i thought this would be a good idea for a post. my neighbors oldest daughter are moving out and she wants to get a gun for her protection well i am an airsoft enthusist so before i took her to range i took her out back to shooting stand i set up i had a medium sized 45 replica called a caspian and a hk 416 replica range on both about 150 feet. she did good with pistol upto 50 feet but rifle she got good kill shots to 100 feet' thing is bouth guns mechanically replicate workings of real firearms slides mag releases and safeties and so forth well she took her dads 38 to range later in week and got good groups at 50 feet since she is getting it for home defense this seems acceptable going to rifle range this weekend and see how well she does with 270. the whole point i was trying to make with bb guns and airsoft rifles they are less dangerous for novices and ammunition is really cheap 17 bucks for 10000 rounds of biodegradable bbs

train in increasing your chances of being able to retrieve that home defender gun first of all from your dresser drawer, load it silently, and place the cold barrel on an intruder. more importantly, recoil management, airsoft ain't gonna teach you about flinching.

[edit on 7-9-2009 by thaknobodi]

The first thing you should learn about gun safety is always, ALWAYS keep the barrel pointed AWAY from people. Loaded or not follow this rule. Never, ever point a gun at anything other than something you intend to shoot.

#2) - Be aware of the safety's position on the gun, Is it on or off?

#3) - Is the weapon loaded? Is there a round in the chamber?

#4) - Learn how to clear a jammed weapon. Sometimes a bolt can slam
forward and accidentally discharge. (This happened to me while unloading a shotgun I was unfamiliar with, fortunately I was following rule #1 and it shot harmlessly into the ground instead of my father's leg!)

#5) - When shooting always know what is behind and beyond your target. Even small bullets like a .22 can travel for half a mile or even farther.

#6) - Learn how to strip and clean your firearm. Fouling can often cause
#4 to occur.

#7) - If traveling keep your gun unloaded.

There are many more rules, especially for concealed carrying but those are the basics as I learned them. Be safe!

My children are preschool and K age. Both have been given 'toy' guns (the oldest is a girl) by people. I have always explained to them that they will treat the 'toy' guns as live, and my wife and I have enforced this rule. If they point them at each other, one of us, the cat, etc, it is immediate correction time. Both have followed the rules fairly well, although my youngest, the boy, does tend to become more excited and forgetful than his sister.

This Christmas, there will probably be a .22 bolt small enough for the daughter to begin a little live fire training. .22 shorts are more expensive than .22 LR, but it will be a good start. I am looking forward to instructing both of them, and teaching them to be responsible, with firearms and without. The responsibility training began some time ago.

well yes safety is always first concern. and airsoft guns do have some recoil not much but some the ones i use will blow thru a soda can top to bottom without problem i was referring to cheap beginner training if you know where to look you can get a decent gas blow back pistol for around a 100 bucks. my mom keeps one by door for neighbors bull dogs when they try messing with her cat.

Hmmm, have them play violent video games...any shooter would do!

Cause according to our governments etc etc people, especially children get close to military grade training with weapons from playing video games...

Just be careful, it's dangerous stuff!!!

Like CX, I live in the UK, unlike CX I haven't been in the forces so I have never had the chance to shoot firearms apart from a 12 gauge shotgun when I went clay pigeon shooting.

I have, however, plenty of years experience with BB, CO2 and air powered pistols and rifles so I think I'm more than capable of handling and shooting a weapon.

Using airsoft guns for practice is a great idea in my opinion especially for wives and children. It allows them to practice in relative safety and they can learn how to handle a weapon, how to aim correctly etc

The only thing I would mention is that airsoft weapons are no substitute for the real thing. So after learning gun safety and becoming procifient with airsoft I would then move them onto air rifles/pistols and see how they do.

Here in the UK an air or CO2 powered rifle would probably be the only weapon anyone could get their hands on anyways, apart from farmers and people who own sporting shotguns.

Main point I'm trying to make is that although I have never fired a Colt .45 I know there will be some recoil. If you train wives/children on airsoft then let them fire a real firearm theyre not going to know how to react.

