Help, I have to teach some kids about guns.

[porkchopexpress]

Hi everybody,
My sister in law will be visiting with her three kids in April. The kids are 6,5, and 3. They live in California and have had zero exposure to firearms. While they are visiting, she wants me to tell the kids about firearms and put on a bit of shooting demonstration.
Since I don't have kids, I was wondering if any of you fine parents had any extra words of advice when conveying ideas to the children?

This is extra exciting for me as the sister in law was pretty anti gun for most of the last 10 years. She is coming around pretty well and I am looking forward to introducing a new generation to the shooting sports.
Thanks for the help.

Mike

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[solv3nt]

My buddies dad put the fear of guns in his head at an early age, he had all of his guns out at the range in the order of caliber. He then told them that the pumpkin targets are similar to the human head, then he shot them with each caliber from smallest to largest, demonstrating that guns aren't toys.

Take them out with the .22LR, and teach them safe gun practices, but most importantly, guns need to be respected. They can be fun, but they are also a very deadly weapon.

 

[Nwcid]

Start with basics. Safety rules. Make sure your SIL is involved in it also. Sounds like she wants to know, and she is old enough to retain more and pass it on correctly to the kids.

 

[Morpheus]

6, 5 and 3. Well the 6 and 5 seem OK age, the 3 year old might need to stand this one out.

What Solv3nt said, was the way I showed my friends 8 year old. Melons, pumpkin, whatever. Show them that these are not toys and demand respect.

Review 4 rules of fire arm safety. I would stick with .22LR, as suggested. And only have as many firearms out as you can keep an eye on with the child. If you can, perhaps take your sister-in-law out first. Train her. Then you, her and the kids try the next day.

Go slow, be patient, and keep magazines/ammo on you with nothing loose.

 

[porkchopexpress]

Thanks Solvent.
I figure after an indoor demonstration where they can handle the firearms in a safe manor we will go outside for a shooting demonstration. I will shoot all the guns at melons of some sort. I presume kids at 5 and 6 are big enough to shoot .22. I know I shot .22 when I was real little. My dad may have been holding the rifle while I pulled the trigger though.
I am also not against buying a tiny kid sized .22 rifle for them to use when they visit as well.

 

[porkchopexpress]

Thanks Morpheus and Nwcid,
4 rules of safety will be covered multiple times. The 3 year old will be there, but I agree his involvement will be minimal. SIL is all about learning to shoot too. The parents in law will be visiting too and I have taken them out shooting before.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Get a pumpkin and a 12 gauge and tell them the story of The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Boom!

Oh, and make sure they have good hearing protection.. of course.

 

[Bill Siegle]

My Dad took my Brother and I out the first time and had us each try to hit a small tree with our hands. He didnt want us to hit it to hurt ourselves, just wanted us to realize the tree was tough stuff. He then shot the same tree with a 22Mag Ruger Single Six and it went right on through the tree. He then explained that if you shoot something with any gun, it will hurt and probably kill. It was a pretty good idea for us at that age as we both could understand what sorta power was in a gun. Of course he then went on to show how much fun guns are when used properly I'd recommend moving targets of some type. Swinger, water jugs, shaken up soda cans, etc. Kids like seeing something happen when the target is hit! Also show up prepared. Make sure each kid(and adult) has their own eyes/ears. For safety I would also say to establish range officer mode for the kids. Explain that when the guns are out, you are in charge. Shoot from a single position, and one at a time. If any kids get too excited, calm em down or shut em down. Don't accept any bad behavior at the range. A big part of shooting responsibly for me was knowing bad behavior resulted in no guns. Id stick with 22lr for the kids but maybe bring along one of your "big guns" to demo for the kids. Also dont expect them to want to spend all day at the range. They might, but kids can get bored fast too.

 

[erudne]

check NRA Eddie Eagle child safety program for age appropriate stuff

 

[MarkAd]

4 commandents of firearm safety.
Have them explain it to you before the touch guns and emphasis it everytime they touch one. Ask one to explian one of the rules when they touch a gun.

Do it kindly and make it fun and we will hook them for life.
and no the 3 year old is not to small to shoot depending on what MOM says.

EYES and EARS are required.

 

[Mark W.]

First go to the NRA site and see if you can download the Eddy the Eagle program looks like you can

<broken link removed>

That said here's what a buddy of mine and I did. Worked very well.

We took his son aged 6 and my son aged 4 (At the time my son was more mature then his 6 year old) out to a place where it was safe to do some shooting.

We took a couple of the boys favorite toy guns (one was the kind the throws plastic disks the other shot some kind of rubber nipple shaped like a bullet)

We also took a Red Ryder BB gun a friend of mine had given to my son because his 15 year old wasn't responsible enough to have one. I had already made a custom cut down stock (I have free plans I can email anyone) that fit the young boys.

And my buddy took his Smith 629-8 .44mag

And we took three plastic milk jugs something the boys knew very well.

1st we had the boys stand about 10ft away from a milk jug set on top of a short stump the perfect target for their toy guns. We had them shoot at the milk jug for a while. Once the boys were done we explained that the results (their toy guns harmlessly bounced off the target when they hit it)

Next we took out the BB gun explained how to load it how to cock it and then went over the safety rules. Both boys were riveted because we told them that when we were done they could shoot the rifle.

We then showed them how to aim and had them practice aiming and pulling the trigger (gun not cocked) when they got close to a decent trigger pull (a dozen or less trys) we went to shooting.

We now took and set up the second milk jug the boys were set at about 12-14' away from the Milk jugs and we had them each shoot at the jugs. After they had each hit the jugs once or twice. We quickly walked up and looked at the jugs to show them how the toy guns had just bounced off the jugs without hurting them. AND how the BB had made little holes in the jugs and the milk was leaking out. We had already told the boys how blood is mostly water and how milk is mostly water so Milk and blood were a little bit alike.

