development, but there are some  basic behaviors that prevalent. Children are curious, above all. They want to learn and they do this many different ways. Children will climb on things, pick up things, put things in their mouths, push buttons, pull ropes and generally do anything they are physically able to do. Children will get into your fridge, your laundry, your pots and pans, your liquor cabinet, and if you are not careful, your gun cabinet or safe as well.

"duh, children get into stuff, that's why you should keep the guns away from them as long as possible, right?"

No, not in my opinion. Stay with me a bit longer, because I am getting to the juice of it.

Children are curious because they want more information. If they don't know it, they will find out. Just like with the alcohol or with sex or drugs, children need to be taught about these things and the dangers of them as soon as they are able to understand, before they even start thinking about it. If they are curious, they will try it.

If you introduce children and teach them about guns early, then this won't be a topic that is shrouded in mystery.

You can't just hand some toddler a gun though, you still need to be safe with the firearms while you are
introducing them. Any time you are introducing children to guns, you want to start at home. Be sure to keep any live ammunition away from them and in the safe, but take out the gun, and show it to them. Tell them what it is, what it does, and what it is for. Show them how it works, let them hold it and use it. Start with something small. I recommend a .22 because you want to keep everything as simple and as consistent as possible. As you are showing them this gun, be sure you lay down the ground rules for any time they handle this firearm. This is how you are going to know if your children are old enough to handle the firearm safely. There are five basic rules to firearm safety as I mentioned in a post a few days ago (I added a sixth, but that was not for handling the firearm) and they need to be able to understand these and follow those basic instructions.

Once they show you they can follow those five rules, it is time for the range. If you are not a part of a range, I highly recommend it. No one likes to pay for it, but it makes for a better range experience. Anyhow, take your kid to the range. Before you fire a single round, you go through the rules again. Make sure, once more that they understand the dangers and the rules they need to follow. Run through how to use the firearm once more. Load the firearm and give them an example of how it should be used.

Remember that firearm safety is the most important. You are the boss here, and if you don't feel they can safely handle the firearm, DO NOT HAND IT TO THEM! If you hand it to them, and they break any of the five rules, take the firearm away, and explain to them why you did that. If you feel they understand after another explanation, give it back. talk to them the entire time they are using it. Give them tips and advice as well as encouragement and reminders.

Don't do this just once, either. Do this every time you go to the range with them. The whole process, at home

and at the range. Eventually they will say things like "yeah, yeah, I know, gosh!" and that's how you know you are doing it correctly! start quizzing them before you go and while you are at the range instead of teaching. The repetition will help them to remember it.

Eventually, Using the firearm is going to become almost like second nature to the. It is not new or exciting. it's not mysterious or anything, it is just another part of life.

Even though your child can safely use their firearms under your supervision, you still want to make sure that it stays locked up and unloaded. You don't want them to grab it and start showing their friends if their friends are asking about it.

Once they are old enough to be trusted with firearms, you should be able to gift them one. I plan to do this when my future child turns about 10-12 years old. I will do another post later about what a good first firearm might be. Keep it locked up with your own firearms. Keep the ammo with your ammo. It is still a firearm, and should be treated as such. Take it to the range and allow them to shoot it each time. Make sure they are familiar with how to use it, and always remind them of the five rules.

Well, there you have it. That is my take on the subject. What do you guys think?