Theres next to no recoil on an airsoft weapon. As I said, for those in the US anyways, start from the ground up i.e. Airsoft > Air Rifle/Pistol > Shotgun/Firearm

Cheers

[edit on 8/9/09 by Death_Kron]

Great thread. Early training is very important for gun safety in children. No gun training is a lot more dangerous. I learned at an early age (5) If you have weapons in the house gun training and supervised handling will help prevent accidents.

Paint ball does not hurt either those balls HURT so they impart a lesson without actually harming the child.

I'm a believer in starting people with the real thing. Granted, that's a product of growing up in the south and being taught to use a firearm at a very young age and hunting with a 20 gauge by age 10, but most adults and teenagers can pick up the basics of safety and use of a firearm in an afternoon or two. Given that, I'd start them on a .22 rifle. That way, they can get used to the sound and the trajectory that a firearm round takes. As an added plus, it teaches them to use the real thing in case they were to ever need to.

Once they become proficient with that, recoil is the limiting factor. You might consider moving up to a 20 or 12 gauge shotgun, as most men and teenage boys can handle one without much trouble, but a pistol caliber carbine would be a nice intermediate step and possibly a final one for many female shooters who find recoil particularly objectionable.

There's nothing wrong with starting on a pellet gun or something like that, mind you. Its just that most teenage and adult users are going to 'outgrow' it in an hour and be ready to move onto a real firearm.

Sounds like I'm living in a world of wimps and men who think most women are ignorant about weapons.

Maybe I feel this way because I was born and raised in the dirty south.

I was hunting squirrel with my own 22 rife at age 5.

There were loaded rifles in the corners of my house,my grandparents house and most of my friends houses.

When I would spend the night with my grandmother she would drag me up in the middle of the night when the dogs started baying a coon or possum near the garden.

She would give me the honor of shooting the creature out of the tree so he would not eat our garden.

Both my children are proficient shooters and they and I have taught all my grandchildren to shoot without hurting themselves or anyone else.

We were taught don't point a gun at anything you are not going to shoot and don't kill anything you are not going to eat.

WARNING WARNING WARNING

Please be aware that when you visit the south and most of the western states the majority of women are carrying at least a 38 pistol in their purses or on their person.

I personally carry a 38 S&W air weight double action revolver in my purse and a small 22 7 shot S&W double action revolver in my jeans pocket or my skirt pocket. I may sometimes carry it in a holster at my waist with an outer shirt or vest to cover it.

In my truck, yes I'm an old red neck hippie girl, I have my pump shotgun and another 38 revolver.

Sounds like I'm living in a world of wimps and men who think most women are ignorant about weapons.

Maybe I feel this way because I was born and raised in the dirty south.

I was hunting squirrel with my own 22 rife at age 5.

There were loaded rifles in the corners of my house,my grandparents house and most of my friends houses.

When I would spend the night with my grandmother she would drag me up in the middle of the night when the dogs started baying a coon or possum near the garden.

She would give me the honor of shooting the creature out of the tree so he would not eat our garden.

Both my children are proficient shooters and they and I have taught all my grandchildren to shoot without hurting themselves or anyone else.

We were taught don't point a gun at anything you are not going to shoot and don't kill anything you are not going to eat.

WARNING WARNING WARNING

Please be aware that when you visit the south and most of the western states the majority of women are carrying at least a 38 pistol in their purses or on their person.

I personally carry a 38 S&W air weight double action revolver in my purse and a small 22 7 shot S&W double action revolver in my jeans pocket or my skirt pocket. I may sometimes carry it in a holster at my waist with an outer shirt or vest to cover it.

In my truck, yes I'm an old red neck hippie girl, I have my pump shotgun and another 38 revolver.

I think that there is a danger in using airsoft guns to train with. Since they know that there is limited danger in where they point it and what they shoot at there is the possiblity of developing bad habits. just felt the need to add that.

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
I think that there is a danger in using airsoft guns to train with. Since they know that there is limited danger in where they point it and what they shoot at there is the possiblity of developing bad habits. just felt the need to add that.

