Seth Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 My Daughter will be 4 in March and has become aware of guns. I want to raise her intelligently --- she needs to understand not to touch, not to play with, to come get me if she finds one, etc... I also want her to eventually learn to appreciate the sport. Suggestions are more than welcome. I get one chance to do this right. What and how do I teach her? Eddie Eagle? Something else? Thanks. Seth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Seth, I have a few -- and I know you're aware of the first, but I'm going to say it anyway: Make certain that guns are either under your personal control or secured, ideally behind a combination that only exists in your head. If keys are involved, they need to be on your body 24/7. Indulge her curiosity, in your presence, anytime she asks. This might be inconvenient at first, but it should keep her curiosity in check, and you can start to work on the four safety rules. Eddie Eagle has a good reputation. Later -- when you take her out shooting -- perhaps have her shoot at a watermelon, or a can of tomato juice. That always seems to illustrate the absolute need for the four rules pretty clearly.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seth Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 Thanks Nik. I'm feeling pretty ignorant of HOW to teach her and WHAT to tell her at this age. Eddie Eagle is a good start, but I need to find or purchase the materials. I'd also like the input of other parents who've had these experiences. Your counsel is appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treym7 Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Later -- when you take her out shooting -- perhaps have her shoot at a watermelon, or a can of tomato juice. That always seems to illustrate the absolute need for the four rules pretty clearly.... +1 My daughter turned 7 back in October and Santa brought her a Crickett .22 for Christmas. She has taken it out a few times and she sits down with me to clean it when we get back. Seeing the impact that even a small (compared to the .45ACP that daddy shoots) .22 makes showed her how dangerous it can be. I even enjoy the reactive target of fruit! She has been going to the range with me since she was about 5 and has been very good at listening and paying attention. I think a lot depends on the child, as her 11 year old cousin is not even close to being responsible enough to have a firearm. He also has not been exposed to shooting and does not know the consequences. Trey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShootsinRain Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 When my kiddos go with me to range or want to look at the guns from the safe, I always go over the 4 safety rules. Then we talk with about what could happen if they are not followed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyOne Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 In my eyes, it is just as important to have the ammo locked up as the gun. If small/young children are a daily occurence at your residence, be them yours or others, the ammo should be locked up in a separate location than the guns. While it is possible to get hurt (even seriously hurt) with an unloaded gun, you can get killed by ammo even if there is no gun around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 (edited) Interaction is always the best way. my Kids are lots older than yours , but it seams like only a few years ago. I recommend a casual tone in your voice - about the same as if you were going to mow the grass and you want her to stay clear. If you make your tone stern she will wondering what she is about to get in trouble for. I did help with a long time family friend ( single mother's ) 6 year old Daughter to show her and tell her if she has questions about guns I will answer them and if she wants I will take her to shoot them when she is ready. I made it clear as all she had to do is ask and I would get them out. I had them some set out so she could see them close up. I got her in the conversation buy starting with The Gun is dangerous like many things, but not unless we do something with it. Like the car we all ride in the car But she would not take the keys and drive off would she? get her to see how silly that idea is. Or the power tools = I made the porch , but would she pick up the power saw ? - If your daughter has watched power tools you will get her involved by now- Get her to think of other thing around the house or in the yard she sees you use like the Lawn mower. Ask her what she would do if one of her Friends was trying to start a lawn mower? How dangerous could that be ? Hot pans on the stove. The thing that they remember the most is things they think of on there own. And get her to tell you what she would do if at a friends home a baby sitter or other kid get a gun out, or worst a ...Power Saw. Get her started thinking on her own how she would or could act. Edited January 15, 2011 by AlamoShooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seth Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 Thanks guys. Please keep the thoughts coming. I need all the good ideas I can get. Its important to me that its done well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Norman Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 As a youngster I shot at a local club. On the orientation night the instructor would take out one of those big bars of brown soap, set it up and shot it. What we found out later was that he used a .22 HP. It blew a hole about an inch in diameter if I remember correctly. Impressed the lot of us. It is a great day when I take my daughter, now 14 out shooting. She likes to shoot steel with a .22 pistol. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpeltier Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 When teaching children in your household about firearms, the safety aspect, proper handling etc.,is great and all children need this for obvious reasons. This not only makes them safe when handling a firearm, it removes the curiosity and mystique, so they will hopefully do the right thing if they encounter a firearm when you are not around. It is if another person, child or adult, produces a firearm in my kids presence, that I wory about the most. Teach your children what they should do in such a case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jar Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I'm not a parent, but the first resource I always point parents who ask about kids and guns to is Kathy Jackson's http://corneredcat.com/. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Gaines Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Thanks seth for posting this, I have always wondered. I have a daughter, fixing to turn 5 in March, I have always wondered the same thing. When I was her age I was shooting a 4-10 and killing everything I saw. We didn't use ear or eye protection. Thankfully nothing happened in that regard. But I look at my daughter, and I think, NO way she can handle shooting right now. I want to be able to teach her at some point, but for me, I don't believe she is ready. In fact she has no gun toys in the house. I think when she is ready. I will have to bring her in gently, with a air soft, bb gun or a .22 maybe as she matures. She definately has daddy's hand and eye coordination. Because she can hit woofle balls like there is no tommorow, when I pitch them at 30mph! Personally, when she shows interest in shooting, is when I will bring her into shooting, but not till then. right now, spongebob, toy story, cars are the things that are most important in her life right now. I think every child is different, and you must know what he/she can and can't do. Every child learns/Matures differently. I think its good to teach your children safety with everything in the house that is dangerous, like Jamie said. But at the same time, they need to be able to understand the meaning that if they touch the pot, its going to burn your hand. right now, I can tell my child not to play with the dog, because he has a bone, and when I turn my back, she will go back and play with the dog. And this is true with other things also, so in my eyes she is not ready. Good Luck, and thanks for posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Matzka Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Seth, I have a few -- and I know you're aware of the first, but I'm going to say it anyway: Make certain that guns are either under your personal control or secured, ideally behind a combination that only exists in your head. If keys are involved, they need to be on your body 24/7. Indulge her curiosity, in your presence, anytime she asks. This might be inconvenient at first, but it should keep her curiosity in check, and you can start to work on the four safety rules. Eddie Eagle has a good reputation. Later -- when you take her out shooting -- perhaps have her shoot at a watermelon, or a can of tomato juice. That always seems to illustrate the absolute need for the four rules pretty clearly.... Seth, I agree with everything that Nik says in his post, and would just like to add one thing in reference to the possible inconvenience of of indulging her curiosity whenever she asks - if it's a real inconvenient time, promise her you'll show her later...like as soon as you can, and make sure you keep the promise. I always told my kids when they were little that if they wanted to see one of my guns I'd be happy to make time to do that just as soon as I could - and they knew I meant it. I also took them to the range when I got my first gun to show them the watermelon/water jug/tomato demonstration. I still remember the look on my son's face upon witnessing an exploding water jug, circa 9mm hollow point. They developed a very healthy respect for firearms with that demonstration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old506 Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 I don't know, maybe I am doing it all wrong but... My oldest daughter, now five, started shooting at 3. She could pull the trigger of my Henry .22 so that is when we started shooting. I would rack the lever and she would pull the trigger. It was her idea to shoot in the first place, not mine. This year at 5 she shot my 12ga Remington 1100. We were turkey hunting and the next thing she says is that she wants to shoot my 12ga. At first I said no and then I thought better, put in a low base 8, put the stock under her arm, held the forearm and told her to let it go and she did! She wanted to do it again, so we did it again and again. I was also able to show her the damage that a 12ga does to a water bottle at close range and use it as a learning moment. She goes with me to the range all the time and desperately wants to shoot a pistol but her hands are too small to get on the trigger. Last weekend she went with me to the range and I introduced her to the sights on the Henry. She did very well and once she got the hang of it she was shooting a pepper popper pretty consistently at 20 yards. My two year old girl (3 in two months) loves to hold my pistols(as well as my 5 year old). I tell both of them that they can touch/hold etc. anything they want, rifles, ammo, pistols, etc. all they want to, all they have to do is ask and I will let them. The rule is anytime but only with me or mom. Now, this can be a little bit of a problem as the requests mount up but I never, ever say no when they ask, I just get the pistol off the fridge and let them do their thing. We, of course, go over the safety rules and such but guns aren't a "holy cow" all locked up in a mysterious place in the house. I really don't want to raise them to be afraid of guns or have curiosity that there is something in the house that they can't touch or do if they really want to. One of the things that I tell them all the time is that no gun is unloaded, everyone is loaded (as far as their concerned). It is just something that we do and something that we have around. This is how I was raised but like I said I may be doing it all wrong.... We need to introduce girls to guns, have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik S. Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I learned from Eddie Eagle when I was young: "Stop! Dont touch! Leave the area! Tell an adult!" I don't have kids, but my parents (mostly my dad in this respect) raised me PERFECTLY! There is something to be said for my dad who's son says that now at age 25. The important thing is to teach them not to be SCARED of guns since they can't hurt anyone or anything unless they are manipulated by someone. I like the frying pan illustration given, pans can help mom cook us delicious meals but only when used in the right way. Guns provide us with pleasure while shooting them safely but can hurt someone if not handled properly. My parents NEVER allowed us kids to point even a hand gestured as a gun at ANYONE. If we did, it was calmly explained why we do not do that and sometimes disciplined. We were also taught about our surroundings in case of a miss. All this equated to kids educated about guns. If we wanted to play with our cap guns, my dad used the tractor to set up a little burm for us that was our "range". We could only point the guns at the burm and all guns were holstered when not in use. Pretty funny now that I look back, but I have NEVER even had so much as a close call with a gun with the exception of a few schrappnel (sp?) pieces when shooting steel, but that's why we wear eye protection. Stay calm, invoke curiosity, and always start with a safety lesson, not a "be SCARED of guns" lesson. Little kids want to be like dad or mom, so if you get safety glasses for shooting, put together a little shooting bag that's for HER and she keeps her ear muffs and safety glasses in there. Let her pick out the bag, might be pink. If she has a chest or cabinet in her room, let her keep her range bag in there separate from her toys. If she has a cap gun, let her keep caps or something in her range bag and explain that her friends can't touch her stuff. Little kids like a place to keep only their stuff and have a sense of privacy at that age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Burwell Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Seth, I have two girls 8 and 6. they both started when the turned 5 with the cricket 22 with a red dot made it fun to hit reactive targets. I would also highly recomend Mas Ayoob's book Gun-proof your children.it has a lot of basic information, but it is always good to hear the basics again. They both know anytime they want to touch a gun, all they have to do is ask and they get to examine it, if they want to shoot it all they have to do is ask and we'll go out and shoot it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingfrog509 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Seth, I have found that each and every child is different and that must be taken into consideration. As for my children I taught them to simply stay away from them before they were to young to shoot. Probably to the point of error I would actually leave an unloaded gun laying around and watch and scold them with increasing intensity if/when they went to touch a gun. At a VERY young age they knew NOT to touch. The rational was I'm not worried about my house because my guns stay in the safe. BUT by the freak chance I forgot or we were at someone elses house and they forgot I didn't want them grabbing any gun. It worked to well, they wouldn't touch toy guns either. They would come to the indoor range to watch my wife and I shoot IDPA and I never had to worry. (good group of guys help) By the time they were 5 the children were able to handle and shoot .22 pistols. As they grew to know more about guns they kept the don't touch unless dad or mom was present. As they got older we introduced them to taking the guns apart, cleaning them, and safe handling. Always giving them the proper environment to feed their curiosity about guns while enforcing the no playing with guns rule. Archery came into play, and then rifles came, then hunting and now at 12 and 14 we are looking at IDPA soon. I have one very compliant child and one not so much...but both are safer than most adults because they keep to the rules. 1) Treat every gun as if it were loaded. 2) Never point a gun at anything you don't plan on destroying. 3) Always know what is behind your target. 4) Never put your finger on the trigger until your ready to shoot your target. If they are handed a weapon they will first see if they know how to check the chamber, if not they ask to be shown how and then still inspect the chamber themselves before handling the weapon. I attribute this not to any special parenting skills, but to lots and lots of exposure, explanation and practical handling. The only rule that I have that is probably over the top is that there are no mistakes because the first one could cost someones life. Like for hunting a mistake means hunting season is over for the year. Harsh yes, but they take safety as serious as I do. Disclaimer: This is just what worked for me. Results vary. Common sense and keen observation is required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now