How old is old enough to start shooting?

[dwalker]

My boy has had a BB gun since he was 5, and has his own 22 rifle now that he is 7. Unfortunately when he is in CA he cannot shoot anything but the BB gun at most ranges, as they want him to be 10 or older to shoot even a 22.

Here he is with my AR10 6.5CM weh I was between rounds of dry-fire. Pretty good form for a 7 year old.

[meno377]

Everyone is different OP. Only you know your child.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttMuvmspa8o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYqyq70b6BE

[Blade Gunner]

How old is old enough to start shooting?

First time I shot was a Remington nylon 66 at age of six. My mother thought it was a toy gun. I got pretty good at hitting jack rabbits with it. Then my Dad handed my his Garand to shoot. Ended up on my butt, I thought I had shot myself.


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[BHP FAN]

I let my boy shoot my grandma's Remington slide action .22 when he was six. It's his now,and he turns thirty in five more days. He lived! Seriously, it depends on the training your child has been given, and the kids comfort level around firearms.

[kmas]

Various Ages

CO2 pellet guns at 6
.22 rifle at 13
handguns at 16
AR15 at 16

All fully supervised until they were proficient and demonstrated maturity

[ojisan]

Old enough to pay attention, follow directions and understand cause and effect.
First thing I did was have them shoot something that reacts / crumbles / blows up (full soda can, water jug, at least a clay pigeon) so they can get a visual reference of the energy they are releasing.
Then I point out that if they shoot someone they will cause the same damage.
(If their eyes get big and you can see that they are thinking, they got the message)
It's kinda hardcore and sobering, but I think it is worth it to get that concern for safety hammered in at the very first shot.

I did this with both my sons and even some newbie adults, there has never been an issue with safe handling.

[steel30]

My kids all shot the Ruger .22's at ages 8-9. My son and I took Hunter safety when he was 10. Got his first dove that same year with an old Winchester model 50 20g. My daughters were not interested in continuing the sport, though they know firearm safety and are around firearms quite a bit.

[ibungy30]

Like the idea of starting them off with BB guns first, makes sense.

[amishfarmer]

I agree, BB rifles, since that helps reduce muzzle sweep and like how I teach my oldest daughter, she can shoot off a rest to build confidence and focus on sight picture and trigger pull. I just picked up a Winchester 190 on consignment and after a good cleaning and range test by me that will be her upgrade as soon as I feel she is ready.She does well with the BB gun and loves to shoot it, she was really excited about the 22 as well makes me happy.
She is 9 BTW got the Red Ryder when she was 7 for Christmas

[ar15robert]

I started my son at about 6 years old and my daughter about the same age but it was with me standing behind them helping them out.My daughter is now 11 but for the past 2 years she has been loading the 10/22 and shooting it all by herself and shes pretty good with it.

My son was similar hes 15 now but about 11 he was loading the 22 up himself and shooting now hes been shooting my ar for the past couple of years all by himself.Hes pretty set on longer distance targets.

Both dont feel comfy shooting the handguns i only have a 10mm and a 45 but will buy a 22 for them to shoot soon.We do family weekend camping shooting trips in the winter about 3-4 a year to the desert.

[Saym14]

earlier the better

[WakeUpCA]

once my son was told enough to pay attention and follow directions, i started to introduce him to firearms

[Redemption]

My father started me at age 12, my boys (there are 4 of them) have been/ will be started at various ages. I am more concerned with their ability to effectively and maturely take in, process and follow the information and instructions they have been given.

Last thing i want is for one of my children to turn out like that poor girl who accidently stitched up and killed that firearms instructor because someone put her behind the trigger of a platform she had no business or knowledge to be behind.

[jcri0006]

My wife was 5, but she grew up on a reservation in South Dakota. My son is considering teaching his son (5) when he returns from deployment next year.