Kids & Guns

Hi Guys, it’s C-pher, and as promised, we’re having people do some spots on here as they feel related to Guns, Beer and other things they want to talk about. 

They say it takes a village, right?  Well, here’s a good example of how it take a village to raise a child.  While this is a long read, it’s also VERY important...so I suggest that you read until the end.

I’d like to introduce Jamie, the owner of Silver City Firearms.  This is the shop where Big Dave is the Gunsmith and I teach some of the classes listed on the Firearm Classes Page.

So, enjoy the read!!  Shoot Straight and Shoot Safe!

As a parent, it is our responsibility to keep our kids safe…It is also our responsibility to teach them responsibility. Without getting too far off topic, responsibility is lacking in a lot of people these days.

Guns, like many other things in life, require a certain amount of responsibility. Responsibility is taught, it is learned by watching someone be responsible, it is learned by showing and explaining the consequences of not being responsible. There are a lot of ways for kids to learn responsibility.

Sports, for example, are a great way to learn responsibility. Tteam sports are great at showing kids that their actions have impact and effect. They teach a child how to act and react with others, right and wrong and winning and losing. Individual sports like Martial Arts are also a great responsibility teacher; you learn the power of the body, and how to control it. It is not often that you see a child that has martial arts training beating up or bullying…Why? Because they are taught that it is wrong to use what they have learned irresponsibly.

So, the questions that come up around kids and guns are many and sometimes quite complex. Over the next few minutes I’ll try to dig up some of those questions and give you some reliable answers. I am not a lawyer, so none of this is legal advice, but over the years I have seen things that work and that don’t, so I will pass along my observations, for what they are worth here and you can do with it as you wish.

Is it bad to teach kids about guns?

This is a loaded question (pardon the pun) because depending upon the circumstances, teaching kids anything could be bad. Let’s face facts, kids are going to learn about guns whether you teach them the correct information or not. They will learn from television, video games, friends, the internet, etc. It sometimes almost seems like information overload…But, remember when YOU were a kid? Remember your parents telling you “don’t believe everything you  hear!” or “ Don’t believe everything you read!”? Well, it is magnified 10x today.

There is so much information out there about guns both true and false that sorting it out and knowing what is the truth based on facts and what isn’t can be a nightmare. Helping your kids sort out real information, or teaching them the correct information so that they can figure out whether something is true or not could mean the difference between a life of enjoying firearms with a healthy respect for them or them not having a real understanding and possibly getting hurt by one down the road.

I firmly believe that teaching your children about guns the correct way; will be far more beneficial than telling them they are bad and just not discussing it again.

Here are a few reasons why it could be beneficial:

• You can control the information…Make sure that they are learning the right things!
• Spend time with them! Range time can be an extremely rewarding family experience!
• You get to teach them responsibility.

Things to consider before teaching your kids about guns…

Are you responsible enough? 

Have you taken the steps to be sure you know the right things to teach them? As we stated before, there is a vast amount of information out there. Do you know what is true and false? I don’t mean my father told me or when I learned or my friend told me types of information. I mean vetted truth…Information that comes from a reliable source.

This is a time commitment by you to not just teach your child about guns, but also teach them responsibility. Some of the lessons learned here, will carry with them for the rest of their lives, so take it seriously.

Reliable sources are broken down below; some places can be great resources and some not so much. These are blanket comments and be no means are indicative of any particular place, but they are observations made over many years.

• Gun related organizations – The NRA/NRA’s Eddie Eagle Program, in Massachusetts the Gun Owners Action League, the NSSF – National Shooting Sports Foundation or the likes. These can be great resources, they have a ton of great information available, sometimes the information can be a little self serving, but in general they offer up some great stuff for kids. The amount of information that they offer to parents trying to teach their own kids can vary.

• Kid’s Shooting Programs/ Firearms Safety Programs – Depending on the childs age and maturity level, they may either be ready for a Safety program or shooting program. These should be considered some of the best sources of information for kids. This information is presented in a way that kids will understand it, in time amounts suitable to kids learning blocks.

• Child safety programs generally are geared toward the basics. What should they do if they find a gun, if a friend finds a gun, the differences between real guns and toys, etc. They are a great starting point for kids. Once a child attends one of these, be prepared for questions like when can I get a gun? When can we go shoot? Etc. This leads to the next category…
• Kid’s Shooting programs; Many gun & sporting clubs offer these types of programs the names may vary, but usually the content is the same. These are programs for kids learning to shoot. They will be instructed in everything from the ground up. Many starting with BB or Pellet guns for the inexperienced shooters and .22cal for the more experienced shooters. They will be surrounded by instructors that know how to teach kids the right things from the beginning. Many children have graduated from these types of Jr. Marksmanship programs to competing programs and even on to national competition and collegiate rifle teams.

• Gun shops can be a good resource, but still you need to take whatever you get with a grain of salt. You will get all sorts of anecdotal information from gun shops, some of it good, some not so much.

• Police, I would put police in the same category as gun shops. There are some very knowledgeable police and there are some that…well, unfortunately not so much. Some police are “Gun Guys” and some are not. So again, take it with a grain of salt.

• Firearms Instructors/NRA Instructors/Police Instructors/Etc – This can go from way up on the knowledge scale to so far down the knowledge scale that it is kinda scary. You need to look at what the instructor specializes in, how long have they been training, is this a business or a hobby? Why are they an instructor? Are they a tactical instructor? Do they specialize in self defense scenario training? Do they teach family friendly trainings regularly?

