At what age should kids learn to shoot/handle a gun?

[The 12th Commandment]

I learned with my dad's 22 revolver when I was eight. We lived in Medellin then so the chance that I would have to use it was there, albeit very, very tiny. I think I was 15 when I could go out and shoot without my dad or another adult being with me. A 15 year old and .22 in the wide open NM deserts = serious decline in the bunny population. But they are bunnies so before you knew it...

[JMS]

They shouldn't. If kids ain't allowed to smoke and drink they shouldn't be allowed to shoot. In fact, we need to arrange a surgery where all humans are sterilized until 25 and have no trigger finger removed and reinserted at 18.

You know that's where the English/American gesture of defiance came from. In midevil times the most feared weapon wasn't the gun, but the long bow. The Englished used these weapons to devistating effect upon the French in the 100 years war. In 1415 at the battle of Agincourt an outnumbered group of English/Welsh bowman devistated a superior number of armored knights. Unheard of up to that point.

The story goes that so feared were the Welsh bowmen that when English soldiers were captured the french would cut off their middle fingers because that was the finger necessary to shoot the longbow. The middle finger salute became a gesture from the English to the French to show the french the English stll had their pluck finger. That is also where the expression "pluck you" came from.

[wysknz1]

Just like swimming...as soon as possible.

[armstrong001]

I'm pretty militant about 12+ for shooting. Kids have no business shooting weapons. They aren't strong enough to learn how to do it proficiently, and they don't have the judgment...

I beg to differ. There isn't much strength involved in shooting a rifle. I learned much earlier than 12 and was proficient enough to outshoot some adults at the range I went to. Was I a master? No, but I did well enough that nobody was telling me that I had no business being there.

Besides, the kind of body control required to be good at shooting (controlling breathing, aiming, squeezing the trigger) are beneficial to children who are still growing and improving motor skills.

One of the best ways to demonstrate what kind of damage firearms can do is to provide 'visual aids'. Hearing that a bullet can cause a lot of damage doesn't make the same impact that watching a water jug or watermellon explode does.

[JMS]

I learned with my dad's 22 revolver when I was eight. We lived in Medellin then so the chance that I would have to use it was there, albeit very, very tiny. I think I was 15 when I could go out and shoot without my dad or another adult being with me. A 15 year old and .22 in the wide open NM deserts = serious decline in the bunny population. But they are bunnies so before you knew it...

My wifes father would shoot bunnies out the kitchen window in Arizona during breakfast. Kept loaded guns laying all around their house.

[Spec138]

I said 9-11, but I really only consider a gun something that uses gun powder. I shot BB's and Pellets way before that. I think those can be very good tools to teach kids about safety. Plus, it's fun as hell to shoot cans with a BB gun, I still like doing it .

[Burgold]

You know that's where the English/American gesture of defiance came from. In midevil times the most feared weapon wasn't the gun, but the long bow. The Englished used these weapons to devistating effect upon the French in the 100 years war. In 1415 at the battle of Agincourt an outnumbered group of English/Welsh bowman devistated a superior number of armored knights. Unheard of up to that point.

The story goes that so feared were the Welsh bowmen that when English soldiers were captured the french would cut off their middle fingers because that was the finger necessary to shoot the longbow. The middle finger salute became a gesture from the English to the French to show the french the English stll had their pluck finger. That is also where the expression "pluck you" came from.

Great folkstory. Thanks for sharing. I know about the bow and it's impact on warfare, but not that it held the origin of the bird.

[armstrong001]

You know that's where the English/American gesture of defiance came from. In midevil times the most feared weapon wasn't the gun, but the long bow. The Englished used these weapons to devistating effect upon the French in the 100 years war. In 1415 at the battle of Agincourt an outnumbered group of English/Welsh bowman devistated a superior number of armored knights. Unheard of up to that point.

The story goes that so feared were the Welsh bowmen that when English soldiers were captured the french would cut off their middle fingers because that was the finger necessary to shoot the longbow. The middle finger salute became a gesture from the English to the French to show the french the English stll had their pluck finger. That is also where the expression "pluck you" came from.

Nice story, but not true

The middle finger dates back to the Roman Empire.

[Burgold]

Armstrong is a spoilsport, that was an awesome folktale.

Vive le :finger:

[JMS]

I beg to differ. There isn't much strength involved in shooting a rifle. I learned much earlier than 12 and was proficient enough to outshoot some adults at the range I went to. Was I a master? No, but I did well enough that nobody was telling me that I had no business being there.

Besides, the kind of body control required to be good at shooting (controlling breathing, aiming, squeezing the trigger) are beneficial to children who are still growing and improving motor skills.

