My wife says my son's not old enough.to shoot..

[OneShot]

I have an eight year old son. Today I bought him a Henry, Mini Bolt 22 that I intend to give him for Xmas (if I can wait) I intend at that time to start teaching him how to shoot. My wife has expressed, rather loudly that he is not old enough to be shooting a "real" gun and should instead stick to a BB gun. He has been shooting a BB gun now for about a year and is very safe and shoots it very well.

I feel that he is old enough to start going to the range with me and it would also provide some father, Son bonding time. I also feel that it would teach him some responsibility to boot.

Do you guys feel that he is too young? Is Mom being overprotective? My wife also shoots so I do feel that she is being a bit hypocritical (sp?) about the whole thing.

I can't wait to see the grin on his face when he fires the first round. Here's a link to the little Henry. http://www.henryrepeating.com/minibolt.cfm
It is one NEAT little rifle.

Any advice/feedback would be greatly appreciated.-Rob

 

[Sisco]

Never too young to learn how to shoot safely. My Dad never allowed me to have a BB gun. Figured I'd just get in trouble with it; stray cats, neighbors windows, putting my eye out etc. He did get me a .22 when I was about eight.

 

[.45FMJoe]

Heck no it's not too early! It's right on track! Go for it, teach them when they are young and most impressionable. Be sure to drill safety first and the rest will fall into place!

Tell your wife I said to shut the hell up, I had to put up with a mother that was actually worse than her (no guns til I was 21) and it's one thing I really hold a grudge about.

 

[Hkmp5sd]

Too young? He's almost over the hill.

If he is old enough to know what guns are and shows an interest in them, you should absolutely teach him about guns and the proper way to use them. Just like teaching a young one to swim, it makes him safer. In the event he comes across a gun at home or at a friends house, if he has firearms training, you may just avoid having a police officer knock on your door to tell you about an accidental shooting.

 

[jar]

He's at that age where your word is still gospel and what he learns will stick for life.

My introduction to shooting was at about six with a Colt 1911 that followed Dad home from WWII. We began with safety and cleaning drills, assembly and tear down. The goal was that once I showed him that I could clean and assemble the gun and demonstrate safe handling, I'd get to go shoot with him. You better believe I worked hard to learn what was needed.

I think what you're doing is great.

 

[Politically Incorrect]

I was shooting for a couple of years when at age nine I shot my father's S&W Model 29 with a full power .44 Magnum. I remember the gun recoiled upwards and my middle finger felt like it was broken from banging against the bottom of the trigger guard. The round hit the dirt hill some twenty yards in front of me, but wasn't even close to the target.

But I'll never forget how excited I was to shoot Dirty Harry's gun.

You're son is old enough-especially after showing responsibility with a BB gun. And it isn't if he's going unsupervised, which my dad allows me to do at age 27.

 

[Art Eatman]

I was given my first BB gun around age six or seven. After a year or so, my grandfather let me shoot his .22 rifle. By age nine, I was on my own, out in the pasture, with about the only restriction being, "Now, don'g shoot any cows!"

By age 11 or 12 I had my own Marlin tube-magazine .22, which lived in my closet, not my parents'.

Eight is not too young for supervised shooting.

My own son was raised in this pattern...

Art

 

[Quartus]

A year of using a BB gun responsibly sounds like a good track record to me. I'd go ahead.

 

[Zedicus]

Try having a mom that is a total anti, first time i was able to get near a gun of any sort was when I was 16, and that was only because I never told her

about a week later I found out with a friend's .177 air rifle that I was a quite good shot.
(again neglecting to tell my mom untill I had been shooting a friend's air rifle for about 6 months)

now i'm 24 and live in the anti heaven of the uk, and cant wait till I get back on US dirt so i can go shooting again

 

[Kimber45]

I had my first gun by that age. My grandfather made sure we were all shooting by at least age 6. In fact the little 22 that my mother and all her sisters were taught on then all the grand kids were taught on and finally the great grand kids started on, went to my aunt. I wish it would have come my way, but I was happy to get his Remington model 14 1/2 cal. 44/40 rifle I learned to hunt with before I got a Model 94 - 32 Win Spcl from my father in the early 60's.

 

[rayra]

If the boy already has been taught and exhibits solid gun safety behaviour, has that BB-gun track record, and the wife already shoots, don't see any reason at all why the boy shouldn't 'move up'.
Without starting a fight, ask your wife to go into detail about her objections - safety? answered. shooting? already doing it. Doesn't want her baby boy to grow up?

 

[Blackhawk]

Your wife is wrong.

Teaching kids gun handling, safety, and shooting is every bit as important as teaching them to swim, walking where cars travel, and being wary of strangers.

They're ALL hazards to growing up that they WILL encounter.

