Post pictures of you teaching the next generation gun safety and appreciation

[Mygrainman]

@Mygrainman I've never used airsoft...if this photo was airsoft, would it be considered safe then (except for the annoyance of misses going into the next yard as trash)?

Why the ear pro if air Soft? Its definitely a joke... not a very funny one though.

 

[AK0perator47]

IMHO no it is teaching bad habits and a totally unsafe use of a firearm.

My thoughts exactly! Even if it is an airsoft it is poor use of judgment and bad habits. I remember being 4 years old and my dad taught me about firearms and did so with a pellet rifle. And this was unacceptable in 1976 and still is unacceptable in 2017. Yeah I know telling everyone my age!

 

[uscsoldier]

 

[uscsoldier]

 

[American123]

View attachment 392593

Look at the wear pattern on the fence, this is likely an airsoft rifle, it appears that the wood has experienced stress from repeated hard plastic bb strikes at a high velocity.

 

[American123]

IMHO no it is teaching bad habits and a totally unsafe use of a firearm.

I disagree, this is an airsoft gun, it is a toy, using a toy to practice with is not necessarily teaching unsafe use of a firearm as long as the person understands that certain rules apply to firearms that do not apply to toys.

I started shooting firearms (.22lr) at 4 years old with supervision, I don't think my dad let me go solo shooting until I was 14 after many times shooting under his supervision (even though I was self managing for a long time, just with him present) He was a very cautious man regarding firearms. He was so cautious that he didn't even like playing nerf guns because he didn't like nerf guns being pointed at him, although he mellowed over the years and nerf guns don't bother him like they used to. All growing up I enjoyed, nerf guns, water guns, off brand rubber bullet guns, paintball, etc. (airsoft got big after I got older so I never got into it).

From the time I can remember there was a Savage .308 above the refrigerator, ammo was always close by. Never did I confuse a real firearm for a toy and the rules that apply to a real firearm compared to the rules that apply to a toy. Firearm safety is important, but more important is common sense.

I have taught firearm safety to 6 year old children with a stick telling them we were pretending it was a rifle, those kids Ace'd a firearm safety test I gave them pretending a stick was a gun, but that doesn't mean that we need to treat all sticks as real guns and they also understood that.

If it is a toy, you can treat it like a toy (but first you have to determine it is actually a toy which means using firearm safety until it is completely determined to be a toy)

Anyway, carry on with the pictures in this thread

 

[11Charlie]

I disagree, this is an airsoft gun, it is a toy, using a toy to practice with is not necessarily teaching unsafe use of a firearm as long as the person understands that certain rules apply to firearms that do not apply to toys.

We can agree to disagree! In the picture it is not a 3 or 4 year old kid that doesn't know the difference between right and wrong. Its a teenager and if they get a bad habit with a air soft gun then they are going to do it with a real one. To me it is that plain and that simple. If that was my kid I would correct them very, very quickly.

 

[American123]

We can agree to disagree! In the picture it is not a 3 or 4 year old kid that doesn't know the difference between right and wrong. Its a teenager and if they get a bad habit with a air soft gun then they are going to do it with a real one. To me it is that plain and that simple. If that was my kid I would correct them very, very quickly.

Your statement is patently false. I know what you say is in the interest of firearm safety, but it is in into the extreme level where reality has ceased to exist.

Have you never shot someone/a house with a paintball gun? a laser tag gun? a nerf gun? a water gun? a bb gun? Those are all toy guns and can be made to look very realistic. Having shot someone with those doesn't automatically mean you are going to shoot someone/a house, etc. with a real gun.

I don't have the pleasure of knowing you personally, but what you have written either would lead me to believe you are a hypocrite or inexperienced with what you are writing about.

For example: If you have experience shooting people with toys and have not as a result killed people with real guns, than you are a hypocrite to suggest that teenagers who play with toys will automatically shoot houses and people with real guns as a result.

If you have never shot anyone with any toy gun than you have no experience with what you are talking about regarding experience with shooting toy guns at people/houses correlating to unsafe actions with real guns as a result.

If your statement were factual, every kid whoever played with airsoft guns, nerf guns, and paintball guns would be shooting people with real guns all the time because that is what they did with those toys. That is the conclusion using the same deductions you used regarding aiming at houses with toys.

I will reiterate, I understand your desire for people to be safe with firearms and not create bad habits, however, I believe it is a unsupported stretch of conjecture to claim that pointing toy guns at houses or people correlates to pointing real guns at houses or people.

