Kids and guns... how did you handle exposing your child to guns?

[jAZ]

For the parents out there... what age did your kids become fascinated with pretend guns, shooting, etc. And how did you handle exposing your kids to guns? I'm particularly interested in those parents who don't own guns or use them regularly. Though I'm also interested in the view of hunters and sport shooters, etc.

Since my son moved into pre-school he's picked up pretending to shoot guns. My wife doesn't like it much at all. I am fine with it, though I kida thing 3 years old is a little early for his fascination with it. We've told him not to shoot (even pretend) other people. Seems like a reasonable line to draw for the two of us.

But today I was out driving in the rural desert hills around Tucson with my son and we came across an area where apparently lots of sport shooters go, pull in groups and fire guns at targets. Sort of an ad-hoc shooting range.

Anyway, my son didn't see what they were doing, so I didn't stop to show him. Seems like it would spark his fascination even more (or scare the hell out of him from the sounds).

So it got me wondering what everyone else's experiences were with guns. I don't remember anything from 3 years old, so I can't remember my own experience.

First shooting I can remember is from the Star Wars movie.

[L.A. Chieffan]

i let my 4 year old play GTA. hes pretty good actually, shows me stuff even i didnt know

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

I took my little girl starting at 4 and flew through the fields on a 4 wheeler at 50 MPH shooting Jack rabbits and she thought it was great fun. Now she's about to turn 10 and this will be the year she gets to pull the trigger for herself the first time. She has the utmost respect for firearms and knows what they do and will not go near one without dad around.

[Gonzo]

My boy will have his first bb gun around 6. I already have a .410 shotgun waiting for him on his 8th b-day.
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[Groves]

Maybe you could tell us exactly what you're afraid he'll learn/desire because he plays with toy guys? Maybe you could speak on behalf of your wife, too.

[jAZ]

Well, my wife is a pacifist. So guns are weapons to her. I'm not nearly a pacifist. But I also believe that we desensitize ourselves and our kids with over exposure to pretend violence. But I also recognize that kids play games and I'm not going to shelter my kid. So he gets to play pretend shooting (w/ fingers and sticks or water pistols, etc) and I don't really have a problem with it. His main boundary is that we tell him not to shoot at people (us, himself in the mirror, other kids, the dogs, etc). I know to him it's just a pretend game, but I don't want him learning the lesson at an early age that it's ok to pretend to shoot other people.

That's always struck me as an all around bad idea.

I'm a little surprised at the young age he's getting started and the degree to witch that sort of play seems to be ever-present. Along with all sorts of toy cars, it's his #1 game right now. By comparison, before that it had been playing drums.

Anyway, I'm not entirely sure what to thing about having him around real guns at this age. He doesn't understand the difference between pretend and reality. He doesn't understand death or injury and accidental shooting. Those concepts are so foreign that I can't even teach him the important lessons you'd want to teach a child who's around guns. It just seemed like it was too early to have him around real guns at 3.

[BWillie]

My dad made me be afraid of a firearm but yet see the use for them at the same time. I am still scared shitless even if someone points a BB gun at me, because gun safety was instilled in me from when I was 8 and on up.

[notorious]

My father introduced guns to me and my brothers at a young age.


6- Red Rider BB Gun

8- High Velocity Air Rifle

12 - Ruger 10-22 and 20 gauge

15 - Anything in the arsenal


He always, ALWAYS told us to treat every gun (even toys) like it was a loaded weapon. Respect it always. NEVER point it at a person (once again, even toys).

My father is a very wise man. We have all grown up to respect guns, but we are all very proficient at using them.


Hopefully my next rifle of choice will be a Barrett Lapua .338. :)

[Bugeater]

My dad didn't allow us to have any type of toy guns when we were young. Then when I was 13 my brother shot me. Whether or not one had anything to do with the other is anyone's guess.

[-King-]

I always had water pistols when I was younger. Then got an airsoft gun.

I first touched a real gun when I was about 8 or 9 when we went to the gun range. By then I had already been taught all the rules and what not about guns.

[cdcox]

Pistol whipped 'em.

[salame]

I think I was 11 or 12 with a 20 gauge

[Kerberos]

My dad didn't allow us to have any type of toy guns when we were young. Then when I was 13 my brother shot me. Whether or not one had anything to do with the other is anyone's guess.

As Happy Gilmore would have said "You shouldn't have been standing there"

[ChiefJustice]

Just encase your kid in bubble wrap and lock him in his padded room.

Jeez....it amazes me that some parents today are so over protective.

Just because a kid "plays" with a toy gun....does not mean that he will be the next incarnation of Stalin.

[Kerberos]

Just encase your kid in bubble wrap and lock him in his padded room.

Jeez....it amazes me that some parents today are so over protective.

Just because a kid "plays" with a toy gun....does not mean that he will be the next incarnation of Stalin.

Tell that to my wife.

