[sealbeach]

My son got his first rifle at 8 (Savage Arms Cub .22lr), and daughter also when she turned 8 (Cricket, in PINK). Both of them had been through Scout BB Gun training, at least 3 times each, which is basically the rules of gun safety, drilled into their heads, then practice with spring BB guns.

Honestly, my son has taken to shooting quite well, he is a good marksman, and is a regular at Burro Canyon with me, our daughter had trouble handling the gun, it seemed too large and cumbersome for her (even though the Crickets are dinky guns). I am hoping that this year she will do better, having gotten taller and stronger arms (kids are such wimps, lol!).

Frankly I don't know how a smaller child could possibly be expected to pick up and handle a firearm, even a youth sized gun. I have seen adults load and prep guns, then have their kid pull the trigger, while the adult holds the gun, but I don't really believe that is much of a learning experience.

Then again, some 5 year olds are strong and seem physically and mentally able to handle such things--I think the initial gun safety rules, and the basic practice with bb guns are the key essentials. I have also seen some adults I dont think can be trusted to handle a gun correctly, guess it all comes down to training and upbringing.

Last weekend was my son's 10th birthday, and as a treat I brought the SKS, and let him shoot his fill, he had a blast, but he did decline the .30-06 1903, he recognized the heavy recoil might be painful, even though I offered a shooting vest, smart boy!

My father was in the Swiss army during WWII, he was issued a rifle at the age of 12, had to carry it to school (yes, through the snow, uphill, both ways), with ammo, every day. It was a Schmidt-Ruben Cadet rifle, which was similar to the K31, but was only a single shot, but the ammo was full size 7.5x55 ammo, which is similar to .308--my point is that even fairly young kids can handle guns given the right training and mindset.