The most dangerous people I have ever met around firearms were not people who played with toy guns growing up. They were people who didn't get into guns until they were an adult and then assumed because they were an adult, they would be safe naturally with firearms.

Anyway, yes, obviously we will continue to agree to disagree.

 

[11Charlie]

obviously we will continue to agree to disagree.

Yep!!!

 

[11Charlie]

Back to your regular scheduled program!

 

[flydipper]

My squad of " intermediate " kids in the SASP (Scholastic Action Shooting Program) Speed Steel. These kids just shot a 200.24 second match at the Wa. State championship this last Sat. in Yakima with their rimfire optic rifles. They are 10 and 11 years old. They finished 1st in their division, 2nd overall in Rifle optic and 4th overall for the match. You can count on 1 hand the intermediate teams in the country that can shoot a 200 second match. Very proud.

 

[AK0perator47]

She had to go with her papa "powing" as she calls it. I however learned a lot from this experience.

First: even 4 1/2 year old girls can squeeze a 7lb trigger.

Second: they are very eager and willing to listen.

Third: I found my suppressing fire gunner!

 

[AK0perator47]

Here is the video of why lesson 3

 

[flydipper]

AK

You can cut off about 1" off the butt of that takedown with a vertical bandsaw, the butt plate is glued in, not very well I might add and so it will pop right out with some help. then you shave the edges of the butt plate to match the smaller new configuration of the butt of the stock and glue it back on with some black permatex. Another year or so it will be perfect for her. I bought a takeoff on ebay to have a OEM one to put back on later if desired. It works great for teaching the kids.

Here is the video of why lesson 3

 

[Argonaut]

We can agree to disagree! In the picture it is not a 3 or 4 year old kid that doesn't know the difference between right and wrong. Its a teenager and if they get a bad habit with a air soft gun then they are going to do it with a real one. To me it is that plain and that simple. If that was my kid I would correct them very, very quickly.

You have a point......but in my military years the army used to issue and train a lot with unloaded or guns loaded with blanks. The USAF never issued a firearm without live ammo (unless we were training with MARS equipment and the army) and we had a far smaller incident rate than the army did. There were a few stories about nucklehead sky cops playing quick draw while bored on some assignment but a lot fewer than the army. I say, train with the real thing. There were also stories about General Lemay shooting out the rear window of a SP pickup that failed to stop at a live (nuclear) weapon checkpoint. This is my stepson training with his new Walther Creed in the backyard yesterday. 300 rounds.....not a hiccup. Great trigger and seems to be more accurate than the daughters SIG 229. Not bad for 260.00 brand new.

 

[Gbirk]

My youngest really liked the 22lr conversion in my AR.

 

[11Charlie]

View attachment 398236
You have a point......but in my military years the army used to issue and train a lot with unloaded or guns loaded with blanks. The USAF never issued a firearm without live ammo (unless we were training with MARS equipment and the army) and we had a far smaller incident rate than the army did. There were a few stories about nucklehead sky cops playing quick draw while bored on some assignment but a lot fewer than the army. I say, train with the real thing. There were also stories about General Lemay shooting out the rear window of a SP pickup that failed to stop at a live (nuclear) weapon checkpoint. This is my stepson training with his new Walther Creed in the backyard yesterday. 300 rounds.....not a hiccup. Great trigger and seems to be more accurate than the daughters SIG 229. Not bad for 260.00 brand new.

Believe me I get where everyone is coming from. But most people shoot the way they train. your stepson for instance is shooting in a safe direction. Not at a house. I would assume that if ther was a house in that direction and he was shooting a air soft gun you wouldn't allow him to do so. I just think safe practices should always be something to take into consideration.

 

[Argonaut]

One of the reasons we bought this ranch.......the nearest neighbor is in Dubois Wyoming......

 

[11Charlie]

View attachment 398247 One of the reasons we bought this ranch.......the nearest neighbor is in Dubois Wyoming......

So your hosting a long range shoot and BBQ when?

 

[Argonaut]

So your hosting a long range shoot and BBQ when?

We actually have a great 1000 yard (or longer) range on our back 85 acre plot......it is a small canyon access only from the bottom with 10 acres of flat that would be a great campsite. We could do that. I have thought about a sporting clays range back there but like in the horse busisness (another area I have been involved with) people forget that horses (or ranges) don't write checks. You have to be close enough to people to attract a steady crowd to be successful. I think we are a bit too far out. We have great ranges here in Idaho, we do love our guns.