Really depends upon maturity.

In my opinion, I believe 11 or 12 is plenty old enough (started mine out around 7-8).

First and foremost, obtain their parents permission before you attempt to teach them.

 

My son was taught at 7 as well, My nephew was much older due to being immature, and had to ask the moms permission.
she is anti

 

they plenty old enough

 

My niece is gonna start learning when she turns 5 if I have anything to do with it

 

My boys first shot a .22 at ages 4 & 6. Very closely coached of course. 11 & 12 is plenty old enough.

Save yourself the drama and get permission from mom before mentioning it to the kids. Unless of course you don't like mom and want to get a dig in. Then, get the kids excited and let her take the heat for saying no.

 

Shot my 1st time at 7 years old. Got 4 that just turned 9, and starting them on .22lr now.

 

I took mine at 8. He shot 22LR in a revolver, semi auto pistol and SBR. Plus a .410 and a couple rounds of .40S&W. Most of it suppressed.

Asked him if he had fun, and he said "yeah, but next time can we shoot machine guns?" So, the next time he went out, he got to empty a mag in a suppressed FA MP5 (thanks to Scott @ THSF).

But, we spent a lot of time at home talking about firearms, showing him different ones, and he had to be able to give me the 4 Rules from memory.

 

Dad took me with him hunting when I was 5 or 6. First range trip was 8, and we shot the 22 rifle (I have it now). First handgun was when I was 9, Dad's model 19; we shot 38 special (that one got stolen in 2007. Grrr).

I've taken friends' kids to shoot, some in their early teens (Europeans-- they LOVED it!) Youngest I've taken was just barely 10, and it was challenging dealing with his attention span. He was a great kid, just excited as all get out.

Every time I take a newbie shooting nowadays, young or old, I spend at least 30-45 minutes with them before we head to the range to go over safety, important distinctions between types, function, procedures, and safety.

You might try "Shootin' 101, intro to guns" with these kids. Show & tell and limited handling, with no promise of actual shooting. That would give you a chance to assess their maturity level, willingness to follow directions, etc, all in the safe environment of home. If they handle it well, reward them with a range trip & real ammo! If they don't pass muster, tell 'em so, and let them know they can try again in 6 months if they show they're grown up enough.

 

You might try "Shootin' 101, intro to guns" with these kids. Show & tell and limited handling, with no promise of actual shooting. That would give you a chance to assess their maturity level, willingness to follow directions, etc, all in the safe environment of home. If they handle it well, reward them with a range trip & real ammo! If they don't pass muster, tell 'em so, and let them know they can try again in 6 months if they show they're grown up enough.

And

The correct answer is when they are responsible and mature enough. With various kids that might be 9 years old, with others it may be 13. I've met a 10 year olds I would teach to shoot, then I've met some 16 year olds I wouldn't give a sparkler to on July 4th

Get the parents' permission and take Dad with you if you can (Mom's education is another mission entirely). Once there, roll with Windini's Shootin' 101 seminar idea. I did this with my daughter and she surprised me with her attentiveness and remarkable memory of how to do things right. Show them how to handle a firearm, let them practice sight alignment, trigger pull, etc. Only after observing how well they listen and follow your instructions AND the Holy Four Rules, should you then introduce live ammo. Work with a bolt action .22 if you have one. If using a semi-auto, begin by loading only one round at a time in the mag and progress from there based on how they do.

If you shoot outside and your range allows it, use some type of reactive target (I buy 12 packs and a couple of two-liter cheap soda from Wal-Mart, (or, to keep it from being actually consumed, a case of Ice House Beer )). When they spew it let's them know they've done something.

Best of luck to you. I hope it goes well, but based on what you've told us about Mom and Dad, prepare yourself to be very surprised if any of your guests make it to the range with you.

 

I don't think you can put an age on teaching someone to shoot.

The correct answer is when they are responsible and mature enough. With various kids that might be 9 years old, with others it may be 13. I've met a 10 year olds I would teach to shoot, then I've met some 16 year olds I wouldn't give a sparkler to on July 4th

 

I don't think you can put an age on teaching someone to shoot.

The correct answer is when they are responsible and mature enough. With various kids that might be 9 years old, with others it may be 13. I've met a 10 year olds I would teach to shoot, then I've met some 16 year olds I wouldn't give a sparkler to on July 4th

As was said here recently, "egg-zactly"

 

I bought my first pellet rifle (Crossman pump with black barrel and woodland Camo furniture) with my saved up birthday and Christmas money when I was six. With a box of BBs and a pack of pellets, it cost me $45.

