How Young is Old Enough?
- Thread starter dougiemac
- Start date
I'm still pretty young and not a father, but I would say around 13 or 14 for formal training. You can always start before that though, passing on lessons about mindset, awareness, and protecting yourself.
DoglegArms
Silencer Dealer of 2015, 2016, 2017
I agree. My son is almost 3 and whenever he sees a picture of a gun he says "dangerous" in a very serious tone. But then he starts shooting me with his finger saying "pow pow" afterward so we're working on that. I didn't even teach him that.
At least you are working on it. I taught my children when they were old enough to walk that firearms are dangerous and to notify an adult if they ever found one. I tested them several times by leaving an unloaded firearm on the couch or in a chair and watched them from a hidden location to see how they would react. The called for their mom or me and would not touch it. When they got older, instead of letting them play with toy guns, I started working with them shooting a .22 bolt action rifle using CB rounds. And things progressed from there.
- Jul 5, 2015
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The class I went to there was a father/son team there, the son was about 15 or 16. He did fine throughout the class and seemed to have a pretty good grasp on the basics before he showed up. I think you would be fine a few years younger than that if they were interested and showed the right mindset to it. I owned my first pistol when I was 13 or so and never did anything stupid with it. That was in the 90s, not that long ago(at least I tell myself that...) My son is 9 and while he can shoot ok and is pretty safe with guns I would say he is nowhere near ready for a defensive style class. I also think that a basic rifle class would be better than a pistol class. Geared toward home defense, since that is where they would be most likely to need it at that age. Lots of mindset, situational awareness, 4S type stuff for when they are out and about.
If you can put them in a GADPA or IDPA match and the do pretty well, then I think they would be ready for a combat class.
Maturity comes from expectations. If they are capable of effectively manipulating the weapon, clearing malfunctions, combat reloads, etc. I think they're ready.
Maturity comes from expectations. If they are capable of effectively manipulating the weapon, clearing malfunctions, combat reloads, etc. I think they're ready.