One of the best ways to demonstrate what kind of damage firearms can do is to provide 'visual aids'. Hearing that a bullet can cause a lot of damage doesn't make the same impact that watching a water jug or watermellon explode does.

What kind of gun did you shoot with which didn't take much strength? Pistols, shotguns, and especially rifles all have significant recoil. I don't know many children capable of shooting any of them beyond a few shots much less doing it proficently..

Maybe you were a mutant child, or maybe you were so geared up with the fact of how cool it was you were oblivious to your physical nature of the sport.

I shoot most weeks, I know many grown women who can't shoot because of the strength required, much less a 12 year old boy.

[armstrong001]

What kind of gun did you shoot with which didn't take much strength? Pistols, shotguns, and especially rifles all have significant recoil. I don't know many children capable of shooting any of them beyond a few shots much less doing it proficently..

Maybe you were a mutant child, or maybe you were so geared up with the fact of how cool it was you were oblivious to your physical nature of the sport.

I shoot most weeks, I know many grown women who can't shoot because of the strength required, much less a 12 year old boy.

I shot .22 caliber rifles at 8/9 years old. They were small ones, fiberglass stocks which reduced weight. I wouldn't put a 12 gauge shotgun in the hands of an eight year old. But a .22 rifle is not difficult to handle.

[Mondizzle]

I said 9-11. I was shooting BB and pellet guns at 7 or so, my first shotgun at about 10 and learned how to shoot a handgun at like 13. I've never owned a gun, but all three of my little brothers had their own guns for hunting by the age of 12.

It obviously depends more on a child's maturity level than on his/her age, but if I had to put a number on it, I'd say kids should learn around 10 but shouldn't be allowed to shoot unsupervised until like 15 or 16.

[JMS]

Nice story, but not true

The middle finger dates back to the Roman Empire.

I didn't know the story was even controvercial. I guess "Click and Clack" restating it on their radio show kind leaves a credibility gap. Ruffled the blue blood achedemic crowds feathers I guess. I didn't hear the story from Car Talk, I heard the story touring the batltefield museum which now exists where the battle of Agincourt was fought in France.. It's a pretty cool museum they also have battle field tours.

I find the arguements in Snopes ranged from uninformed, to unconvincing and irrelivent.

(1) Claiming attrocities weren't committed against prisoners during the 100 years war seems rather uninformed, knowing that Henry the V slaughtered all his captives at Agincourt as he did in all three sucessive battles he pursued on that campagne. You see Henry's army was very small.. some 5000 men and the French were many 30,000 in the first battle alone. Henry didn't have the resources to take prisoners which outnumbered his own force... He wasn't going to release them because then he would have to fight them again tomorrow. So he killed all of them!!... Which kind of blows your Snopes article out of the water right there. Read up on the Battle of Agincourt Henry the V took no prisoners and specifically murdered the unarmed soldiers who did surrender to him.

Claiming unarmed prisoners were just released is fantastically wrong.

(2) Claiming there was no reason to deform the Welsh archers seems equally unplausible. 4000 bowman just knocked the snot out of 20,000 heavy horse calvery backed up by 10,000 infantry. It took decades to master the longbow, and with the snip of a knife you could deny the English of the stealth bomber of it's day. The super weapon of the middle ages. Seems like a no brainer to me.

To render your most feared enemy helpless... Seems like a motivator.

(3) Claiming the French would just murder them all, likewise was not accurate. The French had nothing to fear from the Welsh who could not shoot their longbows. and the French could not kill every English soldier which fell under their dominion during the 100's year war, even the English eventually took prisoners. Just not Henry the V and not in 1415.

(4) Noting the middle finger salute was also used in Rome thousands of years earlier is irrelivent. Claiming because the Romans used it to mean one thing, the English couldn't use it to mean something else, is beyond unreasonable, it's irrational. Fact is the Iranians and Iraqis use the thumbs up signal to mean something totally different than Western culture today. There are only so many fingers on the hand, it's not unreasonable to assume different cutures came up with the same gestures independently and for different reasons. It's a fact.

[The 12th Commandment]

My wifes father would shoot bunnies out the kitchen window in Arizona during breakfast. Kept loaded guns laying all around their house.

Wish I lived far enough out for that, not that I would out the window, but with the way this place has grown? :doh: I do have a trap for my pellet gun set up in the back yard though.

[brandymac27]

I was 10 when my dad taught me how to shoot. My son is 9 and we got him a pellet gun this year, so I think somewhere b/w 8-11 depending on the kid.