Dad moved me up to .22's after that and a single shot break-open 20ga that I thought was going to tear my arm off when I shot it.

But I'd been brought up around guns and while I may have been a dope about everything else, I actually had an attention span when my dad wanted to teach me gun stuff.

If you've got two near-teenage babies...Id at least see if they can remember the rules of handling an unloaded gun safely before anything else

 

Just remember in NC its illegal to give a child under 12 access to Firearms without permission from a parent. Part of hb937
While I'm sure it's well meaning, it cut into me exposing anyone else's children to shooting without explicit permission to shoot.
This also includes airsoft and airguns

 

Good point. I was also going to mention "Airsoft" as an alternative. My son started out with airsoft when he was 4 or 5. He rapidly graduated to BB/Pellet and then .22. Kids that are past the age of 10 who have had no exposure to firearms, especially if one or both parents are anti-gun, shouldn't start out with a real firearm in my opinion. Being that the Mom is an anti and the Dad is questionable, I'm not sure I'd do anything at all with them as far as firearms are concerned.... in my honest opinion.

 

My son is 5 and I took him out a couple weeks ago to shoot his Savage Rascal .22 that I got him for Christmas when he was 3 lol. He has grown into it now, so I figured it was time to start. He is very aware of guns from my passion for them. As soon as he was old enough to understand, I started teaching him about them and most importantly safety related to them. He loves the NRA Eddie Eagle videos. When we went out, I brought a couple of bags of balloons to use as targets. Just blew them up and stapled them to the target(on the non air side of the balloon obviously). I brought a tripod with a sand bag attached for him to use as a rest and a little stool to sit on. At first, he struggled to understand the concept of how to line up the peep sight and the target. I didn't think he was going to get it. So for fun I let him shoot my Savage FV-SR .22 that had a scope on it. Lining the crosshairs up on the target made more sense to him and within a few shots, he was hitting a balloon each time he shot from ~7 yds. I then had him shoot at a paper target and he kept all the rounds on paper.
I switched him back to his Rascal and it then clicked for him on how he was supposed to line up the sights with the target and he could hit the balloons every shot. He also shot pretty decent groups on the paper target. Needless to say I was a proud daddy. He actually really enjoyed it and just wanted to keep shooting. If he keeps it up he will be an amazing shooter by the time he gets a bit older. He really enjoyed shooting the balloons since he could see the result of his shot instantly. Hopefully this is just the beginning and he will share the love for shooting that I have and we will have a great father/son activity for a long, long time.

 

My 11 yo daughter runs her FV-SR with minor supervision and does fantastic. I put 50-100 rds on the table, rifle on the bipod, mag on the table and she goes to work. My 13 yo shoots sporting clays with me and runs her 1100 by herself. as well as the CZ 455 or FV-SR on the rifle range. Just starting her on pistols.

In other words, go for it if you can get permission to do so.

 

Your question is "When to teach kids to shoot?" It's not "When to give kids their own guns?" or any similar question implying ownership or unrestricted access.

You may start teaching kids to shoot as soon they're able to physically hold a firearm and understand the concept of "if I point the gun in this direction and pull the trigger, it'll go 'BANG' and make a hole appear in the target". Note that they don't have to be able to hold the firearm unsupported.

In Cub Scouts, kids learn to shoot BB guns. Cub Scouts are for kids in first through fifth grades (7 to 10 years old). In Boy Scouts, they learn to shoot .22's. Boy Scouts are from completion of 5th grade to 12th grade (10 to 18 years).

Obviously, however, the level of instruction and supervision varies depending on the child's age and demonstrated understanding and maturity. 11 and 12 years is plenty old enough for a child to have the capacity to understand what they're handling, how they should handle it, the consequences of their actions. All they really need is adult supervision and training.

 

My kids start at 4. You're doing most of the work at that age but you can start teaching safety.

