Guns and Kids; An Introduction to Safety and Fun

The following commentary is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the opinion of Wolverine Supplies or its staff.
 

Children and Firearms.

So I have children and have had firearms in my home since before they were born. My main goal was to make my children firearm knowledgeable and safe, so that I wouldn’t have to worry when I wasn’t at home.

 Everyone has read stories about kids having accidents at home and someone being killed or seriously hurt. The story goes… the kids were playing, found a firearm in a bedroom closet. Starting to play, they passed the firearm around or started to play cops and robbers and BANG, the firearm goes off… and well… you know the rest. Needless tragedy.

From when they were at a young age I have shown my children that firearms are not toys. They have a healthy respect for them because of it. I was always supervising them when a firearm was out and when I was not around, I locked them up so that no prying eyes or hands would play with them. The vital lessons of firearms handling were always put into play, treat every firearms as if it were loaded, never point a firearms at anything you are not willing to destroy.

The lessons continued until they were old enough to go the range. I started them off with a rimfire rifle and iron sights. Get the basics and the rest will follow. Always under supervision and with safety in mind, the training continued.

As there are always little eyes watching you must remain mindful of your own firearms handling so that no bad habits or cut corners are observed and passed on. As they progressed and became more proficient, optical sights were added. From bolt to semi-automatic and later on larger calibers. As they got to the point where they had enough strength to their arms to support and steady a handgun, a .22 semi-auto was introduced. I also made it fun at the range by using different targets and pictures to shoot at.

In this age of technology, if you Google “printable targets” you can find many that you can print with your home color printer. And they price is right as well.

Example:

http://bowzone.ca/index.php?page=Free-Printable-Targets-Rifle

This made shooting more fun and entertaining. I also added metal revolving targets such as metal animal targets used in long range shooting but are meant for .22lr or revolving and resettable metal targets. Instant reaction targets give the young shooter a way to instantly see hits and improve confidence. As the skill level goes up the targets get farther out. A little friendly competion with Dad never hurt either.

 
Some resettable and reusable metal targets:

              


After the range day was over the kids were brought back home and shown how to maintain and clean the firearms. Once they were cleaned and inspected they were put away for use another day.

I think because the firearms were not a mystery to be hunted out and found, then play with but a tool to be respected made the difference. I have not have had an incidence with my kids playing with my firearms. They are supervised and they are treated as just another household object. Early education to show that they can be dangerous if mishandled and that they are tools that have to be respected helps to prevent mishaps. As parents we must be responsible for their security and safety as well as the firearms. Teach them young and make it a memorable event and you will have years of respect and responsible use of the firearms you own.

 Craig Bird – Director – Fort La Bosse Classical Arms Gun Club