I know what you mean. I was hunting with my dad by age 10 and had my own 20 GA single shot by age 12 after taking hunters safety.

[Huffman83]

My dad was a police officer. So guns were an everyday part of my life. When I was older I would sometimes have to move a gun over in order to get the toothpaste out of a drawer.

It was just never a big deal to us.

We were told at a very young age what that hunk of metal was. And my father made damn sure we knew that it was dangerous and we had no business messing around with it ourselves. But he did also tell us if we were interested in it, he would show us how to shoot it, how to take it apart, even how to clean it if we wanted to. He just took the mystery out of it which I think is why kids tend to find themselves in trouble in playing w/ guns. They were so sheltered from it and they of course do what kids do when curiosity gets the best of them.

And for what it's worth, I think some of my fondest memories growing up was going to the firing range w/ my Dad.

[Mojo Jojo]

I had toy guns since the age of five. BB guns @ 10. I was in boy scouts when I got my shooting badge. I've never shot anyone...don't even own a gun.

To quote CSN&Y teach your children well.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

I wonder what my kid thinks when a carry a .45 to check my e-mails ?

[Warrior5]

Tell that to my wife...

Why not take your wife shooting first. Make it a date.

[sparkky]

I started let my boy go with me and "the boys" shooting when he was about 5 I think.
I let him shoot my AK a few rounds when he as about as tall as it was.

early on, I took a milk jug and filled it FULL with water and added dark red food coloring. then I took a magic marker and drew a happy face on it. we went outside and I shot it from about 10 yards away.

needless to say it EXPLODED throwing red water everywhere. I explained that could easily been MY head, or his, or ANY ONES. it didn't matter if it was an accident or not, the results would be the same. he was VERY taken back when it exploded and the red water sprayed everywhere.

around the house, I made time, EVERY TIME, he wanted to look at or hold a weapon. I had instilled in him NEVER get them out without me and all he had to do was ask me and we would get one out.

it wasn't long till he quit asking. they were old hat and not the "forbidden fruit" any more.

I never really worried about him getting them out, even with his friends over. he knew, and RESPECTED the safety rules and what they were capable of doing.

not saying that's the perfect way, but it worked well for us.
I was divorced then and had full custody. we had a good relation ship.

[RedNFeisty]

I was raised around guns, my father was in the Army, grandpa, uncles, all liked to hunt. Since people hunted I knew the ramifications of guns from a very small age. I learned how to shot at the age of four.

When my son was a tiny tyke, I said no guns. One of his cousins made him a wooden rifle, I allowed that gun since it was made from the heart and the rest is history. Nathan hasn't touch a real gun (he got to see his dads rifles), but due to video games and the history channel he can name most guns by sight. Army shoot 'em games are his favorite.

The first time I let Nathan and a friend of his take his guns outside to play we actually had a community police officer stop and talk to them about playing with their guns outside, the police officer talked to them for roughly 20 minutes.

I have no guns in the home at this point, they moved with the ex. I thought when Nathan is ten I will have a hand gun by then, and I will take him to a range and learn the rules and ways of shooting.

I think if parents take the time to teach their children to respect guns and what they can do, there will be less of a chance they will pick up a gun and mistakenly shoot someone. I think Sparkky, had a great idea with the milk jug and red water!!!

[Chiefs Rool]

IMO it's never too early to start teaching your kids to respect guns and how to use them properly. But ya better do it right.

[Old Dog]

Like most others was taught, "This isn't a toy" and that was really all there is to it. I can't remember at what age I started shooting, but I got my Hunters Safety card at six, so I would guess the fall before that is when I started shooting. I know I went dove hunting when I was six as well, I have pictures of that. First deer at 12.
My son started shooting a .22 (targets only) when he was 5 and started shooting a 12ga when he was seven (Was seven when he started hunting with me). I bought him his first 12ga for Christmas that year. Daughter started shooting whenever we went out at roughly the same ages, though she never wanted to hunt, so she hasn't.
As to how they were exposed, simply....these aren't toys, don't mess with them unless there's a reason to. Unless I'm here THERE IS no reason to.

[ClevelandBronco]

I held my family as hostages at gunpoint until the police wounded me with a sniper's bullet. I wanted to show them that firearms have an essential purpose.

[cdcox]

I got a BB gun around 11 and a shotgun around 15. We lived in the 'burbs, so I had an indoor range for the bb gun. I went hunting with my dad and uncles when I got my shotgun. My uncle took his own life around the time I was 17. Dad pretty much quit hunting at that time and I never took it up when I got out on my own.

So we didn't have guns around the house when my daughter was growing up. She's had very little exposure to guns. A couple years ago she shot a .22 pistol at my wife's cousin's house.

I think you are going overboard with prohibiting pretend shooting of people. Kids are going to play cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, war. People play laser tag and paint ball for good fun. Kids need to have the freedom to play in the way that they want to freely develop their personalities and to socialize with other kids. Some types of play are inappropriate, for sure. But I don't think cops and robbers are one of them.

