Young Shooters

[tightloop]

Last Saturday I shot the Texas State IDPA match.  One of the shooters was a 12 year old young lady named Samantha.  she was shooting marksman SSP with a Glock 17, and was she great.  I don't know how she finished overall, or within her class; but that does not matter in the least.  She was SAFE, courteous to us "older" shooters, knew what she had to do and shot great.

It just makes me feel like we have a chance when I meet one of these younger shooters who have it all and are really nice young poeple on top of all that.

[EricW]

I think kids are far and away the best shooters we have overall.  I've never seen one be unsafe, discourteous, unsportsmanlike, or anything else at the range or at a match.  I wish everybody's gun safety skills were as good as the typical junior.  I always breathe a sigh of relief when I see a young shooter at the range.  I know that it's one less person I have to worry about.  

Maybe the junior shooters should be giving *us* a few lessons....

(Edited by EricW at 6:45 pm on Nov. 7, 2002)

[raven02003]

I agree with what all ya'll have said. I am about 14 yr old. When I started shooting the key good for me was to play it safe and to shoot accurate. After, getting to know the rule and everthing I seem to get along fine with the other shooter. After shooting for 5 to 6 months I feel that I am in the middle of the pack and I am learnong a lot for this site. But the thing is that it is a shame that there are not that many young shooters these days.

[tightloop]

Raven

for me when my kids were young, it was a $$ thing.  I want to win, super competitive, and it used up all my spare $$ just for me to shoot.  If you had to X3 that amount I could not have shot at all.  I think lots of parents are in the same boat.

You are lucky your parents support your habit, wait till you have to support it yourself, along with all the rest of the financial drain the world puts on you.

[EricW]

raven,

Don't worry too much about not having a lot of peers shooting.  It's a them problem, not a you problem.  Most of them couldn't be trusted with the responsibility you obviously handle well.  In 10-15 years, the joke will be on them.  What you're learning now about responsibility, discipline, and control will carry you much farther than than what your peers learn from playing video games and screwing off at the mall.  The "cool" kids are usually the ones who end up pumping your gas later in life.

E

[raven02003]

I agree. The things that I am learning are more than likely to help me in the future. I think that shooting is great for I get to do this. But, I hape that my kid will be a intrested in shooting as I have been.

[SiG Lady]

But the REALLY 'cool' kids are the ones that take on shooting responsibilities early and really HAVE something to pass along to their peers/children/other adults when the time comes. Chances are that young shooters who learn the right things EARLY will retain that responsible attitude for quite a while. And it will serve them well in more than just shooting.

Of course, anyone can start shooting at virtually any time... nothing wrong with a senior/adult picking up the shooting sport suddenly at age 67 or whenever.......  (And THEY can pass along some of those responsible good habits, too.)