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Appropriate Age for a Gun?

Boris said:
He probably watched too many war movies an gangster movies an now has a life long condition called a phobia.
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Lol, what a silly theory. I grew in the country where guns were outlawed. Only hunters and police had them. If somehow regular Joe would have a gun it for sure would be illegal and he would be 100% criminal. There was no need for guns in my life ever, even for last 12 years living in Canada. Not scared of them, do not need them, can't understand why anybody would need them ( especially for kids - stupid, stupid, stupid and one more time stupid!!!!)
 
No offense Fish, but just growing up around and using guns doesn't equal good safety training. Gun cabinet you had a key to? That's stupid. I know if I had pointed a gun at somebody AND shot, I would get all gun privileges revoked. ****, my dad was teaching me not to point guns at people when I was playing with little toy guns. I think the problem is that too many people don't fear and respect guns of all calibers, which is what it sounds like Bigb is trying to teach his kids.

And yeah, kids are stupid. That's why you don't allow them access to guns without supervision. If you're giving your kid keys to your safe, letting them have guns laying around, then you're an idiot.
 
Fwiw, I've been around guns since I was little. Most of the people that I know have guns, had them when they were young, shot around quite a bit. Only time anybody here has been shot was bc of a defective safety on a rifle and poor training. Few simple rules...don't point guns at people. Always treat them like they're loaded. If it happens even once, take your kids gun privileges away until they can prove they're responsible. Don't carry around loaded guns! Even when I'm hunting, I don't barrel a cartridge until I'm ready to shoot. No elk is worth a person. No access to guns! Lock up your guns (unloaded of course), and don't give your kids the key or combination. This stuff isn't hard. Just common sense.
 
JustTheTip said:
No offense Fish, but just growing up around and using guns doesn't equal good safety training. Gun cabinet you had a key to? That's stupid. I know if I had pointed a gun at somebody AND shot, I would get all gun privileges revoked. ****, my dad was teaching me not to point guns at people when I was playing with little toy guns. I think the problem is that too many people don't fear and respect guns of all calibers, which is what it sounds like Bigb is trying to teach his kids.

And yeah, kids are stupid. That's why you don't allow them access to guns without supervision. If you're giving your kid keys to your safe, letting them have guns laying around, then you're an idiot.
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I never got a key to the gun cabinet.
I was a sneaky little **** and saw where my dad hid the key. (It was in a very high place that is hard for most to reach too but I was 6 feet tall while still a teenager)

Also, your kid might be old enough to drive and seem very trustworthy and never have given you any reason not to trust them and want to go hunting with friends so you say sure. Then they unpredictably (to you at least) make a mistake/bad decision.

At some point most parents will have to trust their kids if they have earned it. At some point most parents begin to allow their kids a little more freedom as they prepare to leave the nest.

Even the best, most responsible parent can't account for everything is my point.
My dad was/is a great man who raised his kids right and did everything possible to teach us how to properly use a gun and how not to use a gun. He kept the guns and ammo locked in a gun cabinet.
Didn't matter.

Hell, I saw a video of a police officer teaching a firearms safety class shoot himself during the class.
 
JazzGal said:
My brother is a proud multi-gun owner and mentioned today he is thinking of getting his 5-year-old daughter a BB gun for Christmas. This seems too young to me. What's your experience/opinion?

Sent from my HTC6535LVW using JazzFanz mobile app
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I'm not a gun guy and wouldn't buy one for my daughter (or son) but I don't have an issue with a parent buying a five year old a bb gun so long as the parent teaches the child both strict, supervised procedures for handling one as well as responsible beliefs in every day discussions, either direct or in passing about guns.
 
I will say at no point should a kid or teenager have open access to a gun cabinet. Despite people talking about gun homicides and accidents gun suicide is by far the deadliest outcome from guns. Gun suicides out number gun homicides 2-1. About 70% of gun deaths are suicide. On a side note mass shootings are a very small part of gun deaths. The gun death by suicide is also a reason a lot of statistics thrown out are skewed or just wrong in the way they are presented. Such as that the majority of gun deaths are from white males, which is true unless you take out suicides.

