From Nerf to Pellet gun . . .

[Prof Young]

Five year old grandson Rhys is a Nerf gun nerd. Loves to have nerf gun wars and the latest thing was making a nerf gun shooting range in the basement. Somewhere along the way we ran across the old pump up pellet pistol and the pellet trap. Fetched some safety glasses from the gun room and next thing you know we are learning to aim with a "real" gun. Learned first two rules which in this case are "Don't go down range until range boss (me) says you can." and "Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot." I experimented before I let him shoot. Three pumps were enough to get to the target and penetrate it at the short distance we were shooting. Had Rhys dry fire a few times before I loaded him a pellet. Shooting at a six inch target from about two yards he started the off the paper and about five shots later was about three inches from the bulls eye. Gun is really too heavy for him to hold with two hands on grip so I had him support the stock (with strong warning about keeping hand behind the muzzle). I'm fairly sure he gets the difference between the pellet gun and the nerf gun. He talked about the pellet gun in terms of it being a "real" gun. His brother was shooting the cricket 22 when he was only five, but his brother isn't quite as frenetic. May need to find a short stock BB gun to proceed.

Life is good.
Prof Young

[JohnKSa]

Knowing the difference between toy guns and real guns is a start. More important is ingraining the habits that help prevent unintentional death and serious injury.

In other words, knowing the rules of gun safety is one thing, but that's only a very small part of the equation. The real value of the rules of gun safety comes when they are practiced religiously. This ingrains them as habits so that they can provide protection even during mental lapses.

I worry about mixing real guns with toy guns unless the child is required to handle the toy guns following the gun safety rules. Otherwise good habits are being built part of the time and torn down the rest of the time.

The rules of firearm safety have no value to a person who merely memorizes them but then acts contrary to them at nearly every opportunity.

[Spats McGee]

Sounds like a pretty good start. My girl started with a BB gun at about 7-8. (We tried at about 5, but she was not ready at that point.) She'd been hanging out while I cleaned guns with me for a couple of years, so the first real guns she ever handled were actually just frames. We shot BB guns a few times and took her to shoot .22s and she absolutely ate that up. Then makeup caught her attention and she hasn't gone shooting since.

[buck460XVR]

Originally Posted by JohnKSa

I worry about mixing real guns with toy guns unless the child is required to handle the toy guns following the gun safety rules. Otherwise good habits are being built part of the time and torn down the rest of the time.

Seems unfortunate that most of the craze with Nerf guns, Airsoft guns and Paintball guns is as toys, for shooting other people, and not just by children, but also adults. Gosh, my cap guns from the 1950s were basically the same. Seems the secret is to make sure kids(and adults) know the difference and not allowed to handle real firearms without adult supervision until they reliably can. This is where accessibility to firearms to children comes into play. This is nothing new and a viable concern.

[zukiphile]

Originally Posted by JohnKSA

I worry about mixing real guns with toy guns unless the child is required to handle the toy guns following the gun safety rules. Otherwise good habits are being built part of the time and torn down the rest of the time.

I recall my father not permitting me to point my toy guns at anyone. Of course, that rule only applied in his presence, because I was a boy and pretending to do what I had seen in films and on TV as supplemented by my imagination was the point of a toy.

I did a lot of irresponsible things with toy cars too, but I don't believe it led to the irresponsible things I did with cars as a driver.

Anyone who has introduced another fellow to firearms has had the experience of having to extinguish the lessons ingrained from a decade of playing with toy guns and killing imaginary indians, robbers etc. It's one of the big differences between teaching men and women.

Nerf guns are a thing to themselves. An uncle gave my girls nerf pistols that were pretty potent. They were given the don't point at people and don't put your finger on the trigger... lessons. Within a minute the younger girl had accidentally shot the uncle in the face, hitting his closed eyelid.

Like so many toys, they aren't risk free.

[Prof Young]

Good thoughts one and all. I am confident that Rhys understands the difference between his Nerf guns and the real thing. He has come to the range and watched his brother and me shoot and, as noted in the OP, referred to the pellet gun as a real gun. Plus when one juxtaposes the looks of a nerf gun with a real gun, the toy/real difference is huge. However this may not be true with airsoft and paint ball. The toy gun to real gun transition is something to be acutely aware of and an element of real concern in the process of learning to safely become a shooter.

Life is good.
Prof Young