How young is too young?

[OODA]

http://www.nrahq.org/safety/eddie/index.asp

[stevie]

.

maturity of child is the key. My kids were shooting .22's at around 5 years old.

[MadMex]

[Leo762]

telling them about guns depends on how smart they are, if the kid understands the words you tell him/her then you can teach them about guns. as far as shooting goes - once they are big enough to hold it - probably 4 or 5, maybe older depending on the kid's size.

[joe_sun]

I got screwed! I wasn't allowed to shoot until I was around 13 or 14!

[Brass Balls]

My kids were 6 when I started them with a .22 rifle and pistol. That seemed to be a pretty good age for them to understand what was going on, be able to load the gun and grasp the safety rules etc.. Although I think it also could be done safely at an earlier age particularly if you can benchrest a rifle.

[Taz77]

i agree with what was said before, maturity is key.
i didn't get to shoot until i was 15, but i saw a shooting usa/sighting in episode that talked about "how young is too young", and a father taught his daughter how to shoot and at the age of 7, she's shooting small bore silhouette competitions. there's also the army shooting team member (max michelle?) that got a bb gun at 5yrs old, shot his first 9mm a few years later, and won some masters competition at around the age of 14.

[PanzerAce]

damn, I didnt get to start shooting alot till I left for college on the other hand, I have learned just how damned fun in can be, so its all good in the end :P (and there is a CMP affiliated range about 15 miles from my house...time to get a Garand)

[Turbinator]

damn, I didnt get to start shooting alot till I left for college on the other hand, I have learned just how damned fun in can be, so its all good in the end :P (and there is a CMP affiliated range about 15 miles from my house...time to get a Garand)

Same here - didn't get to really lay my greasy hands on any firearms until college, when I could get away and do my own thing. Now my parents have accepted the hobby, so it isn't an issue, but back then? No way...

Back on thread, I say the sooner the better for safety - "don't touch" - but you should quell the curiosity by allowing them to look and handle under supervision. As other posters suggest, I think the key is looking at your kids and figuring out how mature they are for their respective ages. There are probably some kids who are more mature than adults out there!

Turby

[TimG]

I started taking my kids out when they were five, now my boys who are 13 and 11 have their own 10/22s and can handle, safley, shooting anything short of the .44. My daughter is 7 and loves to shoot the .22s, she'll shoot the ARs too from the bench. All of then can recite the four rules at any time but I still stand right behid when they shoot.

So to answer your question, I would say five is a good age

[just4fun63]

I think a lot depends on the kid. My 6 year started shooting a .22 rifle last year. he gets very seriuos when we shoot. My 11 year old just started this year as she wasn't safe when younger. She would play around, so no shooting. On a side note, this year when she tryed again she did very well. I might have to look out she even shot my 1911 last week She hit the target the first shot