Teenagers are very moody and often quick to action. Even the best teenager can be set off quickly and easily upset and think their world is over for a reason as simple as being bullied or broken up with. That is why they should never have access to a gun without an adult. Studies have proven that the harder it is to get to the gun the less likely it is to commit suicide. Locking up guns, putting additional locks on the guns once the cabinet it open and locking up bullets separately have all been shown to reduce the chance of suicide, even for adults.

The main cause for increased gun violence in the USA is due to suicide. Please dont let that happen. Teenagers are a big reason for that increase.

I think teaching kids gun safety and all about them is great for them and shooting a gun for fun or hunting purposes can be a good experience for kids and teenagers. Allowing kids or teenagers and even adults access to them without supervision at any age is a bad idea. Make it as difficult as possible and slow down the ability. Add extra locks, extra steps to getting a gun is great for kids and adults. A 17 year kid can make really dumb decisions really quickly and there is no reason to let them make that decision that could ruin many peoples lives.
 
Ron Mexico said:
I will say at no point should a kid or teenager have open access to a gun cabinet. Despite people talking about gun homicides and accidents gun suicide is by far the deadliest outcome from guns. Gun suicides out number gun homicides 2-1. About 70% of gun deaths are suicide. On a side note mass shootings are a very small part of gun deaths. The gun death by suicide is also a reason a lot of statistics thrown out are skewed or just wrong in the way they are presented. Such as that the majority of gun deaths are from white males, which is true unless you take out suicides.

Teenagers are very moody and often quick to action. Even the best teenager can be set off quickly and easily upset and think their world is over for a reason as simple as being bullied or broken up with. That is why they should never have access to a gun without an adult. Studies have proven that the harder it is to get to the gun the less likely it is to commit suicide. Locking up guns, putting additional locks on the guns once the cabinet it open and locking up bullets separately have all been shown to reduce the chance of suicide, even for adults.

The main cause for increased gun violence in the USA is due to suicide. Please dont let that happen. Teenagers are a big reason for that increase.

I think teaching kids gun safety and all about them is great for them and shooting a gun for fun or hunting purposes can be a good experience for kids and teenagers. Allowing kids or teenagers and even adults access to them without supervision at any age is a bad idea. Make it as difficult as possible and slow down the ability. Add extra locks, extra steps to getting a gun is great for kids and adults. A 17 year kid can make really dumb decisions really quickly and there is no reason to let them make that decision that could ruin many peoples lives.
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A guy that sat behind me in my 10th grade English class shot himself when his girlfriend broke up with him. I remember thinking how sad and stupid that was. I hadn't suffered my first heartbreak yet, and when I did I better understood the dramatic "wanting to die" feeling, but even though I wasn't sure I would ever get over it, I knew it wasn't worth dying over like he had done. Sadly, kids do not have the experience to realize that what feels earth-shattering will pass and they will get over it. If a gun is too readily available, it can seem like an easy way out right at the moment of suffering. Given a few hours, the decision would often be completely different. Keep 'em locked up!

Glad you and your friends survived your youthful gun adventures [MENTION=840]fishonjazz[/MENTION].
 
fishonjazz said:
I never got a key to the gun cabinet.
I was a sneaky little **** and saw where my dad hid the key. (It was in a very high place that is hard for most to reach too but I was 6 feet tall while still a teenager)

Also, your kid might be old enough to drive and seem very trustworthy and never have given you any reason not to trust them and want to go hunting with friends so you say sure. Then they unpredictably (to you at least) make a mistake/bad decision.

At some point most parents will have to trust their kids if they have earned it. At some point most parents begin to allow their kids a little more freedom as they prepare to leave the nest.

