Do your kids shoot?

wvfarrier

Ignorant wretch
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Minuteman
Dec 7, 2012
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West (By GOD) Virginia
My daughters love to shoot.
Rockin' a dress and a rifle 🤣
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Shooting Italian cucumbers at 150 yards 🤩 with her Winchester 1892 in 357 mag
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I taught both my daughters to shoot. The older one was a Navy nurse for 5 years. She asked me if she should try and qualify on the M9 and M16. I said sure I taught you how to shoot both of those... Two weeks later she calls and told me she qualified on both weapons. I think she made sharpshooter on one of them. Pretty proud about that.
 
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When I was poor and divorced I cut down my 10/22 stock so my daughter could shoot it. They had monthly bowling pin matches in Idaho and nearby camping. We'd have monthly camping/shooting trips in the summer. Afterwards we got ice cream at the store and cooked dinner by the campfire.

Really nice days.
 
Question for the OP / group. How did you all start exposing them to firearms / introducing safety stuff. Have a just turned 3 YO boy who talks about guns all the time now and is getting interested when he sees me leaving for the range every weekend.

Didn’t think it would happen this early but curios on you alls thoughts / what you did with your kiddos
 
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Question for the OP / group. How did you all start exposing them to firearms / introducing safety stuff. Have a just turned 3 YO boy who talks about guns all the time now and is getting interested when he sees me leaving for the range every weekend.

Didn’t think it would happen this early but curios on you alls thoughts / what you did with your kiddos
They learned the 5 rules of gun safety first.....rule #5......Dads word is law 🤣

I taught them same handling first and then started them on a ruger 10/22. They both have lever action 357s with engraved plates on them that have their names/birthdates. Both wanted to learn to use them as soon as I showed them to them.

We also "tested" them by laying an unloaded firearm around the house to see what they did. All 3 immediately came and got a parent while one stood guard.

The love the ARs though. They can currently handle recoil up to full power (read "spicy") 300 AAC. Both want me to build bolt action 223s for them but I think I am going to buy a couple Tikkas and have the stocks cut back to fit them.

Neither of them has ever flagged me with a handgun or rifle. Very safe. Heck, look at gabbys trigger discipline in that picture.
 
Question for the OP / group. How did you all start exposing them to firearms / introducing safety stuff. Have a just turned 3 YO boy who talks about guns all the time now and is getting interested when he sees me leaving for the range every weekend.

Didn’t think it would happen this early but curios on you alls thoughts / what you did with your kiddos
It’s Nerf or Nothin’
 
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I have a niece and nephew. Both are in their mid-late 20's now and living their own lives. But while they were still at home going to high school, I took them shooting at two different places. I took my niece to the local indoor range in Easton, PA (Heritage Guild). I took my nephew to an outdoor clay range (oddly enough, sponsored and regulated by the state to help hunters practice and get their PRNJ Hunters license).

Both seemed to enjoy the Hell out of it when I was doing it. Even the clay range master said about my nephew, "That kid is a natural." I had both of them take the handgun training course at Heritage Guild. I even had my mother take that same course. At the time, Mom owned a Walther P22 pistol. More on this, later. It seems that my niece, oddly enough, was way more accurate with my 1911 .45acp than with the .22LR revolver they loaned her for the class. Much tighter groups, etc. She was upset when we ran out of .45acp ammo (I let her shoot all of it). All of this was before I GTFO'ed the PRNJ and moved to FL.

Fast forward, a bit, and for both their college graduations (in my niece's case, graduation from her Doctor of Physical Therapy program - PTD), I gifted them both one of my inventory items, each. For my nephew, I was holding for him his Henry Arms .22 lever action rifle that Mom bought him. At the time, he was obviously too young to take full ownership/possession of it. Mom wanted me to take custody of it for him. When I moved to FL, I asked him if he wanted me to take it with me or transfer it back to my Mom. He elected for me to take it with me and hold it for him in FL.

When he got his Bachelor's Degree, I went and traded him up a little (the Henry was too small for him by then). I upgraded him to one of my Mossberg Shockwave guns, based on his expertise at the clay range. But I still keep it for him in FL because, at the time, he was still living in his parents house, and my sister (albeit an expert marksman in the NJ Natl. Guard), won't allow firearms to be stored in her house. Now, he's sharing an apartment in PRNJ with two other roommates. So, I'm not sure if his lease restricts firearms ownership in the unit. For my niece, I gifted her one of my RIA 1911 .45acp pistols, based on her enjoyment of mine. She lives and practices Physical Therapy in the Chesapeake/Virginia Beach area. She recently got married to her boyfriend with whom she was living for a while (He's a LEO, specializing in Cyber crime).

To date, neither have claimed their gifts nor wanted me to FFL them to them. I kept asking my niece for her VA driver's license in order to send that to an FFL in her area (for the longest time, she kept her PRNJ DL with her parents' address, but now has VA), but for some reason, the family (especially my mother) have thwarted those efforts. My mother said she'd get me her "license." But what I received was her VA medical license to practice physical therapy. Does Mom think I'm that stupid? I think that Mom, having taken the course at the indoor range was very fearful of what could happen if she were stopped by PRNJ LEOs with her P22 in her car. I think she sold it and has nothing now. She's in her 90's now, so just as well. But I also think that she and my sister are discouraging my niece and nephew from accepting their gifts. I dunno why,,,, Both could purchase their own items now if they wanted to. I'll only know for sure if I can get them down here to see me on their own, without any other family present. Just the two of them.


Frankly, I think they got "anti'ed" by my mom/sister. ARGGGGHHH! :mad:
 
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Question for the OP / group. How did you all start exposing them to firearms / introducing safety stuff. Have a just turned 3 YO boy who talks about guns all the time now and is getting interested when he sees me leaving for the range every weekend.

