I have several children. I know that I’ve mentioned that before, but I guess I’m trying to convince you that I have an idea about bringing up children. I think that I do but after this article you may think different.
I’ve been a gun guy for a long time. When I was first married, I wasn’t so concerned about storing my guns. I was young and stupid. But as my kids got older, I ensured that the mystery of guns was no longer a mystery. My kids can tell you of random times when I threw a gun on a bed and said to them, “Make it safe.” They would roll their eyes and proceed to make the gun safe. It could be a handgun, a rifle, or a shotgun. When one of my daughters was first married, she and her husband were at a friend’s house. The conversation somehow turned to guns, and they brought her a handgun to look at. As she was handed the gun, she dropped the magazine and pulled back the slide and stuck her pinky finger in the chamber while pointing the gun in a safe direction. She did it pretty fast and this impressed her friends and her husband. They all looked at her and she explained “It’s like muscle memory. My Dad is an instructor, and he pounded safety into our heads.” She hadn’t touched a gun in years.
In our home everyone, boys or girls, were introduced to safe gun handling and shooting at the age of 8. We started with them shooting .22 rifles and as the years went by larger caliber and handguns. This was something my wife let me handle from the beginning. At first, they loved it. Then as they became teen-agers the novelty of a gun, and the mystery of them, was gone. They no longer wanted to look at guns. If they ever did, they would ask and every time I would bring them out. It got to a point where only a few of them wanted to go with me to the range. I told them I wanted them to go about every other month. But I only had my oldest sons who wanted to go every time. The reason I picked the age of 8 was that was when the boys had become Cub Scouts. In the Cub program they were exposed to shooting air rifles. I figured if they could shoot air rifles safely then that’s not a stretch to shooting .22 rifles safely. You should decide what you feel your kids can handle. I think an 8-year-old can handle learning about guns. You may feel you want to wait until 10 or 12. I would encourage the younger the better. When they get that training that young it tends to stay with them longer. We started off light with a training gun for safety training. Then as they got older, we moved to real guns. As far as shooting we didn’t “graduate” to higher caliber than .22 until they were proved safe and competent.
In Arkansas laws have been enacted to develop a curriculum for gun safety for elementary and secondary education students starting in 2026. Even politicians have learned that education is important for everyone.
Although the NRA takes safety rules a little further with 7 rules, I’ve always taught the 4 rules.
1. All guns are always loaded. Some will teach this as treat all guns as if they are loaded. I don’t like that. I prefer the definitive all guns and always loaded. It takes the guess work out of it.
2. Don’t let the muzzle cover anything you don’t want to destroy. In other words, don’t point the gun at anything you don’t want to shoot.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target. Guns don’t discharge until the trigger is pulled regardless of what Alec Baldwin says.
4. Know your target and what is beyond your target. By knowing your target, you should know how your target will react to bullets. You also need to be aware of what’s behind your target in case the bullet goes through your target.
These are the rules I taught my kids and what I teach my students.
Kids are very smart. They can learn things at a fast rate at an early age. Just think if you taught your children gun safety and how to shoot how experienced and knowledgeable they would be at 18 with 9 years under their belt! By demystifying the gun, you can control the curiosity that surrounds guns. I did not lock up my guns when I was younger. I must have felt their knowledge was enough. I think that was foolish and would never teach that or do that now. Nothing ever happened but what a chance I took. I did not ever store loaded guns, and the ammo was inaccessible but there’s a big risk. How many people have been shot with an “unloaded” gun?
There are so many safes and lock boxes out there you don’t have an excuse for not locking up your guns. Even a cheap Harbor Freight safe will keep guns safe from kids.
Remember a few things about teaching kids about gun safety.
More exposure can remove the mystery of guns. But make sure that kids know the dangers that involved with guns. No child (or adult, for that matter) should touch a firearm that is not there’s. I would not dream of touching someone else’s gun that was sitting on a shooting bench at a range without permission. Kids should not touch guns either unless given permission by an adult. If kids come across an unattended gun, they should not touch it and tell an adult. Guns are tools, not toys. Kids can learn and understand that.
Teaching gun safety is never a one-time thing with kids or adults. It is an ongoing thing that reviews over and over until it is second nature. By teaching the rules, why we have them, and how they support one another you create a culture of safety. As kids become adults this training will carry over into adult training, competing, and gun ownership.
Solve the mystery, train your kids!
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
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