Even the best, most responsible parent can't account for everything is my point.
My dad was/is a great man who raised his kids right and did everything possible to teach us how to properly use a gun and how not to use a gun. He kept the guns and ammo locked in a gun cabinet.
Didn't matter.

Hell, I saw a video of a police officer teaching a firearms safety class shoot himself during the class.
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No you don't say sure.

I went and got my BB gun from my Dad's house when I was 25 so I could go shooting with my 5 year old. If I had asked to take a rifle hunting with my buddies as a teenager he would have laughed at me. If you buy your kid a gun, any gun, it's your gun and your responsibility. You don't let a kid take it unattended.
 
♪alt13 said:
No you don't say sure.

I went and got my BB gun from my Dad's house when I was 25 so I could go shooting with my 5 year old. If I had asked to take a rifle hunting with my buddies as a teenager he would have laughed at me. If you buy your kid a gun, any gun, it's your gun and your responsibility. You don't let a kid take it unattended.
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Lol.
As recent as a generation ago kids in rural areas walked to school with their shotguns and rifles and hunted pheasants on their way to and from school.
Growing up in utah surrounded by guns, great wildnerness, and not a whole lot to do, I knew tons of teenagers who would go shooting rabitts.

But I digress.... my main point is that even if you think you are perfect when it comes to gun safety. **** can still happen if you own guns and are around guns a lot. So all the cocky gun owners who are always pointing out what everyone else is doing wrong and always saying how they would never do this or that, accidents can even happen to them to.
Even kids whose dads wouldn't let them point toy guns at anyone (they wouldn't have been much fun to play cops and robbers or cowboys and Indians with) or even point their finger at someone like a pretend gun..... accidents can still happen.
 
One other experience that i had that i will share:
I was duck hunting one time and in a large marsh/swamp. Obviously not wearing hunter orange or anything that would make me easy to see. I was wearing camo. Im hunkered down behind some tall cat-tails waiting for some ducks to come my way. One came down and landed in the water near me. I was just bringing my shotgun up to take the shot when someone else shot first and shotgun bbs came flying through the foilage right at me. Some bbs actually got stuck in the plastic of a small cooler i had with me. Luckily i was wearing thick clothing and the bbs had slowed down some after skippping off the water and busting through the foilage. A few went through my out jacket still.

Turns out there was another hunter on the other side of the water where the duck landed (there was scattered water and land all over... very swampy/marshy) and he couldn't see me and i couldn't see him.
 
As for the OP question. I think its different for everyone. I think i would say that a bb gun would be something i would probably be fine getting for a 8-10 year old (always depends on the kid of course) and then a 22 rifle at around 13 or 14 (iirc that was about the age when you could get a small game license and around the time most kids would take hunter safety classes).

I think i shot my first shotgun around 14 or 15 (that was a long time ago though so i cant be sure) and first shot at a live animal (morning dove) around the same age after practicing with a shotgun first. I remember the first shot at that dove. It was sitting on a barb wire fence and i was so excited to shoot at it that i didn't lock the stock into my shoulder tight enough and the kick pushed the but of the stock into my jaw lol. (got the dove though at least.... easy easy shot) Didn't really hurt or anything, mostly was just funny and a lesson learned. Always held it tight against the shoulder from then going forward.

I was never a very good shot when it came to live action though. Could shoot clay pigeons about as good as anyone else but when the dogs would flush a pheasant or grouse or chuckar I usually missed. Even the easy ones. My older brothers and dad would always let me take the first shot and then when i missed, one of them would shoot it down. When i killed my first deer and went to clean it I just felt bad about it and realized that hunting/killing things just wasn't for me. (Even hate it when a fish that i catch dies... Im like an ER surgeon trying to keep them from dying lol... Rarely even use bait cause it increases the odds that they die)
I still go hunting with my family on occasion and just shoot with my camera instead.
 