 

This. I let my oldest (who is 4) squeeze the trigger on things. Let him shoot out 12ga with recoil reduced bird shot and well he just doesn't like the shotgun

 

I started with my daughter early....around 2. Not for shooting itself mind you, but with safety around guns and what not. We have some NERF stuff that I used to use to keep the wife's cats off the counters and furniture.....we've used those to reinforce the safety rules (not the cats anymore, they learned before my daughter got into the world) and she's shot those (she's almost 4 now). She also knows if she just happens upon a gun to not touch it but to come get Mommy or Daddy (or another grown up). I also don't treat them as "forbidden fruit." She knows if she wants to see any of them, all she has to do is ask and I'll get them out of the safe so she can look, touch and ask questions. It's worked well for us so far, and she knows that they are serious business.....and even understands they're for protection (we've not explained this aspect in detail - but talking to her about how important it was for her to listen and not run off in a store, that someone could grab her and take her away from us and hurt her, she asked me if I would "boom him with your gun if he took me to hurt me, Daddy?" I'm always astounded at how perceptive kids are.)

I plan on taking her to shoot for the first time around 5.

 

Even if anti-mom wont let you take them shooting maybe you have a chance to counter her "guns r bad" influence for a day or two... never a bad thing.

If you really want to make a difference try getting mom out to shoot.

 

I'd save yourself the drama and don't even worry about it, and DON'T even mention it.

You've made 3 comments about your in laws family, none of them positive.

This is a powder keg just waiting to explode LOL

 

Both my boys went to the range for the first time before they were 2.

I think getting kids exposed to guns and the Four Rules as soon as they are able to comprehend them is a positive thing. I've only just recently started letting the oldest shoot his Crickett by himself from the prone position while I hover over him, and he's almost 5. Before that, it's always in my lap, so there's lots of supervision. But every time we get out a gun, we go through the steps of keeping our fingers off the trigger, pointing it in a safe direction, removing the magazine, opening the action to make sure it's unloaded, etc.

But those are my kids, not my nephews. I think the best advice in the whole thread is this:

I'd save yourself the drama and don't even worry about it, and DON'T even mention it.

You've made 3 comments about your in laws family, none of them positive.

This is a powder keg just waiting to explode LOL

If the parents bring it up, then by all means offer to show the kids how a gun works and the Four Rules etc. But if you bring it up, they're going to see it as you imposing yourself on them and their kids, and they're not going to be happy about it. "Standing up for the 2A" and "supporting our sport and rights" are all well and good, but neither of those things trump good manners and domestic tranquility.

 

My two older girls started shooting around 7 or 8. My youngest, not till she was maybe 11. Just different maturity levels/attention spans. My youngest also became a USPSA range officer at 14 and RO'ed at a few state sectional matches.

 

I would suggest inviting the parents also. Make it a safety issue, I'm sure if kids go to friends house in NC chances are there is a gun there. Getting the parents involved is key. Maybe even take them first.

 

When starting a child to shoot (or even an adult for that matter) who has never handled a gun in their life, I personally prefer to start off with a BB gun just to go over the basics and safety. Once they can get on paper with BB's, then move up to the rimfire.

 

To clarify, I had no intention of bringing up guns or shooting or offering to teach anyone anything. The house is 100% sanitized, unless they get past the locked door to my office they're not even going to see a gun book on a bookshelf anywhere. I didn't do that for them, I just don't like to advertise to anyone who visits.

I mostly wanted data from you guys. That way if it comes up I can say "I've asked the local gun community about their kids and what they've done" and have some actual info. I imagine their data will be 3rd hand propaganda from the antis, at least my data will be from people who actually do stuff with kids and guns.

If it does come up, my plan is to involve the mom first, and privately. Teach her the 4 rules, get her to understand and be more comfortable, etc. If moms not on board, then the rest is moot.

I also planned to start with an airsoft gun, or a .22 bolt gun and progress no further than that. With the magic of the can and CCI quiets we can shoot in the yard without bothering anyone so we don't have to go to the range and expose them to that at all and if their attention span is only 5 seconds then we're done and can move on without drama or wasting money taking them to an actual range.

 

Good man. Sounds like you've got a good handle on it.

 

Hard to say. I think 11-12 is plenty old enough though. My old man had me shooting a .22 revolver at 3, and a 38 special at 6. I think I was 5 or 6 when I started shooting rifles, a Ruger Mini 14.

 

Shoot with the kids around to show them how fun it is, but don't let them touch the gun. That will get them working on their parents to let them join in.

 

As others have said, it depends on the kid and his/her maturity. My daughters were introduced to guns very early and got to shoot when they could safely hold the gun (.22 Marlin 15YN). Now my nephew... I'm thinking maybe when he's 30 or so...