Took my 12 yr old son to the range for the first time.

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Disclaimer: Some of the pictures are posed. In all of the pictures that were not action shots the Firearms were unloaded and on safe (where applicable)

So here is the story. My wife is very against guns. She had a friend commit suicide with one many many years ago and she has this irrational fear of guns. I put my foot down last year and got my license and after receiving it, got my first gun. I keep it locked in the house if I'm not carrying but its never usually there because I carry it everywhere it is allowed by law. When I first starting talking about obtaining my licence my 12 year old son who is extremely smart and responsible for his age caught on to her apprehension and negative outlook on guns. He was very very scared that if I got a gun I would shoot myself. After having a few conversations with him and having my L.E.O. friend talk with him he warmed up a little to the prospect of "Daddy" owning a gun. So I got my gun in January and carry it everywhere. I carry in the house even. For a month or so while I was getting used to carrying it it was concealed in the house all the time. Over time though I would allow it to be open carry and the family got used to daddy carrying a gun. So about a month ago my son started to show some interest shooting and asked if he could go to the range. We went to Braintree on Saturday and pulled out all the stops. First thing he got was an hour firearms class taught to him by my L.E.O. friend. then he got a familiarization course on what we were going to shoot. First up was a M&P AR-15 22.



He loved it! could not get the smile off of his face.


Next we went to the AR-15. It has a new EoTech sight so we had to sight it in. Man he jumpped at the first shot. He came over to me and told me he was apprehensive about shooting it. I told him it was not a big deal and I would not force him into shooting anything he would be uncomfortable with. We (my L.e.o. friend and I) proceded to put a few mags downrange and after a little bit my son came up and said he would try it. Well man if he did not fall in love with that too. :) We were shooting 50 and 100 foot targets and man if he was not getting great groupings right off the bat :)




After a few hours at the rifle range we moved down to the Handgun Range. This one, I myself was unsure of. He is a small kid and all we had to shoot was a HK .45c and a M&P .40c Both have a pretty violent recoil for a kid. He was confident so we loaded up one round in the HK and let him try. He got the round in the bottle and did not drop the gun but had a hard time with the recoil as expected. The gun (even being a compact) was just to big for him to control.



He did not like it so we moved on to my M&P .40c. This went much better. The grip is smaller so he was able to get a better hold on it. While the recoil is large with the gun, After 30 rounds through it (all single loaded so we did not have any misfires on recoil) he was able to get a good handle on the recoil and was disappointed that we were out of ammo




All in all we had a wonderful day and at the end of it he was talking about saving up his allowance to get more ammo. I know my wife will never be "ok" with guns or me owning one but I now have a new friend to share my hobby with.

Thanks for reading

Eway

- - - Updated - - -

Final pic of the day : ) yeah that's my NES shirt.
 
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Nice! Always good to teach the kids about firearms. You need to work on the wife though. +1 for pics too!

Damn good rifle stance for his age, better than some of older dudes I see.
 
Excellent. That smile won't leave his face for days!

Now you need to get the wife to come with you and you'll have some nice family bonding time. If she's like any of the newbies I've taken to the range, she'll forget her fear pretty quickly.
 
Excellent. That smile won't leave his face for days!

Now you need to get the wife to come with you and you'll have some nice family bonding time. If she's like any of the newbies I've taken to the range, she'll forget her fear pretty quickly.

That is going to be a tough one. I'm going to keep hinting at it and bringing it up but I'm not holding my breath. Her stance is firm, but she did not kick me out when I brought home my gun so there might be a chance.

Taking my daughter to the range in a few years might soften her up.

Thinking maybe if I get my son into competition shooting she might not be able to say no.
 
That's Great, I am sure you two will have lots of fun together in the future!
 
That is going to be a tough one. I'm going to keep hinting at it and bringing it up but I'm not holding my breath. Her stance is firm, but she did not kick me out when I brought home my gun so there might be a chance.

Taking my daughter to the range in a few years might soften her up.

Thinking maybe if I get my son into competition shooting she might not be able to say no.