[mlyonsd]

Guns have always been a part of my family. My dad used to be part of a military pistol team and the entire family went to competitions for as long as I can remember. We had a practice range in the basement with a lead box target. I received my first gun, a bolt action .22 with manually cocked firing pin and sawed off stock when I was 5. I can remember waiting impatiently for supper to get over so dad would take me downstairs to shoot it. At first I had to lay the barrel over the back of a kitchen chair because it was too heavy for me to hold steady while aiming. We've hunted all our lives, I started duck and pheasant hunting at 6 with a .410 and 12 gauge when I was 11.

We were always taught how dangerous every gun was and the proper techniques of handling them. I remember once trap shooting when I was about 8 and I swung a loaded gun past my dad and grandpa without thinking. That was it, the gun put away and we went home.

I raised my kids the same way, they started early and were taught that guns are a tool, not a toy.

[Fish]

Well, my wife is a pacifist. So guns are weapons to her. I'm not nearly a pacifist. But I also believe that we desensitize ourselves and our kids with over exposure to pretend violence. But I also recognize that kids play games and I'm not going to shelter my kid. So he gets to play pretend shooting (w/ fingers and sticks or water pistols, etc) and I don't really have a problem with it. His main boundary is that we tell him not to shoot at people (us, himself in the mirror, other kids, the dogs, etc). I know to him it's just a pretend game, but I don't want him learning the lesson at an early age that it's ok to pretend to shoot other people.

That's always struck me as an all around bad idea.

I'm a little surprised at the young age he's getting started and the degree to witch that sort of play seems to be ever-present. Along with all sorts of toy cars, it's his #1 game right now. By comparison, before that it had been playing drums.

Anyway, I'm not entirely sure what to thing about having him around real guns at this age. He doesn't understand the difference between pretend and reality. He doesn't understand death or injury and accidental shooting. Those concepts are so foreign that I can't even teach him the important lessons you'd want to teach a child who's around guns. It just seemed like it was too early to have him around real guns at 3.

:shake:

Just put a skirt on him now and be done with it......

[jAZ]

I think you are going overboard with prohibiting pretend shooting of people. Kids are going to play cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, war. People play laser tag and paint ball for good fun. Kids need to have the freedom to play in the way that they want to freely develop their personalities and to socialize with other kids. Some types of play are inappropriate, for sure. But I don't think cops and robbers are one of them.

I totally agree on the socializing part of it. I'm not going to force my kid to run around telling his friends that "we can't shoot each other" and the get beat up because they disagree. :)

However he's only 3. And at this point all of his friends and schoolmates are being taught in the same things. So for me it's the perfect time to instill the underlying value. Our rules can and will change as he matures and as his environment changes.

In my personal viewpoint, I have no problem with guns and the military and self defense. I'm no pacifist. That said, they should always be grave actions of last resort.

I really do think that it's rather disgusting and a major discredit to our national culture that we have a deeply rooted fantasy/fetish for violence and killing. And in a macro-sense, I think it leads to all sorts of problems. We literally treat it as a game and glorify it and to me that's just ridiculous. It's so deeply rooted that a 3 year old can fall in love with the activity and most of our society will defend the behavior rather than question it's wisdom. That's troubling.

But again, as I said, I recognize that it's the society we live in. I'm not going to demand my kid live strictly by the hardline of my values on this issue. Other factors out weigh this issue. I realize I played these same games (albeit starting at an older age). The other values we teach him will outweigh any nominal negative from this.

Lots of good advice in this thread. I'm sure he will get to shoot a BB gun, and while I've never been hunting, I'm not against doing it. We might even try that one day. Thanks for the input.

[notorious]

He your little boy, Jaz, there is not a right or wrong answer or way to raise a child with guns.


Do what you think is best for him. That is the best any of us can do as parents.

[acesn8s]

I told him "Here's a gun, here's the bullet. Go play." I'm miss that little fugger.

[notorious]

I'm miss that little fugger.

Gary Coleman?

[memyselfI]

I didn't until they were over ten years old. No violent video games, guns, or videos. My younger son was a bit more difficult because he was six when his brother was ten. Thus he did get some exposure before I would have liked but we tried to limit as much as possible.

Now they are well adjusted teenagers with a healthy love of violent movies and games. They are against gun control and believe they may own a gun someday. They are against hunting for sport and are conscientious objectors to war.

Just as I planned and hoped they would be. Mission Accomplished. :D

[Iowanian]

Take him out and let him shoot a hobo up close to show him the dangers of fire arms.




I still hope mmsi's sons join the marines just to piss her off.

[stevieray]

He doesn't understand the difference between pretend and reality. He doesn't understand death or injury and accidental shooting. Those concepts are so foreign that I can't even teach him the important lessons you'd want to teach.

you just answered your own question....

lighten up....he's THREE.