How old is old enough to have a firearm?

[PITBULL]

I bought my son his first gun for christmas when he was 6. A .410 single shot. His eyes were as big as saucers, but his mom and grandmothers had fire in their eyes. I maybe right or wrong but I always felt that kids should learn about firearms and gun saftey at a young age. All kids should be taught at a kindergarden that if they find or come across a gun to not touch it and let an adult know about it, and only use a gun under adult supervision, Then in 5-6th grade they all should have to take a manditory hunters saftey course. My son is now 12 and ready for his first hunting season. After going out hunting for the past 7 years with me he is finaly able to legaly hunt with me during his first season.

[jk hillsdale]

Your thoughts make good sense to me. We're following a very similar timeline with our children.

My ten year old son will begin hunting this fall with me in Ohio & Indiana (they don't have the age limit requirement that Michigan does). He began to spend some time with me in the field when he was six.

Our second oldest son is now six and he accompanied me some last year as well when he was five.

Lord willing, I'm looking forward to this being the first of many years of hunting with my children.

[RMV]

I agree with you completly. If we don't get kids involved early, it can be hard to get them interested. With proper adult supervision, I am sure it can be a valuable bonding experience as well.;)

[Bow Hunter Brandon]

Every kid is different. I think its up to the parent to make the decission on when to introduce them to firearms. I started letting my brother in law shoot the 22 at age 10. Alot of people felt that he was to hyper to be able to shoot a gun. Under VERY close supervision he was alowed to shoot the 22. He went through 500 rounds that first day.
I could not beleive the consentration he had for ever detail of the safty steps I had shown him. He was very proud to show his mom safe handling of the firearm. :)
A few months later I was going back to Ohio he asked me to bring the 22. I did and we reviewed the safty steps of handling the gun. He was showing me the steps. :) Only thing he forgot was to chamber the first round. ( semi auto 22).
Every time we pick up the gun now we go through the steps.
I also bought him a bow last year and we shoot those together as well.

[Mike L]

My brother in law is a farmer, although he's a hunter he just never had the time. Well ? My nephew went with me opening day ducks when he was 14. The look on his face when the barage went off at legal shooting hour was priceless. LOL
Well we had a very good day, the teal were still here and he shot over a box of shells trying to hit those little jets. But thru the day I heard the clicking of his safety when there was nothing flying close. He was taught to release the safety only when coming up to shoot. And only then ! I mentioned it a couple times. But he still did it a couple more times. My partner and I normaly quit hunting at around noon everyday or until we limit out. So at 11:00 I calmley walked over to him and asked him for his gun. Then I told him to walk back to the truck and wait there until myself and my partner walked in. He asked why ? I told him I would explain when I got there. He protested a little more , but with a stern look he did what he was told. When I got back to the truck he asked what was going on ? I reminded him of the safety coming on and off ? And told him he would never hunt with me again because of it. We dropped himn off at home and it wasnt long before the phone started to ring, brother in law wondering what was going on. I told himn I was teaching his son a very important lesson, and told him the whole story. He agreed and that was that. About an hour later my nephew called and apologized over and over about never doing it again and could he have another chance. Well ? That was 4yrs ago and he is an addict for the ducks, I can't hold him down ! He will be coming home on Military Leave from the USN to hunt with me on opening day this year. And to this day he has never ever taken the safety off unless he is prepared to shoot. Hard lesson but sometimes that's what it takes. Good Hunting:)

[victor mi pro bowhunter]

got my first gun when i was 10

a 20 gauge shot gun

shot a 30-30 when i was 8 and the scope hit my eye and gave me a black eye so took me 2 years till i would shoot a gun agian;)

[carp_assasin]

My dad let me shoot his 12 gauge when I was eight, my shoulder hurt for a week. That explains my .22 fetish!

[north_of_mackinaw]

An interesting topic:
I agree it depends on the individual child. I got a BB gun for christmas when I was 6 years old. I was taught to treat it as any other gun and learned valubale lessons on safety and marksmanship with it. My father, Grandfather and Uncles were very, very strict regarding safety with any firearm and as I moved up from BB up to .22 and 20ga I was always supervised. If I made a serious mistake regarding safety the shooting for the day was over immediately. I used this same method with my own children and they are comming along fine. They both shopot trap with 4-H in the summer which has also helped.
So I guess I would say it depends on the indivudial who will be receiving the first gun, but also on what kind of instruction he or she will have and how much supervision.
Walt

[Freestone]

That's a neat story Mike. It just demonstrates how you have to be firm with kids when teaching firearm safety. Always follow through, thats important.

[Huntin Horseman]

I got my first "Real" gun when I was twelve but I had been taking care of my dad's guns well before that. Now I'm wondering what the laws are for me when I turn 17, I'm able to hunt by myself but am I able to carry a gun in the car by myself?