So all you posting about how as kids you were shooting birds, rabbits, etc... do you not require to have hunting licence in USA? So any kid can just go around shooting rabbits and birds without any permit? Something sounds illegal here, I doubt hunting licence can be issued for kids that age.
 
MVP said:
So all you posting about how as kids you were shooting birds, rabbits, etc... do you not require to have hunting licence in USA? So any kid can just go around shooting rabbits and birds without any permit? Something sounds illegal here, I doubt hunting licence can be issued for kids that age.
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I used to sit in my back yard and shoot birds out of my cherry tree when I was super young.
Probably illegal but lots of stuff is illegal yet not enforced.

Also went shooting jack rabbits without a license plenty of times. Tbh I have no idea if that is illegal or not.
 
MVP said:
So all you posting about how as kids you were shooting birds, rabbits, etc... do you not require to have hunting licence in USA? So any kid can just go around shooting rabbits and birds without any permit? Something sounds illegal here, I doubt hunting licence can be issued for kids that age.
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There are age limits and license requirements for game: deer, pheasants, ducks, goose, moose, elk, dove, grouse, etc. Back when we were little, the area was a lot more rural. My grandpa had a barn and horses with several acres in what was then the middle of nowhere (all houses now). We used to shoot magpies, crows, sparrows, and stuff like crazy with pump BB and pellet guns. Places like that don't exist in the Salt Lake valley anymore. I'm not a hunter and I'm opposed to killing something that's not going to be eaten, so I don't shoot at jack rabbits and stuff. I don't know if that's illegal or not.
 
Ron Mexico said:
I will say at no point should a kid or teenager have open access to a gun cabinet. Despite people talking about gun homicides and accidents gun suicide is by far the deadliest outcome from guns. Gun suicides out number gun homicides 2-1. About 70% of gun deaths are suicide. On a side note mass shootings are a very small part of gun deaths. The gun death by suicide is also a reason a lot of statistics thrown out are skewed or just wrong in the way they are presented. Such as that the majority of gun deaths are from white males, which is true unless you take out suicides.

Teenagers are very moody and often quick to action. Even the best teenager can be set off quickly and easily upset and think their world is over for a reason as simple as being bullied or broken up with. That is why they should never have access to a gun without an adult. Studies have proven that the harder it is to get to the gun the less likely it is to commit suicide. Locking up guns, putting additional locks on the guns once the cabinet it open and locking up bullets separately have all been shown to reduce the chance of suicide, even for adults.

The main cause for increased gun violence in the USA is due to suicide. Please dont let that happen. Teenagers are a big reason for that increase.

I think teaching kids gun safety and all about them is great for them and shooting a gun for fun or hunting purposes can be a good experience for kids and teenagers. Allowing kids or teenagers and even adults access to them without supervision at any age is a bad idea. Make it as difficult as possible and slow down the ability. Add extra locks, extra steps to getting a gun is great for kids and adults. A 17 year kid can make really dumb decisions really quickly and there is no reason to let them make that decision that could ruin many peoples lives.
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Young people have a consistently lower suicide rate than middle aged and older.
 
I've shot guns that were brand new and some that were over 100 years old. I don't think guns really have an "appropriate age" tbh.
 
franklin said:
Young people have a consistently lower suicide rate than middle aged and older.
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Teenagers and men over 70 are the fastest growing groups of suicide by gun. Suicide is the second leading cause of death along teenagers in Utah. I do think precautions should be taken for everyone to lock up your guns and slow down the process. People of all ages have things set them off. Delaying access prevents suicide. Guns are by far the most effective means of suicide. So if people try something else it is likely to be unsuccessful and most people who have a failed suicide do not try it again. Suicide is on the rise very quickly. Teenagers and young adults are an at risk group.
 
Gameface said:
I've shot guns that were brand new and some that were over 100 years old. I don't think guns really have an "appropriate age" tbh.
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Lol.
My dad has a 410 shotgun that is over 100 years old I think.
 
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