Thoughts on Kids and Guns

As my young children start to get older, they are going to eventually come to a point where I feel ready to introduce them to guns. I’m a pretty big fan of the darn things and keep a few around, so it’s inevitable.

In order to make sure that I’m always around when they meet, I consider a quick-access safe to be a requirement for parents. Read my thoughts on them as a concept here and a review of the ones I own here and here.

So now that I am sure that my kids and my guns won’t meet without me being present, I can focus on the problems involved in introducing the two.

Should I just introduce them whole-hog?

What should I start them out on?

Bolt action .22? Or one of those single-shots?

Should I instead create a kind of curriculum?

Should I make a set of tasks and set up goals that, once achieved, allow more knowledge to be given?

Should I start them on irons, or a scope?

Will I really know when they’re ready? What signs should I look for?

I’ve always read that when a child is ready is an extremely individual decision and that the parent will know when they’re ready. As vague and unhelpful as that advice is, I now seem to think that it’s right. As I consider my oldest child, I know that she isn’t ready yet. I don’t know if I can point to anything specifically, but the whole totality of her personality and maturity up to this point tells me that she isn’t ready. I also feel like I’ll be able to tell when she is ready, or at least getting there.

In the mean time, I’ve purchased and read to her Julie Goleb’s excellent book Toys, Tools, Guns & Rules. She’s a little young to quite grasp what’s being discussed, but she likes the book. So there’s that…

After a little investigating, I discovered that Amazon has quite a few kids book about gun safety. I may have to grab a handful of them and see if any are good. I’d hate to give my kids a book about guns hoping to inspire a lifelong love of firearms and freedom, when in reality I gave them an instruction manual for being a Fudd.

There are also a couple aimed at the parents who wish to introduce their kids to guns. This one looks interesting enough to grab a copy of.

One thing I absolutely believe in is the power of curiosity. I plan on letting my kids look at and play with (within reason) any of my guns that they want to, as long as they are under my supervision. I believe that kids who are curious about something will find a way to learn more about it. I believe that kids who really want to play with daddy’s guns are likely to do just that. If I don’t allow them to satisfy their curiosity for firearms, then they’ll find a way to do it without me. If I am not the one who teaches them, then I have no idea what they are learning, or who they are learning it from. A child’s curiosity is one of those forces that cannot hardly be stopped, but can absolutely be channeled and put to very good use.

One thing I am honestly afraid of is that I’ll push them into guns too hard and they’ll never want to own them in the future. As I discussed in a piece from last year, my most important job as a parent is to make my children strong enough that they don’t need me to protect them. If I drive them away from the single most effective tool of defense, then I have completely failed as a father.

I don’t need my kids to be complete gun nuts. I want them to have their own passions and hobbies and things that they like to do. I don’t want them owning and shooting guns just to make me happy, I want them to do what they want to do. If that thing happens to involve gunpowder, I won’t be upset 🙂

Oh, and I’m going to start them off on red dots. Irons are a dead technology.

Consider the future, and I’ll see you next Friday. -S_S

The cover pic comes from a TIME article that, surprisingly, doesn’t portray gun owners as complete degenerates. Giving credit where it’s due, they did a good job on this one. You can read it here.