Didn’t think it would happen this early but curios on you alls thoughts / what you did with your kiddos
I just bundled the kids up and took them to the range with me. Even if they weren't shooting at the moment I made sure there was something to do such as spotting, scoring, or loading magazines. The girls had a lot of fun scoring for their older brother and the older brother was really proud to be showing his sisters how it was done.

I think that one of the best decisions I've ever made was to sign the kids up for 4H shooting sports. Great environment, friends participating (and older kids as role models), and the 4H process of getting them safely shooting immediately then coaches later doing the fine tuning. The competition also fires them up.

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My daughter and 3 sons grew up shooting. My oldest was not quite 4 years old the first time he shot a handgun with help from me. They are all adults now but growing up I got them involved in 4H shooting sports in which I was one of the instructors.

I made it very clear to them at a young age that they can look at and handle my guns only with permission from me, i.e. getting them out of the safe. I would show them how to check the gun was unloaded and the 4 safety rule. Never had any issues with their handling of guns.

Oldest son has kids of his own now and he is teaching them to shoot as they get to about 4 or 5. He has air soft guns for them to learn on so there is no noise or recoil. I get pictures often of them shooting his ARs, MP5 clones and handguns.

Teach them well at a young age how to handle and respect guns, and give them a life time of shooting enjoyment. Of course this son has all the cool stuff, suppressors and thermals, as well as the ability to shoot from the deck on his house.
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Mine’s only 2 and a half but I can’t wait to shoot with her. We do play with Nerf Guns and I am trying to get the firearm safety rules embedded into her brain.
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Also, what’s a good age to get her started? 7 maybe? Or 10?
Mine was 6.

Dryfire practice at the range
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I think she shot 10 live rounds and then colored after that. I’d take her to the range with me and drag the coloring books with so she had something to do and be out of the way of other shooters.
 
good to see all of this! shooting and hunting will be no more if a generation is partially or fully skipped. some of the best times i ever had were spending the day pheasant hunting, walking the cornfields with my dad, uncle and cousins. or going up behind my granddad's in the coal mtns plinking with .22s all day. heck i used to walk into town with the 22, buy a brick of ammo at the hardware store, then back to the mountains to plink more. that was "normal" back then.
 
Mine’s only 2 and a half but I can’t wait to shoot with her. We do play with Nerf Guns and I am trying to get the firearm safety rules embedded into her brain.
View attachment 8757676

Also, what’s a good age to get her started? 7 maybe? Or 10?

At whatever age at which she can safely handle the weapon (in re: "recoil" etc.) and adhere to/follow all the safety rules consistently (especially the "point in a safe direction" rule). I was 7-8, IIRC. We had a summer day camp we'd go to. One of the "specialist" counselors (who also served as the bus driver and, apparently, had a Military background) was also an NRA instructor. There was a private high school local to the community that also had a 50 yd indoor range in the basement. He would take the campers there once a week to shoot single shot .22 bolt action rifles. We always shot "prone." And, for whatever reason, they didn't feel it necessary for us to have eyes or ears. I can see not having eyes because you'd have to eject the casing manually via the bolt. But I could have probably done well with a pair of ears.

To get her ready, you might have her practice on a "blue dummy" plastic gun, and then a real gun with snap caps or something to let her get used to the weight and the hand/arm positions. After that, then some live ammo to learn how to handle recoil. Then we can work on aim and trigger control.
 
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Yup. He’s off at college now though. I hope he has time when he comes home on breaks for some range time but his time will most likely be spent with friends who are home around those times too
 
Mine’s only 2 and a half but I can’t wait to shoot with her. We do play with Nerf Guns and I am trying to get the firearm safety rules embedded into her brain.
View attachment 8757676

Also, what’s a good age to get her started? 7 maybe? Or 10?

As others have stated make sure she’s got enough mass to handle the firearm.

As for the age…..I’ve been led to believe they should wait until they have reached the age of reason. I learned at the age of 10 then I was allowed to keep my rifle in my room and was trusted to shoot on my own on the ranch. The 1900’s were wild.

https://www.scholastic.com/parents/...arning/development-milestones/age-reason.html
 
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Question for the OP / group. How did you all start exposing them to firearms / introducing safety stuff. Have a just turned 3 YO boy who talks about guns all the time now and is getting interested when he sees me leaving for the range every weekend.

Didn’t think it would happen this early but curios on you alls thoughts / what you did with your kiddos

First question I asked them (my nephew in particular) was, "Why do you want to learn how to shoot?," just to see how they'd respond. After that, you go into the safety rules as well as the need to not shoot at anything living.... only paper/steel targets (unless hunting or self-defense). I was actually quite amazed by their knowledge of weapons even before we began. I guess it's all that "Call of Duty" play they do. My niece was even able to describe her favorite "reticle" and why it is her favorite.

Both were excellent students and behaved extremely well handling the weapons. My nephew even caught me a couple of times when I should have been paying better attention. :oops:
 
My son did for a bit, but not anymore. He shot the GAP Grind with me 5 years ago. I think now he just finds it incredibly boring. 🤷

My 13 yo daughter still refuses. I passed along my son’s Cricket rifle to her and painted it blue upon her request. Still a hard NO. Been asking for years. 🙄
 
My son did for a bit, but not anymore. He shot the GAP Grind with me 5 years ago. I think now he just finds it incredibly boring. 🤷

My 13 yo daughter still refuses. I passed along my son’s Cricket rifle to her and painted it blue upon her request. Still a hard NO. Been asking for years. 🙄

Has your daughter indicated why she's still "hard NO?"