"A .22 For Christmas"

The gun industry compares a child obtaining his or her first firearm to other rites of passage. According to William Kendy, contributing editor of the gun industry publication SHOT Business, "Getting your first .22 rifle is like your first real kiss. You never forget it."¹⁵ While many people would not consider a teenager shooting a .22 rifle under close adult supervision shocking, the gun industry is pursuing much younger children. In response to the question, "How old is old enough?" the 1994 National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) pamphlet When Your Youngster Wants a Gun... suggests:

Age is not the major yardstick. Some youngsters are ready to start at 10, others at 14. The only real measures are those of maturity and individual responsibility. Does your youngster follow directions well? Is he conscientious and reliable? Would you leave him alone in the house for two or three hours? Would you send him to the grocery store with a list and a $20 bill? If the answers to these questions or similar ones are 'yes,' then the answer can also be 'yes' when your child asks for his first gun.¹⁶

Articles in the gun press indicate that even this vague criteria may be too strict:

• "Assessing whether your kids are responsible enough to handle live fire is the most difficult task. Responsibility is not a function of age. While they can be completely irresponsible with matters of schoolwork or cleaning their rooms, children are capable of prioritizing just as adults do, and can rise to the required level of responsibility if the subject is serious enough to warrant it."
            Andy Kemp, "Girls and Guns," Handguns, August 2001, 57.
  
  
• "My first recommendation is to start them young. I don't know for sure how old I was when my dad started to take me along on his squirrel hunts. But, since I can't remember a time when I didn't accompany him, I'd guess I was four or five years old."
             Michael Beliveau, "Start 'Em Young!—There is No Time Like the Present," Gun World, July 1998, 33-35.
  
  
• "Tyler Kneuer looks and acts like most normal, healthy pre-kindergarten kids: almost....Make no mistake, these two aren't just father and son; They're hunting buddies and pals."
            J. Mitchell, "Hunting Lore: The Next Generation," Gun World, December 1997, 33.
  
  
• "There are two great loves in my life, two passions, two joys, two reasons for living. The oldest is ten, the other is eight, and they are both girls, my girls, my two daughters, Samantha and Courtney....They have just recently taken an interest in guns and the resulting experience has, so far, been elating."
            Andy Kemp, "Girls and Guns," Handguns, August 2001, 50.
  
  
• "We placed some water-filled balloons a dozen yards away, then fed Winchester shot cartridges to the .22. This allowed Caleb some satisfying hits even though the little rifle was still oversized for his 4-year-old physique."
            Clair Rees, "Shooting Fun for the Whole Family," supplement to Handguns, July 1999, L.

"Shooting Fun For The Whole Family," supplement to Handguns, July 1999

Back to Table of Contents