Introducing kids to shooting

[higginsworksforme]

From Thehighroad.org. Behold the autism.

We often speak about the importance of trainers' aptitude for teaching.

Read this and see if you can use any of it. Or just enjoy it.

Fifty years ago this summer, I put some rifles in the trunk and went back into the house to fill a canteen. When I came back out, the eleven year old boy who lived across the street was in the passenger seat. He had interpreted something I had said to his mother as an invitation to take him shooting.

Okey dokey.

On the way out, I handed him a ball point pen with advertising on it and asked him to read both sides. The conversation went like this:

• At how many people have you pointed that pen?
• No, not just people right next to us--include the truckers coming the other way, and the folks at the gas station.
• If that were a gun, you would have endangered every one of them.
• Have you ever seen a watermelon that has been dropped and broken? That's what your head....

I was obviously making an impression, and I got some unexpected help.. As I turned off into the Busch Wildlife Preserve to go to the range, an ambulance was pulling out. They were finishing dog training, and a youngster had blown off one of his toes with a shotgun blank while resting the muzzle on his shoe.

I said "let's see if there are any bone fragments in the gravel". He was shaking.

At the range, I sat down next to Danny and handed him one .22 LR cartridge at a time to load into my old Remington 12C. I didn't get any shooting in that day--or the next time.

Years later, I called to talk to my now adult friend. He was out with his son with a new air rifle.

His wife said "You wouldn't believe what he made Jacob go through. He sat him down with a ball point pen....and then they went outside with a watermelon...".

Dan called the other day. He had just bought his grandson a Red Ryder BB gun.

I had one when I was eight years old.

 

[hlee]

Well, that is A way to do it…

 

[M4orturnate]

Considering today's kids don't really understand consequences this may be a way to sink it in their heads. I wouldn't want to scare the shit out of them either

 

[acpchuck]

Frist time my oldest son did any shooting was about a month before he turned 4 years old. I had just gotten a 1911 in .45 and we went to my parents place to shoot. I took a 22 revolver as he had been saying he wanted to shoot too. The 22 was too heavy for him to shoot by himself so I helped him with it. After my shooting the 1911 he said he wanted to shoot the 'big gun' so I helped him with that. I thought one shot and he will be done because of the recoil. Nope, he wanted to shoot it a lot.

All of my kids, 3 sons and 1 daughter, were taught firearms safety from a young age. All of them where shooting at least a 22 rifle about about age 5 or 6. Taught them how to check a gun to be sure it was unloaded, be sure of their back stop, finger off the trigger until ready to shoot and what happens when something is shot. Also told them if they wanted to look at any of my guns, let me know and we would get them out of the safe. Having supervised access to guns took away any desire they had to sneak a peak at them and worked well to reinforce safe gun handling.

As they got older, I became a 4H shooting sports instructor. Kids enjoyed the activities and it let me teach a lot of other kids, and their parents, about gun safety.

My oldest son is now teaching his kids how to shoot, generally starting them out with airsoft and bb guns. I know he is doing a good job with this as his oldest son, who had just turned 10, shot a buck last fall at 310 yards.

 

[higginsworksforme]

I think it was that forum where someone said he'd have his son shoot a 22 "for the first few range trips" before moving to something bigger. I assumed his kid had a disability.

 

[Srgt. Hulka]

The very first time both of my kids pulled a trigger, I had them shoot a full unopened can of coke with a 22. I wanted to impress on them how much fun shooting can be, if done the safe way, but also how devastatingly dangerous it can be, if done the unsafe way. To this day, they have not forgotten the Coke can.
My son wanted me to teach his girlfriend how shoot one of my 22s. She had never shot before, not even a BB gun. The first thing my son asked was, “Do you want me to go get a coke?”

 

[Baron23]

Skeet youth clinic, not rifle but similar in that teaching young people the safety, responsibilities, fundamentals, and fun of shooting sports is the same.

Safety is numero uno when we have 4-5 kids with shotguns in their hands. We have two instructors on every field with kids...one to look at the shot execution and provide feedback and the other with their head on a swivel looking out for safety.

We keep the ammo in our pouch and give it to them one shell at a time so we can control it.

Positive feedback always...they are young and get frustrated easily. Even a miss usually provides something positive to feedback to the kid. We want it to be both fun and productive.

Working with youths on a shooting sports is one of the most important things we can do as firearm/shooting enthusiasts, IMO.

 

[John?]

I’ll recommend an illustrated book: “Safety On”. Our kids studies that book intently to learn aafe handling and storage, followed by hands on training.

We live on a farm. Killing pests and stock is part of life. The kids have all seen the power of the lowly 22LR to kill hogs and anything smaller. They respect firearms as tools and for recreation.

There’s an old John Wayne film called “This Little Bullet” that does a fair job explaining safe use of firearms. Might appeal to some of today’s youth.

Training urban youth is an unfamiliar challenge.

 

[Fx51LP308]

I'm mentoring my niece and nephew. I've taken both to an indoor range I used to use in PA before I moved to FL. They did very well. I also took my nephew out with me on some "Shotgun Shootouts" we had at a local outdoor shotgun range in PRNJ (of all places). The organizer paid him his highest compliment. "This kid (early teens at the time)'s a natural."

Difficult to do these days as I'm in FL and my niece is in Va. My nephew is still in the PRNJ. I just wish I could get them down here for a spell. I bought my niece a standard 1911 .45 acp with which, surprisingly, she did extremely well at our last outing. Even better than shooting the .22LR. But it stays in my safe closet here in FL because I can't FFL it to her. I need to have a copy of her VA DL (assuming she changed it from her original PRNJ DL from her parent's house). But she, (at the behest of her mother and grandmother I think), has been very reluctant to send me a copy of her VA DL, because they know what I'd be sending to her FFL. My mom (her grandmother) even tried to "Gaslight" me once by sending me a copy of her VA "Physical Therapist" license (which she acquired after getting her doctorate in Physical therapy). Ugghhh.

Likewise, my nephew is now the proud owner of a Mossberg "Shockwave" 590. But I can't FFL it to him either., even though he has moved out of the family house and into an apartment. I don't know if his lease prohibits firearm storage or not.

I just have to hope they're willing to come down and pay me a visit so they can use their graduation presents.

 

[hlee]

I don’t remember ever using trauma to teach…

 

[fpgt72]

Personally, and you guys know I am pretty big on getting new people in. The guy in the OP is a class A dick.

Hand him a pen, for fuck sake, tell him to read the sides of it, and not tell him the rest of the rules to it. Fucking stupid.

When I had my boy start shooting 20 years ago we started with a 22. He got to be a pretty good shot pretty quickly. I filled a few things with water, you know you are like 90% water right.....yea. Here shoot this pop can, now shoot this pill bottle. Even with a 22 looks darn powerful at that.