They can learn the hard way or the easy way.

You're the easy way for him to learn....

 

[jrhead75]

Not too young at all, it's never too early to teach safe gun handling and use (well, almost never).

To keep peace at home, you might want to stress the father/son bonding angle, and make sure that the wife knows that you'll always be around him when the .22 is out (for now anyway).

Good luck!

 

[ruger fan 101]

Not too young! I was 6 when I got my first .22. Still have it. It is all in the teacher. If the teacher is safe the student will be also. Have fun be safe and enjoy.

 

[son of a gun]

It's gonna be hilarious when he goes to school Monday and say's "my dad bought me a gun"

 

[spacemanspiff]

if the child is responsible with a BB gun, and knows that shooting time is serious business, by all means the little one is ready for a .22

last time at the range a father was there with his kids, probably 10-11, shooting a full auto MAC. those kids looked like they were having a hellofa time!

another range trip a father had his 11 yr old, kids got his own .22 pistol and is ripping it up. the kid likes the looks of my POS ap-9 so i ask the father if hes okay with me letting the kid shoot it. that kid had fun with it, but you could see his overeagerness at times, and after 15 minutes or so, the father just gave his son a look and the kid said 'thank you, i've had enough'.

the respect the kid showed and awareness of what his father was thinking impressed me.

 

[Hot brass]

I started my kids shooting at the age of 3-4yrs old. They see my guns and its no big deal. I have instilled in the kids if you are anothers house and someone brings out a gun come home RIGHT now.

 

[HankB]

If the child is interested, there is NO age that's "too young" to go shooting with Dad.

I had my first BB gun at age four - it was one of those Daisy guns that cocked like a pump shotgun, but the pump was actually a toggle action, sort of like an upside-down Luger. I was too little to even reach the trigger unless I tucked the buttstock under my armpit, let alone cock it myself, but boy, was I ever proud of that BB gun - it was mine and it stayed behind the door in my room.

Until my mother saw - when I was shooting it in the backyard with my Dad - that I'd finally grown enough to cock it myself. Then it had to stay behind the side door instead of in my room.

Then I got a .22 rifle at age 7, an air pistol at about 11, and a .22 Colt Diamondback for 8th grade graduation. The ironclad rule I had to live by from about age 10 to high school was that I was free to target shoot either with Dad or by myself, but never with any other kids unless Dad was there. He figured - quite rightly - that whatever good sense a kid has is reduced by a factor equal to the square of the number of other kids he's with.

 

[Pheonix]

My son was 5 when he started to shoot my guns. The wife and I agree that when he is 8 he will get a .22/.410 combo (barrel changes), single shot, so he can focus on the one shot hit!

 

[Standing Wolf]

Eight doesn't seem too young to me, especially if he's already a BB shooter. I've seen children as young as four shooting live ammunition in real guns—under very close adult supervision, of course.

 

[Poplin]

Oneshot and friends:

Gun education is like sex education. Your kids will surely be exposed to sex. It is serious, life-and-death stuff. Aren't parents the best folks to explain to kids all about that? I'd sure rather any kid of mine learn the facts of life from me than from television or their friends or even school. There's no escaping sex!

There's no escaping guns either! Your kids will surely be exposed to guns. You'd better not let TV or their friends or their school do the teaching.

Heck, since you yourself are a shooter, you can't very well tell your kids, "Sorry, only mommy and daddy can shoot. Guns are forbidden and mysterious to children like you." What would an 8-year old kid do in response to that?

 

[t driver]

Since he has already demonstrated responsibility and safety,I feel he is ready for his first .22.
There have been many good posts in this thread. I wish my dad had taken me more while I was young. I didn't get my first taste until I was about 13. Then... nothing until I was 30, on my own, and could buy my own and afford to feed them.
Take your son and enjoy the time you spend together. Neither of you will regret it.

 

[OneShot]

Such great responses...

I am almost left speechless.

I told my wife of this thread and she has been sitting here reading through it.. She now has a different view on the subject and will be accompanying us to the range.

Poplin, your response seemed to sum the subject up, and really made her think.

Thanks to all of you for your responses.--Sincerely, Mr. and Mrs. Oneshot.

 

[feedthehogs]

Eddie Eagle is geared for kids like your sons age so he is not too young.

Taught my daughter young, she grew up to shoot competitively and won many trophies. Did a lot for her self confidence. People always remarked she was mature beyond her age.

Better to get them before the socialist school system teaches him to hate guns because they are bad.

 

[Topgun]

I was seven

My kid was 8.

His first shot was an orange I set up for the purpose.

When that orange blew all to hell, there wasn't much more to SAY to convince him of the RESULTS of a gunshot.

Only problem was his asking for about a year why EVERYONE who got shot on TV didn't DIE. That orange made an impression.