-
If you enjoy the forum please consider supporting it by signing up for a NES Membership The benefits pay for the membership many times over.
When it comes to children, it's safety first !
- Thread starter Toast
- Start date
tuna
NES Member
Shameless bragging about my son will follow:
I'm looking for a deer rifle for my son. Average sized 9 year old. I've gone into several gun stores with him and looked at different rifles. I stay with him, especially at first, though I may start to drift off if something catches my eye, but I keep at least 70% attention on him.
I've noticed that the guys behind the counter will keep a close eye on him when we first come in - can't blame them for not wanting a kid to get boogers all over the guns or worse. I watch the clerks for a reaction to see if we're unwelcome in the store, and haven't gotten that vibe at all.
My son will pick up a rifle, check the chamber and without sweeping anyone, raise it to his shoulder and sight at something on the ceiling - as he's seen me do a million times.
Last week, he did something that really impressed me. He picked up a rifle, kept it pointed safely and looked at it, then put it down and came over to me and said "Dad, how do I check this gun?" I was really impressed with the way he stopped effing with it and came over to ask instead of fiddling around with it.
I had chalked the clerks reactions to a 9 year old with a rifle as "just a part of New Hampshire", but have seen kids older than my son asked to not touch anything. I think that made a great impression on my son, as he doesn't want to be seen as "one of those guys" or even worse "a kid".
OK, bragging over. I may be an ass, but at least I've taught my son how to handle a gun and not look like an idiot.
I'm looking for a deer rifle for my son. Average sized 9 year old. I've gone into several gun stores with him and looked at different rifles. I stay with him, especially at first, though I may start to drift off if something catches my eye, but I keep at least 70% attention on him.
I've noticed that the guys behind the counter will keep a close eye on him when we first come in - can't blame them for not wanting a kid to get boogers all over the guns or worse. I watch the clerks for a reaction to see if we're unwelcome in the store, and haven't gotten that vibe at all.
My son will pick up a rifle, check the chamber and without sweeping anyone, raise it to his shoulder and sight at something on the ceiling - as he's seen me do a million times.
Last week, he did something that really impressed me. He picked up a rifle, kept it pointed safely and looked at it, then put it down and came over to me and said "Dad, how do I check this gun?" I was really impressed with the way he stopped effing with it and came over to ask instead of fiddling around with it.
I had chalked the clerks reactions to a 9 year old with a rifle as "just a part of New Hampshire", but have seen kids older than my son asked to not touch anything. I think that made a great impression on my son, as he doesn't want to be seen as "one of those guys" or even worse "a kid".
OK, bragging over. I may be an ass, but at least I've taught my son how to handle a gun and not look like an idiot.
greencobra
NES Member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2011
- Messages
- 27,199
- Likes
- 26,683
my congratulations for training your child correct gun handling and my comments are not directed at you or anyone else in particular. i always wonder for the tens of stories we see here on how great a young child is with their gun safety, how many proud parents don't brag when their child has a gun related mishap? a childs attention span lasts only so long...they see a friend...or maybe the cute little girl that sits in front of them in class...and they resort to the same old stuff, "hey look at me, i'm cool." it doesn't matter where you live, kids are wired as kids. i worked in a gun shop many years ago and always liked to have a dad ask me first if it was alright if their young child could handle a firearm. i would have been the one racked across the coals if there was a mishap. just my thoughts, your opinions may vary.
and no, don't have kids myself but i'm sure they'd be the safest, smartest hombres on the planet if i did.
i watch this channel a lot, pretty cool. amazing watching her manipulate a gun way too large for her hands. that's good handling right there.
and no, don't have kids myself but i'm sure they'd be the safest, smartest hombres on the planet if i did.
I’m totally fine if my kid wants a belt-fed for Christmas
Are you, or have you ever been, the Chief of Police in Pelham, MA?
tuna
NES Member
OK - I can answer to this one to. We play airsoft, so I've got those around the house. We had just killed a spider (because why wouldn't you shoot something?) that was in the kitchen. My son handed the pistol to me with his finger on the trigger, and shot me in the hand. This led to a reminder about the rules of gun safety, and 25 pushups. It's a little delicate figuring out how to say shooting me on purpose is fine, on accident is not - but I think we're able to balance the fun of toys and real guns.
I know that some will say I'm sending mixed messages, but as a kid we shot each other with toy guns or bb guns and knew not to do it with our real guns. We knew the difference.
Similar threads