[GoSkins561]

I said 9-11, but I really only consider a gun something that uses gun powder. I shot BB's and Pellets way before that. I think those can be very good tools to teach kids about safety. Plus, it's fun as hell to shoot cans with a BB gun, I still like doing it .

I hear you, my wife is paranoid about guns for some unknown reason, so a pellet gun is a "gun" to her.

[GoSkins561]

Wish I lived far enough out for that, not that I would out the window, but with the way this place has grown? :doh: I do have a trap for my pellet gun set up in the back yard though.

edit :woops quoted a pic

That's a great idea, maybe a trap instead of an enbankment would help build my wifes condidence. Is it big enough to place cans and bottle inside of?

[Bliz]

I find the arguements in Snopes ranged from uninformed, to unconvincing and irrelivent.

...

(4) Noting the middle finger salute was also used in Rome thousands of years earlier is irrelivent. Claiming because the Romans used it to mean one thing, the English couldn't use it to mean something else, is beyond unreasonable, it's irrational. Fact is the Iranians and Iraqis use the thumbs up signal to mean something totally different than Western culture today. There are only so many fingers on the hand, it's not unreasonable to assume different cutures came up with the same gestures independently and for different reasons. It's a fact.

They actually cut off the index finger and the pointer finger. Which is why the British version of the finger is holding up those two ("still got 'em!") like a reverse peace sign. The British don't flip the bird they way we do, with only one finger.

and...I don't really think kids ever need to learn how to fire weapons. Maybe I'm a sissy suburban boy, but I'm sick and effing tired of the pervasive effect of guns in our culture.

[RedskinFeathers]

My brother got a BB gun when he was 10 and was only allowed to shoot it when my parents were home. I was only allowed to shoot it with my Dad's supervision (I was about 7 or 8 and my mom pretty much hates guns). We both knew better than to break the rules - my Dad gave us many long lectures about the use and safety of guns.

I think I went to the shootin range for the first time when I was about 10 or 11, my dad had an old .22 that he taught us how to shoot and clean. When my brother turned 16 he got a .12. My dad, uncle, brother and I went to the shootin range one day and I had the .22 and they were all shootin their .12s. I was jealous and wanted to use the .12. They let me, I fell on my butt. Didn't get the balls to use one again until I was 17. Shot my first handgun that day too.

I'd say between 7-10. It really depends on the kids and the parents: are the kids mature enough to know that guns aren't toys, and are the parents able to teach their kids how/when to use them properly and safely...

[hockeysc23]

They shouldn't. If kids ain't allowed to smoke and drink they shouldn't be allowed to shoot. In fact, we need to arrange a surgery where all humans are sterilized until 25 and have no trigger finger removed and reinserted at 18.

Wow. I hope you are not serious.

Like most things in life kids should learn early enough that they can learn the importance and severity of the actions they do.

My father taught me at 9 and I had a respect for guns. I knew what they could and couldn't do. I was taught to treat guns with respect and that they are not a toy.

By learning how to own, operate, disassemble, reassemble, clean a gun i knew they were not a toy and didn't act recklessly or were scared of them like some people were.

Whether you like guns or not they are a part of our culture and lifestyle and kids should know enough to respect them and that they are not a toy.

That doesn't come from avoidance for 18+ years. That doesn't work for smoking, or alcohol either.

[GoSkins561]

and...I don't really think kids ever need to learn how to fire weapons. Maybe I'm a sissy suburban boy, but I'm sick and effing tired of the pervasive effect of guns in our culture.

Maybe they could create some programs in the city so kids can learn how to handle guns with care, just a thought. For the most part, guns that you have in the city and used in crimes, are pretty much stolen to begin with, therefore they really don't have any relation to this conversation.

A lot of kids in some suburban and rural areas are trained to safely handle guns in controlled environments(shooting ranges, trap ranges, in the woods, etc.) at younger ages. While owning a gun, isn't for anyone there is a benefit to teaching proper use and handling to kids at a young age.

[The Sir]

Kids + Guns = Never

[GoSkins561]

Kids + Guns = Never

Just curious, do you have a good reason for this opinion?

[Mondizzle]

I wouldn't say that it should be "required learning" or anything, but I think knowing how to fire a gun properly is a useful skill to have. I'm kind of paranoid and let my imagination run wild sometimes, but I've considered a scenario in which ****'s going down and I could save the day by knowing how to fire a gun. Just sayin' :whoknows:

EDIT: Plus, the more knowledge you have about guns, the less likely you are to fear them, IMO

[Skinz4Life12]

i shot a .357 magnum at 9 so i voted from 7-9