I think that handguns are a big temptation for teens and parents should be very cautiously of letting teens have access to them.
The temptation to pocket a handgun and go someplace with it is going to be there.
Access to a long gun and not a handgun still requires a responsible person, but it reduces the temptation to take it someplace.
I would let them shoot it at the range, and keep it from being the forbidden fruit, but access to a handgun is a very risky thing.
It only takes taking it someplace its not supposed to be one time, letting a friend that is immature hold it or check it out, or otherwise getting into trouble with it to put both the kid and parent in some trouble.
That does not even require malicious intent.
A child with a parent that works odd hours can be even worse. That means they could take it out and get away with it and bring it back and nobody would know, on as regular a basis as they wanted. Until caught or they do something stupid.
M2 Carbine said:
And personally, I go back to the fact that the Marine Corps trusted me with a M1 Garand when I was 17.
22-rimfire said:
But they don't trust you to keep a firearm on base unless it is locked up in the armory.
That is exactly correct. The military trusts its soldiers very little, especially in modern times.
Personal and issued weapons are rarely allowed in the soldier's possession on a base or outside of a war zone.
In fact they are so restrictive of soldiers today that many cannot even possess knives in the barracks. Or they are limited to certain types of knives, specifically sizes or types not seen as posing any real risk of death if used offensively.
The military has also issued mandatory registration orders of all personal owned weapons, even those stored off base, in recent years.
The military does not even trust soldiers to own weapons they don't know about off base.
The military is not in favor of firearm freedoms. They want absolute control over the lives of their soldiers, and ready access and freedom with firearms beyond what is necessary is discouraged.
The military is a dictatorship, and anything that gives individuals control or potential power over themselves or other members of the military outside of the designed hierarchy are obviously seen as a potential threat. Power must be tightly controlled, and this extends to keeping firearms in an armory except and unless needed, and attempts to keep tabs on all possible arms members of the military are likely to have access to (including personal owned weapons off base.)