Quote:
Originally Posted by SkyGunner
You are so right. I worked a few accidental shootings of a child. They stay in your mind forever. Being a country boy, I was raised with firearms and was very well taught about caution. Best advice I can give is, don't hide them and make them a mystery. If your child asks a question, answer as best you can and stress the part that these are not toys and if they find one, find an adult and show it to them. If you don't hide something from a child, they will usually obey your rules, try to hide something can lead to tradegy.
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I agree in theory, but in practice, it has it's caveats... and it depends on how ornery the child is.
Long story short, I'm #6 of 8 kids, when I was ~6, I was accused of shooting a dog with a bb gun, (I didn't)... at ~9yrs, I recall an older brother taking dads luger and putting a hole thru a steel lawn chair... ~12 another brother emptied shot shells, and shot the primers with a bb gun. Primer shot out and hit younger brother, broke the skin is all.... I could go on.
Some would say we were unsupervised too much, probably, but think back on your own childhood some of the stuff you did that your parents never knew about.
I'm in my 50's now, shooting is something I do with my kids every chance we get. I was fortunate that my kids didn't have 5 older brothers to teach them 80 different ways to be sneaky.
But yes, kids should be shooting, supervised, at a young age, and taught GOOD habits. I have some bad habits that have followed me for years, I'll let my son teach his son better ways
Bottom line, keep that stuff locked up tight till it's time to shoot
