Training my 6 year old to handle/not handle guns

[bigboarstopper]

My daughter is 6 years old. She has been shooting for 2 years now with a cricket 22cal.

I first started her with a “toy” rifle. The rifle was to be treated as a real gun. We kept it in the hall closet. It was not to be played with. I’d leave it out or in her room at times to test her. When she saw it she wasn’t supposed to touch it. Simply report its presence to me and then I’d put it away. I’d have her regularly carry it to teach her muzzle control and show me it was on safety and that the chamber was empty.

At the ranch she is allowed to carry her real 22 with the bolt removed. Again this is to teach her muzzle awareness and show me the safety was on and that the rifle chamber is empty whenever I ask. Repetition repetition repetition.

Ultimately she has been handling a “firearm” for 2 years on a very regular basis. The “toy” rifle is now in her closet in an old gun safe locker that she has the key to. It is her responsibility to store it safely. Meaning if any of her friends come over the “rifle” must remain locked and safe from her other 6 year old friends. If the rifle is found out of its locker in the presence of her friends or for any reason not approved by me she will be in serious trouble. I’m happy to say that that has never happened.

I have to say that doing this with her has been very entertaining on top of being educational. She takes it very seriously and that’s part of the entertainment. I’m now being asked by my 6 year old if my firearm is on safety and if my chamber is empty whenever I have one with me at the ranch. Which in turn makes me now have to show my daughter that my rifle is safe doubling my own safety checks. I respect her requests for safety checks telling her there is no age limit for firearms safety and her asking me is as just as important as when I ask her for a safety check. It’s been a lot of fun

Tell me about how your teaching your younger shooters/hunters and what kinds of teaching methods work/don’t work, are fun and not so fun? Especially like to hear from the younger people to give me your thoughts.

[dmcag69]

Wow, impressive

Great dad
Good man

[sonofeugene]

No children here, but man, you're doing an awesome job!

[K001]

Good job Dad. I performed a lot of the same principals on Nerf guns with my then 8yr old son, who is now 17, and he has grown into a well rounded firearm safety conscious young man!

[Dr Pete]

Kudos on teaching your daughter gun safety and handling.

Keep up the good work, let her teach also, positive reenforcement.

[terry4130]

Wow that’s awesome and gives me some great ideas to implement. Thanks for posting my boy is 4.5 and I’m figuring things out now.


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[Oceanbob]

OP. I am totally impressed. We responsible gun owners owe our children a
Gun education.

I started my daughter (she’s grown now) same way. Eventually she purloined
some family guns...lol.

She took over my Gen 2 Glock 17 (that’s her in the photo when an article was written about kids and guns) and she stored her Glock in her bedroom.

I could always tell if a boyfriend (in High School) was serious if she took him
to the Range on a Date.....hahaha.

Most young teen girls had a teen or rock idol poster on the wall; my daughter had
her Targets taped up. Her boyfriends called me “Sir”.....lol

I built her a neat piston AR 15 (Californistan model) and she took it with her
to College for 4 years hidden in a faus guitar case.

She joked to me that in a school shooting she would look for the perpetrator and
called them “Targets of Opportunity “.

She grown and gone now but Dad just gave her a thousand rounds of M855.

So yes, start them YOUNG.

Be well
Bob

[mrb865]

You are a great Father! Brilliant idea using the toy rifle for training. Hat's off to you good Sir!

[Supersapper]

Agreed on the toy rifles. Next time I train little ones, I will incorporate that. Good idea.

My plan for my 12 year old nieces went a little like this:

I started them on a lesson telling them about a gun, what it is and what it does and what it can NOT do. They were used to sharing a single Red Ryder BB gun for a while, so i started there and began their training by buying both of them a Red Ryder BB gun.

No...they won't shoot their eye out.

My plan once they were proficient with safety, safety equipment, handling and basic shooting ettiquette, is to move them up to a paintball gun to get them used to something bigger, that is semiauto, and that if they come and visit, I can take them to BLM land any time of the year. Plus, the can see how they're doing with bright orange little paint splatters.

After that, a .22 and once they can actually manipulate the handgun, up to something more normal. I've seen 12 year old girls (one of them at FrontSight) trying desperately to manipulate the action on a 9mm, and it was not pretty. So I figured I'd build them up to it.

Just my way of it.

[sbsyncro]

What a great Dad you are! One of my proudest days was when I was at the range with my 18 year old son a few years ago and someone on the next lane over that we’d been chatting with offered to let my son shoot his 9mm carbine, handing it to him.

My son accepted the rifle (keeping it pointed down range), dropped the mag, opened the action and checked it, tilted it back, flipped on the safety, then said “Thank you”, sat down, reinserted the mag, flipped the charging handle and proceeded to take a few shots at our steel gongs.

“The work paid off...” I thought silently. I was beaming inside knowing that he would always carry this confidence and focus on safety and hand it down to his own children some day.


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[BAJ475]

Originally Posted by sbsyncro

What a great Dad you are! One of my proudest days was when I was at the range with my 18 year old son a few years ago and someone on the next lane over that we’d been chatting with offered to let my son shoot his 9mm carbine, handing it to him.

My son accepted the rifle (keeping it pointed down range), dropped the mag, opened the action and checked it, tilted it back, flipped on the safety, then said “Thank you”, sat down, reinserted the mag, flipped the charging handle and proceeded to take a few shots at our steel gongs.

“The work paid off...” I thought silently. I was beaming inside knowing that he would always carry this confidence and focus on safety and hand it down to his own children some day.

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Great story. You had every right to be proud of your efforts.

[DentonandSasquatchShow]

OP you are a monster and should be reported to authorities!

That's what I would say if I were a Liberal. But since I'm not I say good on you man. I have a daughter who is mentally disabled and I'm trying to teacher her gun safety. She currently gets to shoot her pink red ryder. But I like the idea about leaving the toy gun out and having her report its presence. Keep up the good work. I know someone who is on the short list for Dad of the Year.