Teaching Kids Firearm Safety
Many preppers exercise their 2nd Amendment to own firearms, I am one. Between myself and my family we've got, well, a fair quantity of firearms. Growing up inside the south I learned to use a firearm, albeit without formal instruction, when young. When my son reached age 9, I felt arrived show them him to firearms.
Luckily my son is similar to his old man, an all natural shooter. His first 3 live fire shots from the.22 rifle triggered dropped targets at 25, 35 and 50 meters, (bowling pin targets), with his fantastic time on target from putting the rifle to his shoulder, acquiring his targets and knocking down the last pin was roughly 4 seconds. Not bad for your first shots in his life.
Although I was extremely satisfied with his shooting ability, the point that really impressed me was the respect he showed the firearm, and also the care he took to ensure he was operating it safely, relative to what I had taught him. I was concerned with all of the tv programs and movies showing actors waving guns around consistently that he would take this part of his lessons lightly and would have to have a few swift reminders, I was wrong.
Long range shooting Australia started my son's gun safety lessons when he concerned 6 years and joined the Cub Scouts. I was his Den Leader and I took every possiblity to work with the kids on different facets of private safety. Here is a listing of those things we covered at that age:
All guns needs to be treated as if they may be loaded
Do not approach any gun lacking an adult present
If the truth is a gun, find a grownup and allow them know
If the thing is a gun unsecured at a friend's home, ask a grownup to secure the weapon
If nobody is available or prepared to secure a weapon, leave the location immediately and let your parents know
Do not inform your friends in case your parents use a gun inside the home
NEVER touch a gun without an adult's consent and supervision
I would often quiz the boys on these rules, looking to trip them on top of questions like "If I check my gun and say it isn't loaded, then hand it to you personally, can it be loaded?" They would usually answer "No, it isn't really loaded" and I would explain that unless they had checked the weapon themselves, they might 't be sure it had not been loaded. Marksmanship course spoke in more detail for the parent's inside my den and ensured that most of which agreed with the lessons before I taught them. Although some had far more lax rules in their homes, they never objected and thought the principles were well conceived.
The biggest trick is always to teach respect of firearms without introducing fear of which. Although guns are dangerous and will kill, the probability of being killed or injured with a weapon that nobody is touching are virtually non-existent. It is in misuse and carelessness of handling weapons that accidents happen.
In regards on the Cub Scouts I did not provide any additional weapons safety instruction. I did however continue with my son's instruction. I purchased a CO2 pistol with holster and taught him all of the aspects of the weapon, their names in addition to their function. Then I instructed him on washing the weapon (not much there mainly because it was CO2). Finally I instructed him concerning how to use the weapon, including target acquisition, drawing the weapon, aiming the weapon, firing and returning the weapon for the holster. We worked on when you safe and unsafe the weapon and how to remove the weapon after firing it.
After he mastered many of these skills I took him outside and permit him to fire the CO2 pistol. That's right, he knew every before he ever put a pellet down range. Total time of instruction? Roughly 120 minutes.
When I took my son to fireside a real firearm we handled things exactly the same. He was subjected to a rigorous safety course covering how you can properly approach and manipulate each of the weapons he was going to fire, the aspects of each weapon along with their function, and ways to remove the weapon after firing. As Firearms training were built with a working expertise in many of these things from previous instruction, the complete instruction time was roughly 1.25 hours.
All in all we focused on teaching respect for firearms inside beginning and maintained that mantra throughout his instruction. My son will be as careful now regarding his pellet pistol as they is the place he puts the stock of your AR-15 approximately his shoulder.