• Family, Friends and acquaintances; Wow, this is a category that is tough to talk about, we all want our family and friends to be someone we can look to for help and information, but sometimes you need to leave it to the professionals.

Are your kids mentally ready?

Kids mature at different rates and levels, let’s face it some kids are more mature than their age at 5-6 some are ready at 8-9 some mature at about 40, some never do…We all have that friend.

You have to look objectively at your child, are they ready? How long is their attention span?

The average Childs attention span is typically around 15-20 minutes. Once you cross that threshold you start to lose retention of what you are showing them, even under the most fun of conditions.

What should we start with?

As a gun shop owner, firearms instructor and parent, this is a question that comes up often. Start them off easy and fun, but enforce the rules!

Using my daughter as an example, we started at about 6yeasrs old in the back yard with a BB gun and some cans. Why? Reactionary targets hold attention longer, a child shooting at a paper target 25yds away initially will not be nearly as involved as a child that sees a can jump when they shoot it.

This is also your first chance to enforce the rules. Even though a BB Gun makes virtually no sound, I began her training by buying her very own set of hearing protection and safety glasses. I told her they were hers and she had to wear them anytime we shoot.

Our first day lasted about 15-20 minutes, right up until the “Look dad a butterfly!” type comments started. Then we talked about our shooting time, whether she enjoyed it and when and if she wanted to do it again. You cannot force a child to enjoy something and you cannot and should not make them participate in something like a sport that they do not enjoy just because you do.

My daughter is now on her way to 9years old as she keeps informing me, and she now has her own .22 caliber rifle. It stays in my gun safe, but she knows it is hers and we bring it whenever we go to the range.

How did I decide when she was ready to move up from the BB gun to the .22? Responsibility…I watched her…When I could see her use her own responsibility in handling the BB gun, that was my signal that she was ready. She wasn’t trying to turn around with the gun in her hand and tell me how good she did, she was aware of where the gun was pointing, she could tell me if the gun was loaded or unloaded when I asked, and she could hit the targets without me having to help her sight it.

We moved up from the BB gun to a single shot bolt action .22 made by Savage called the Rascal, it comes in a bunch of different colors, I assumed she would want pink, I was wrong, glad I had not ordered it yet…So she has her own BLUE Savage Rascal. The Savage Rascal is a small .22 designed for training kids. It has a kid sized stock, and it is single shot only, so there is no worry of an errant second shot without manually reloading.

Really? She has her own gun?

Yes, I said it; my 8 year old daughter has her own gun. Well, technically, no, I have a gun she uses. Obviously because of her age she cannot legally own her own gun. And, no, she does not have access to it without me.

This leads us into the topic of firearms storage…This again is YOUR responsibility! Proper storage is a must if you have kids. Storage has had many forms through the years; when I was a kid, storage meant it was put in a closet, between the mattresses or under a bed. Was that sufficient? Well, I am alive…Is that an anomaly? It seems like it was the norm back then…

Regardless of what the norm was then and what was acceptable. It is not acceptable now. Today, many states have laws regarding proper storage, and, well, if you have kids; proper storage is just the right thing to do for your kids.

Remember I mentioned my daughter has her own gun? But, she does not have access to it without me. The gun is locked in a safe with my other guns. This serves two purposes; first, it assures me that she will not access the gun without me, second, she sees me acting responsibly by locking my guns up and she can learn from witnessing my responsibility. Remember? I said kids learn responsibility from watching??

I am showing her that I am responsible; she sees it and is learning to be responsible.

She has asked why we keep the guns in a safe and the simple answer is “so that people who shouldn’t touch them can’t touch them.”

Loose Lips Sink Ships…

Next up is the discussion with your kids about what is appropriate to talk about…

Kids get excited, hell, I get excited for them, but you need to talk with them about when and if it is appropriate to talk about their shooting, their gun, their parents guns, etc...

Once again, in the world we are in today, topics such as this are taboo. Zero tolerance policies are rampant and no one wants to get in trouble regardless of whether it is just or not.

I am sure you have seen in the news about the kids expelled from school for chewing their pop-tart into the shape of a gun or for bringing a one inch plastic Lego gun on the bus; like I said, zero tolerance is rampant and apparently common sense is not. So it falls on you to avoid situations that can cause issues.

When my daughter was 5 or 6 years old, we got a letter sent home from the teacher, when my wife read it, she was shocked…When I read it I was enraged…

”We are writing to inform you that your daughter was sent to the office because at recess, she made a finger gun and pointed it at another child.”

WAIT! WHAT!? A FINGER GUN!? Are you kidding me? I immediately said I need to talk with the teacher tomorrow. My wife talked me out of that. But the next question she had was; what do we do? What do you mean what do we do? I am not doing anything? I am not going to punish my daughter for doing something that every kid has done since the civil war.

So, I sat my daughter down and asked her if she knew what the letter was about. She said she did and I explained to her that her teacher thought what she did was bad, that it truly isn’t bad and to just not do it in front of the teacher again…

I could go on for hours about zero tolerance/zero common sense policies, but I think you get my feelings on these.

Explain to your kids that some people don’t like guns and that it is not appropriate to talk about shooting or guns with everyone. Once again, you are teaching them responsibility.

My closing comments…

In the end, talking with your kids about guns is going to have to happen at some point. Whether you surround yourself with good quality factual information to guide them responsibly or you leave it up to the truths, half truths and un-truths of the world is up to you.

The value of taking the proper steps and spending time teaching your kids to be responsible is incredible and fun. You will learn some stuff you already knew and probably some stuff that you didn’t. You will have fun and so will they. You will get to spend some quality time with your family and THAT has no price.

Teach your children!