Home Defense and Children's "training"

[S&WForty]

I was thinking of an incident that occurred when I was 13-14 yrs old. I was home alone around 8pm. Background: the inside latch of the security door was broken and the door didn't align with the facing without pulling on it (that's why the latch handle was broken...), so during the day we locked the inside door's deadbolt. At the end of the day we would push the security door closed from the outside and lock it, then walk around and come back in the front door. I was not yet old enough to have my handy-man skilz.

A thug had what he thought was his lucky break. He approached the back door to find an unlocked security door. My little dog was going nuts barking. The piece of trash was going to try to come in anyway. By the time I got to the kitchen and faced the door from about 15' away, I saw the shadow go down then suddenly come up ramming the inside door. I yelled and the guy took off.

I didn't grow up around guns. Had I had that exposure and experience, I imagine I would have yelled anyway and the guy would have still run, but had I not had a dog, and the guy got inside before I could yell through the door, perhaps a teenager with a good technique would have killed the guy...

My question, at what age do those of you with kids feel they are old enough to be aware of where the defense tool is and when they can use it?

I do not know what TN law says about children and firearms (I am a long way off from having to know about that in my own home). I don't know if any honest answers would be illegal or not. After thinking of that old incident, I got to wondering how gun-owning parents teach/tell their children about home defense. (have the liberals passed any laws that state kids must hide in a closet...? )

[Fallguy]

Just to clarify first, a child of any age can posses a firearm on the parent's property with the parent's permission.

Now...you bring up a very good point.

Without going into a long story, my kids are not living with me at the moment, but when they where I had thought about this.

My trouble is the only firearm I own is my carry weapon, so if I was away from the house, so was the only weapon in the household.

I was about to get a shotgun, but then the living situation changed.

I would say a lot of it would depend on the child. Taking them to the range, getting the comfortable with the firearm, knowing how it operates etc....

I would say this could be done fairly easy with the average 13-14 year old and probably even younger with some children.

[Guest Phantom6]

My question, at what age do those of you with kids feel they are old enough to be aware of where the defense tool is and when they can use it?

At what age do you let your children mow the lawn or operate your table saw or chain saw? Similar questions actually.

If you are going to have firearms in the house you need to begin to teach your children from a very early age respect for them. A little at a time but as they mature let them handle them more and shoot them under your direction. By the time they are 10-12 years old or so, depending upon the maturity level of the child at that age, they should be ready to take on the responsibility of defending themselves with a firearm if they can not get away from the situation. Remember, the use of deadly force should always be a LAST RESORT and our kids need to understand this. The book Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill : A Call to Action Against TV, Movie and Video Game Violence by Dave Grossman and Dr. Gloria Degaetano, may provide some good insight for you on how to discuss violence with your children to help them understand that while there is a time and a place for deadly force it should be avoided if at all possible. Sometimes, obviously it's just not possible. That's why I and most of my children (all adults now) carry a gun.

[Tim Nunan]

As a son of a competitive shooter I learned gun safety and handgun shooting at the age of 8. My brother and I were taught firearms were dangerous tools and could only be touched with Dad present. Had to memorize the NRA gun safety rules before getting a BB gun. Was on a .22 rifle team about age of 13. When children are interested in your firearms don't make it a mystery by telling them "wait 'til you're older". Teach them young and teach them correctly. Most young children will listen and obey the rules.

[Guest Phantom6]

As a son of a competitive shooter I learned gun safety and handgun shooting at the age of 8. My brother and I were taught firearms were dangerous tools and could only be touched with Dad present. Had to memorize the NRA gun safety rules before getting a BB gun. Was on a .22 rifle team about age of 13. When children are interested in your firearms don't make it a mystery by telling them "wait 'til you're older". Teach them young and teach them correctly. Most young children will listen and obey the rules.

Spot On!

[oldogy]

Each child is different. I have friends who were at age 9, driving farm tractors and doing meaningful work. They also knew their way around firearms very well at that age as did I. My family owned a business where there was lots of cash around and law enforcement would have been a long time arriving. Guns were kept loaded and everywhere accessible. My dad bought and sold a lot of guns. This was before FFL requirement. Both my parents could shoot well and my dad CCd. I learned very early not to touch guns. When my folks felt I was responsible enough to learn I was taught to shoot and handle guns....Read clean them so I knew how they worked. Some kids are much more mentally mature, able to access situations than others. That said, I know a thirteen YO boy that I would not allow to handle a gun at all. He, IMO, is a loose cannon.

JMO

oldogy

[Guest gunslinger707]

Each child is different. I have friends who were at age 9, driving farm tractors and doing meaningful work. They also knew their way around firearms very well at that age as did I. My family owned a business where there was lots of cash around and law enforcement would have been a long time arriving. Guns were kept loaded and everywhere accessible. My dad bought and sold a lot of guns. This was before FFL requirement. Both my parents could shoot well and my dad CCd. I learned very early not to touch guns. When my folks felt I was responsible enough to learn I was taught to shoot and handle guns....Read clean them so I knew how they worked. Some kids are much more mentally mature, able to access situations than others. That said, I know a thirteen YO boy that I would not allow to handle a gun at all. He, IMO, is a loose cannon.

JMO

oldogy

Heck oldogy,I know some ADULT"S like that !!!!!! lol

[DRM]

My kids are currently 6 and 8. Both of them have been "trained" so far using airsoft guns. While "playing", I stress the basics as if they were REAL firearms - muzzle direction, attention to what is downrange, attention to what is beyond your target, etc. We've even set up a mock airsoft shooting range in the house and covered the basics of range fire as well (even though I've never been to a range - lol).

They have also fired their (yes, their) .22 Cricket single shot bolt action, and will be working with their 7 shot .22 Woodchucker rifle this summer (bolt action).

Beyond that - neither are able to pull back the slides on any of my pistols (I have not worked with them on the revolver yet). Nor are they able to hold any of the full size long guns.

But as they get older, I'll keep checking both their physical capabilities and mental awareness and judge how to proceed with their education concerning firearms. And based on that education process - as some time they will learn how, when, and where they will have access to weapons in the home if they need to defend themselves, OR if they need to defend us should I or their mother be incapacitated in some way. Probably SEVERAL years in the future for sure.

Aside from that - they will also be taught MANY other options to have at their disposal during an emergency situation. Contacting the police/911, knowing when to flee, knowing when to hide, being aware of their surroundings, etc. IMHO most situations that kids would be in reaching for a firearm is probably going to be pretty low on the hierarchy of effecting means of survival for a given situation.

Edited June 22, 2009 by DRM

[Guest canynracer]

I take my 3yr old son, 8yr old daughter and 13 yr old daughter out a lot. they all shoot, my 13 yr old knows where the shotgun is, and knows how to use it. There is no mystery, so I dont worry about it too much...they have no interest outside the range. (both girls expressed interest in competition skeet/trap)

the 3 and 8 yr old are never home alone, and the 13 yr old may be alone like an hour, max...the Alarm is set, the German Shepherd is there, and she knows where the 9 cans of pepper spray that I have throughout the house are, and the shotgun is..

She also knows that the pepper spray, and the 75lb shepherd are only there to buy time to get to the shotty.

BTW, the one that is out is a youth model 20GA...its one she shoots, and she operates, it is also the one my wife shoots.. so they are both very comfortable, and proficient. I am sure it will be more than effective when necessary.

Edited June 24, 2009 by canynracer