That's a matter of education. I started teaching my kids about guns at a very early age. My son used to think they go bang, somebody falls down, the Doc puts on a Band-Aid, and you see that person on some other show the next day... until I took him shooting. The reality of a gunshot can be a big shock, and I only warned him a little.
He was about 3 or 4 and I told him we were going out shooting. We live out in the country, so there's plenty of good places. I filled up a 2 liter bottle with water, gave it to him and asked him to bust it. He banged it around for 5 minutes or so before giving up - amazing how tough it is to break one.
I had some pretty agressive +P JHP rounds for my 9 and let one fly from about 20 feet - KABLAM!!!! Needless to say, there wasn't much left of the coke bottle. Instant respect for firearms.
Then we did gun safety on a 4 year old level, and we broke it down and cleaned it.
He was about 7 when we got him a BB gun and I started teaching him how to shoot my .22LR. That was interesting for me - we knew he was right handed, but he's always been somewhat ambidexterous and we found out he was left eye dominant. Makes sighting down a long gun pretty tough, but it was pretty funny to watch him try shooting a right handed bolt with a benchrest stock left handed. (yes, my old rimfire is set up better than some hardcore deer rifles - I hunt squirrel with it, and I can put 3 out of 4 rounds on a quarter at 100yds)
Favorite Bumper stickers:
Smith & Wesson - The original Point and Click Interface.
Insured by Glock
Forget the dog - Beware of Owner (with a drawing of a burgler in the crosshairs)
Bookmarks