I agree with that.

Kids also need to realise that airguns can do some serious damage too. When i was a kid i was shooting at a target at the end of the garden, i was firing from my first floor bedrooom window.

Whilst my brother was changing the target, i tripped on my bed blanket, instinctively grabbed for something and i pulled the trigger.

The nice new copper pointed pellets i was testing went straight through my brothers foot and out was poking out the other side.

Lots of lessons learnt that day, one being the safety proceedures are as important no matter what the weapon.

I think the lessons definatly sink in better with a firearm though, theres a sense of major danger when you have a loaded gun that you don't always get with an airgun.

CX.


[edit on 8/9/09 by CX]

My recommendation:

Begin training your child at about three years old. Don't give them a weapon, but create a situation that will teach them the basics. This may sound stupid, but hear me out.

Give them a stick. Keep the stick in a safe or locked cabinet or cupboard. It helps if the stick has value (nicely shaped, carved, cured...) to make it unique and worthy in the child's eyes. It helps if there is an implied power that has bad-guy whipping ability. Inevitably, the boogeyman or a monster will sneak into the little one's closet or under the bed. When this happens, be patient. Use the stick to protect the child. Reinforce that the stick is for protection only. Instruct the child in the basics of firearms. Since the stick is dangerous to boogeymen, it is also dangerous to people. Never point the stick at anyone. Use it only when necessary. After use, make certain the child looks it over to ensure it is undamaged. Allow them to clean/polish it once a week. If the little one has a vested interest in the stick's protection, it will go a looong way towards setting up the basics. At age 3, it's a good idea to allow them to see YOU use it first. That way they'll know it works.

Eventually, the stick will begin to lose it's power. Children grow and boogeymen fade away. If they've learned the basics of safety properly, give them a knife. Not for hunting or protection, but for WHITTLING. Provide them with a block of wood. (Cedar seems best) Explain that the same basic rules still apply. This knife is used for a SPECIFIC purpose. Handle it with extreme care. Never point it at anyone (this may seem strange to you, but the child will understand the significance.) Teach them how to be careful with it. The important lesson here is caution. A knife can be very dangerous, but a child with knowledge of caution and who is supervised is a very good foundation for firearm training. I've learned that it's a good idea to give them a long piece of wood (yew, cedar, or oak) and let them carve their own stick. It fulfills the child's memories and gives them a familiar goal. The knife will then become a respected tool.

On my two oldest daughters, it was about 11 that I allowed them to start practicing with rifles. The groundwork for firearms training worked extremely well for them. I've never given thought to people who can't legally handle firearms, though. Where would they go from there?

I would recommend fencing. Swordplay enhances response times, helps with the basics of strategy and tactics, and teaches discipline. With a rapier (bobbed or not), safety is still considered very important. You can't teach them to aim, but you can teach them safety and proper usage.

To teach them HOW to use an actual firearm, play war with them. Give them wooden weapons, teach them how to use them as if they were real. Get them accustomed to the weight, stances, sights, and appropriate use. If you need a real-world reason to do this, teach them some silent rifle drills. It would blow your mind how fun rifle-drills are, and it will help you form a team bond with your kids. THeir discipline will be affected and if you have drill competetions in the UK or wherever, it will give them a chance to complete, improve and be proud of their achievements.

I grew up around guns, I have seen people shoot, My grandpa would stick one in front of me and dare me to touch it. I never dared, because I knew if I did, I would be in alot more pain than if I accidentally shoot my self in the foot. Problem is, because I am a girl, no one would ever teach me to shoot. I'm bitter about it.

Isn't carrying a gun in your purse illegal, or is that just California?

OK, I just looked it up.
California is a “May Issue” state; the decision to grant a CCW (Carry a Concealed Weapon) Permit being granted (or refused) at the discretion of the County Sheriff or Police Chief. Some sheriffs/chiefs issue on a reasonable basis, others can be next to impossible to persuade. Many of them operate illegal policies that are ripe for a challenge.