Buying Your Children their First Firearm

You rush through the isles of the store looking for that perfect Christmas gift to get for the kids.  You go to the toy store, the kid's clothing store, the pet store, the sporting goods store, the gun store... wait a minute, the GUN store?

Yes, the gun store.  Now, this is where you have to be careful.  What I mean by "careful" is that you're child probably isn't ready for that AK variant rifle that you've been eying.  That would be like buying a bowling ball for your wife that happens to fit your meaty paws instead of her dainty hands.  Remember, a child is going to be much smaller than you, and buying a .44 magnum for that sweet little 10 year old girl of yours probably isn't going to go over too well.

Purchasing a firearm for a child is a very serious thing.  It takes careful consideration of several different issues.  The first thing to consider is the maturity level of your child.  My daughter has always been older than she actually is.  I don't mean that she's acted older, but she's always thought like an older child.  As a consequence, we've had a tendency to treat her like she's older than she actually is.  My son, on the other hand, well... let's just say he's about where he should be.  You have to be sure that your child is going to do what you say, when you say it when it comes to operating the firearm.  Otherwise, you're creating a whole lot of trouble for yourself, not to mention a potentially dangerous situation.

Second, you need to consider the reason for buying the firearm for them in the first place.  I wanted my children to understand, respect, and know how to operate a firearm safely.  Daddy has guns in the house, and they need to know what a gun is really meant for, and what it can do if used improperly.  I don't want an accident ever to happen because my kids didn't know what to do when in the presence of a loaded firearm.  Children are curious, and I want to be able to show them everything they ever wanted to know about guns in a safe and controlled environment.

Third, you need to consider what type of firearm to get them.  Remember, it has to suit them and not you.  People who give a large caliber handgun to a small child just to see them fire it is just plain stupid.  It endangers not only the child, but also those around him.  It must fit them in both caliber and size.  If it's too much for them to handle, then it'll be neither fun for you nor them, and you might turn them off to shooting sports entirely.  That's definitely something we don't want.

There are a good number of youth firearms available on the market.  Most all of them are rifles.  I think this is a great place to start because rifles require two hands to operate, and the added weight will help tame any recoil there is.  In fact, you can start with something like a classic Daisy Red Rider like I did.  The operation remains relatively the same, and the sight picture is identical to an actual firearm.  Plus, the rules of gun safety still apply because as Santa so astutely pointed out, "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."

After my daughter demonstrated her ability to be responsible with a BB rifle, I decided it was time for her to graduate up to something a little more powerful.  I knew I wanted to start with a .22 rifle.  After much research and consideration, I went with the Crickett rifle by Keystone Sporting Arms.  It's a single shot, manual cocking, bolt action rifle that shoots well.  It was $99 plus tax at my local Wally World (they're about $109 plus tax now), and it's been a great little rifle.  I got the black synthetic with blued barrel, but they come in an assortment of colors and finish options.  This has worked out well for both of my children in showing them how to safely operate a firearm.  Due to the nature of it being single shot, it slows the whole process down to give you an opportunity to go over things like shot placement, trigger control, sight picture, and of course, safety.  Their rifle stays in the safe until we are ready to use it, and they don't know the combination to the safe.

Your children depend on you to keep them safe, and this is just one way that you can do that.  You'll also be spending quality time with your children to not only teach them the proper handling of a firearm, but also about lessons in life.