Because it is Christmas time, and because I have just read another thread asking for BB gun suggestions for gifts, here is a question I want to ask.
Which would you get your own child as a first gun? A BB and or pellet rifle, or an actual rimfire firearm?
Having been a boy who got both, I see pros and cons to both.
BB guns were great fun, but I think I taught myself all sorts of casual gun handling with them. My bad habits came solely from my own experiences with a BB gun, and the disconnect that I formed in my own mind that my BB guns were not "real" guns at all.
For example, I could shoot cows in the butt with no real damage with my BB gun, but I most certainly could not do that with "real" guns.
I could engage in BB gun wars with buddies, but could not do that with "real" guns.
On the other hand, being alone in the yard or woods with a BB gun did teach me all sorts of things about personal responsibility for actions and choices.
And I doubt that my parents would have turned me loose at age 8 with a .22 to wander the woods and yard.
I didn't get to handle "real" firearms all by myself until I was 13.
So which for a first gun? BB or rimfire, and why?
hillbilly
Which would you get your own child as a first gun? A BB and or pellet rifle, or an actual rimfire firearm?
Having been a boy who got both, I see pros and cons to both.
BB guns were great fun, but I think I taught myself all sorts of casual gun handling with them. My bad habits came solely from my own experiences with a BB gun, and the disconnect that I formed in my own mind that my BB guns were not "real" guns at all.
For example, I could shoot cows in the butt with no real damage with my BB gun, but I most certainly could not do that with "real" guns.
I could engage in BB gun wars with buddies, but could not do that with "real" guns.
On the other hand, being alone in the yard or woods with a BB gun did teach me all sorts of things about personal responsibility for actions and choices.
And I doubt that my parents would have turned me loose at age 8 with a .22 to wander the woods and yard.
I didn't get to handle "real" firearms all by myself until I was 13.
So which for a first gun? BB or rimfire, and why?
hillbilly