As I turned the boys around to head them towards the firing line my buddy placed the third milk jug in place on the stump.

When we got back to the firing line I had the boys stand about 6 ft apart and then my buddy stepped between them and cornholed the Milk jug with a 240gr HP 44 Mag the muzzle of the gun was about 2ft in front of the line the boys were standing on. Needless to say it blew the Milk jug to pieces splashing milk everywhere. The sound and muzzle blast almost knocked the boys down.

When they WIDE EYED turned to look at us we told them THAT IS A REAL GUN DO YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TOY A BB GUN AND A REAL GUN. AND WHY WE NEVER EVER EVER POINT A REAL GUN OR EVEN A BB GUN AT SOMETHING WE AREN"T ABOUT TO SHOOT.

The boys were both very very clear on the difference. And both talked about for about a week. Over the course of the following week they were quizzed on our little field trip often.

While at the Big PORTLAND GUN SHOW when it really was 1000 tables a guy walked up to the table next to ours picked up a 1911 pulled the hammer back and pointing it at the ceiling pulled the trigger. My son who was about 5.5 at the time JUMPED up on his chair and started in on the guy about how you NEVER put your finger on the trigger of a gun without first checking to see if the chamber is empty. And how you never point a gun at anything you don't mean to shoot.

The guy got all pissed off told me to keep my son quiet he knew what he was doing (obviously not) at this point the table holder who had been a ways away at one of his other tables but close enough to see what had happened walked up took the 1911 out of the big guys hand and told him to move along. That he would be more comfortable selling the 1911 to my son then the guy> Who called us all some choice names and stomped off.

The guy then asked if he could treat my son to an Ice cream. I said sure and watched his tables while my son and the guy went over to the snack bar.

My son was shooting regularly at age 5. he's 29 now has served 10 years as an Electronics Tech in the US NAVY and been part of the security team on all three of his ships. He's expert qualified with M14 M16 M4 Shotgun and M9.

My only problem with him is fighting for time at Dads reloading bench.

My son has never forgot that milk jug.

The other boy we lost track of his parents got divorced and his mom ended up dying young from drugs. We heard a good man and his wife took the boy in at 15 and he's was part of a traveling professional skateboard team in his late teens.

 

[mrblond]

at age 3, they really will not remember what you tell them so count them out. the other though make sure you drill gun safety into them and how they are simply tools and not evil like their Teachers back in Cali will tell them that they are.
I still remember my father drilling into me firearm safety and they stuck to this day.

 

[3MTA3]

Two suggestions (in addition to the other obvious safety and hearing protection things) :
1) One round of .22 in the rifle at a time.
2) If you can locate it, get some CB 22 or other reduced power .22 round. They have almost no recoil and are about as loud as a clap, so they won't spook a young shooter the first time they pull the trigger. If you can't find any I have a few I can spare to help get the next generation started out right.

 

[BlindedByScience]

All good advice. My boys were 6 and 8 the first time I took them shooting, and I started with the guns on the kitchen table, took the mystery out of these little machines. At the range, I led off by showing them what a .44 magnum does to a watermelon (blew it to pieces). After they pulled their eyes back into their sockets, I explained that is what a gun does, it has to be respected, there's no "do overs" with real firearms. We moved onto shooting the 10-22 at different targets, seemed to work pretty well. As their hands got bigger, we shot my .357 with .38 special rounds in it, eventually got them on the line with the AR-15. The day they both shot the .44Mag was a big deal to the boys. Many years of good times, they seemed to get the message clearly. Always emphasized safety first and foremost.

My two turned out to be solid gun owners, very safe, good guys to shoot with. My oldest is now a Sgt. in the USMC and just took an armory chief position overseeing four armories. I'm proud of them both, like to think I had a little to do with it.

Good luck with your tribe, and if you can get SIL on the same page, you're golden.

Best Regards - B.B.S.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

On top of the NRA Eddie eagle advice, either obtain a single shot 22 or use one round at a time to teach in any other weapon

 

[kibs45]

Eddie Eagle is a great idea. Just don't allow it to be mysterious. They want to see them? Let them see them (safely of course, probably in your hands etc.). Four rules as always. Let them help you clean them. Also, with rifles the kids love to learn the pinky check for a round in the chamber. Start slow, they will forget. But the biggest thing is: no mystery! The less of a big deal it is the more they will be paying attention, and the less they will be overly excited. Oh, and I would expose them to it before actually taking them shooting/with you shooting. Let them get a little familiar first.

Also, some kids are really bugged by the noise/flames. So be ready for a short trip to the range if they actually go shooting. Don't want to scare them at that age. Self defeating is what that is.

 

[nastybynature]

I am also not against buying a tiny kid sized .22 rifle for them to use when they visit as well.

Bought my son a Savage Rascal and it works quite well for the little ones.

Other than that, can't stress Safety enough. Eyes and Ears of course should be required IMHO as well as the 4 basic safety rules;

RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED

RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY

RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET

RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET


If I can teach these basic rules to a newbie on the first time out, I feel as though I have succeeded.

 

[40calruler]

Just one bullet in the mag at a time is a big thing to me in teaching kids. One shot no accidental double taps. I did that with my boy for a long time and then went to 3, 5 now he can load 10 and I am confident as long as I am standing by. .22 is plenty of power to start with but I would do as suggested and be sure to make them respect the guns. Something like a pumpkin does a good job of showing what can happen.

 

[Mbeef61]

Maybe try and get ahold of some current hunters safety curriculum. It is already in a format meant for children.

 

[coop44]

use shock collars, or a stick, or both