Your son had a great time, so now you need to have him help you talk your wife into going with you. No mother can resist "Mommy, I want you to come watch me."
 
Teacher: "Class, what did you do over the weekend?"
"I see....

...

..running down hallway ..


LOCKDOWN!! LOCKDOWN!!

Haha we had a talk about how people can be and agreed that he would only tell his best friend and he has no pictures available to him. The only pics out there are the ones I posted here and I'm assuming no one uses them against me here.
 
I was trying to find a video of Austin Powers' Frau yelling "ALARM!" but I couldn't find one. Here's the next best thing. Just imagine she's yelling "ALARM!" please.

 
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You have done a great service, IMO. The Mystery of the Forbidden is a powerful thing - now guns are just things worthy of respect.

Coming Out of the Gun Safe can be a tricky thing, especially with kids - mine were Out in third grade, and the teachers and administration know about their hobbies, and don't care.

With the Mrs., don't push, let her follow.
 
Right handed shooter, left eye dominant. Something that should be worked on. I am not experienced in this, but maybe others will chime in with tips. It's good to make "adjustments" early on, if they are necessary. Some have no problems, others, great difficulty. Good luck.
 
Keep the tradition going.I got my first Marlin 22 rifle when I was 9 years old. My dad bought it at K mart in Milford Ma. It's one of my best memories. I love your story
 
This is awesome, and you did something that i consider very special...you posted the pics of the day and then, being proud you set him shooting as your avatar so you can see his shining face every time you log in. A day at the range with his dad that will be remembered for the rest of his life [smile]
 
Great! I can't wait until my boys and girls reach 12! However, I tried at 7 and my wife said that since she can barely handle my guns being the size of a 12 year old, the kids have to be 12 too. :( Granted I did start her off on the Garand...

Great job again!
 
That is going to be a tough one. I'm going to keep hinting at it and bringing it up but I'm not holding my breath. Her stance is firm, but she did not kick me out when I brought home my gun so there might be a chance.

Taking my daughter to the range in a few years might soften her up.

Thinking maybe if I get my son into competition shooting she might not be able to say no.

Nice! My wife is the same way, though not afraid of them, just dislikes them, which is odd since her old man was longtime USMC and LEO. Like you I finally put my foot down, got my LTC and bought my first gun, a Ruger .40. Still hasn't been fired (didn't think it would take so long to join a club) but still. My kids are 9 and 6 which I think is a bit too young to keep their mouths shut and in this climate that's my biggest fear so they're still in the dark about me owning a gun.

Anyway, the club I'm joining has archery, trap and stocked ponds so hopefully we can get out there as a family and take advantage of all of it. Maybe help get the wife on board a bit more but as you alluded to, baby steps with that!

Awesome pics!
 
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I love your disclaimer!
Screw it. Mine R loaded!
+5 points. Wait till u see the ammo bill with these kids. Skip aiming. Waste of time. Bang bang bang. My 12 yr old shoots my bolt action like an automatic!
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You sir are an awesome dad.......
Best days I have are with my boys at the range
Some day when they move on we will always have that time together
 
These types of stories make my day. It really makes you step back and wonder how anyone could be against this? Families that shoot together stay together!
 
My wife and I were not into guns when we met. My step son had shot a little with his dad and had a tube fed 22 before we all took the course. I got my license in August, my wife went to apply but had to get to work. Middleboro has 2 open appointment per week day/night show up first come first serve (in my opinion it should be this way in every town). No questions asked except pertaining to questions on app. I have since bought a number of different caliber long and short guns. My wife took interest in mostly 22s until she shot my AR. That turned out to be her favorite gun to shoot as well as my son. She took a while to get comfortable shooting 9mm handguns and yet to try the 1911. My son is very close to trying a 9mm pistol. I ask him every time we shoot but never push. I figure in due time. He will be applying for his FID in less than 2 weeks!! and I think I'm just as excited as he is. The wife finally found the time to apply for her LTC a few months back and received her unrestricted class A a few weeks ago just shy of 8 weeks
 
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