Discovered That the Neighbor Kid is an Aspiring Arms Guy

[mort the blunt]

I've taken a while to talk about this one, but I'd like to make some announcements here. I was over at the neighbor's house doing a Cutco demonstration and found that their 13 year old son is a gun guy in the making. He watched the whole presentation and made a noise that sounded like a squee when I showed him the KABAR. I've done a quick quizzing of him and I've learned that he indeed knows a lot more about guns than many adults. He knew about the ACR from Call of Duty, but he did know about them being imported to the U.S. He also talked about wanting to go to the Nation's Gun Show the next time it's in town. He wants to go with a father of a mutual friend.

I was wondering if I could do anything to help him along. I've considered asking his mother for permission to take him to the gun show. It would definitely give him a chance to receive a real world firearms education and put his hands on some real hardware.

I might wait a few years before making the offer, simply so it doesn't come across as creepy.

[armoredman]

Be careful - do you need written parental permission in Maryland? You might be making the next generation of shooter/voter.

[AirForceShooter]

Find out what you have to do, to take him shooting.

AFS

[Selena]

Not to be the voice of doom, but with today's climate if one of my neighbors outside the "safety circle" were to express interest in one of my kids I would be suspicious at best. Perhaps the better tactic would be to work on getting the parents interested in shooting sports and depend on trickle down.

[igpoobah]

Since that wasn't typed in RED I have to say - Pay no attention to Selena and work on taking the kid shooting.

[Jamie B]

Times have changed for those living in a hole.
No way would I consider a request like this from a neighbor without a very high level of suspicion, and an answer of no way in hell.

Offer to take father and son, or suffer the consequences.

[igpoobah]

Maybe where you live...But inviting the father is a good suggestion.

What you should definately not do is...nothing.

[Selena]

Since that wasn't typed in RED I have to say

It wasn't in red because I was serious.

[Loosedhorse]

I might wait a few years before making the offer, simply so it doesn't come across as creepy.

Not to be the voice of doom, but with today's climate if one of my neighbors outside the "safety circle" were to express interest in one of my kids I would be suspicious at best.

It wasn't in red because I was serious.

It is very sad.

I would offer (and have offered) to help teach shooting anyway. I'm involved with my kids' sports as a coach, so I have to get CORI'd here in MA all the time; maybe that helps. This state doesn't tend to hand out LTCs and instructor certs to criminals, either.

The offer can be broad: to take the parent(s) and the child shooting; to take their kid shooting with your kids, to go watch a SASS competition (lots of folks around), etc.

The other side of the coin: if an accusation is ever made against you (and Janet Reno taught us that there are ways of making that happen), you're going to want to have taken the kid shooting with lots of witnesses around!

And I do. What can I say? Protect yourself. That's the way the world is.

[BarwickW]

Nowadays, we must be very careful in introducing firearms to kids. Just recently, a boy from Utah died just because of a toy cannon. And according to the news, it was given by the neighbor to the boy several years ago. The six-inch toy cannon apparently misfired into his face, killing him. But authorities said it had no built-in firing mechanism and was meant to be purely decorative. The grandmother said that she sometimes saw her grandchild have this gun powder in a foil and fire it with the cannon but the boy's father doesn't know anything about this. Source of article: 14-year-old boy killed by toy cannon. Poor boy. My heart is aching for the family. this is very tragic.

[No3buckshot]

Do you have a rifle range nearby that has a youth program?

Ours has two in the summer, a Jr. Smallbore program from May to Sept. and a 6 week Jr. Trap League 6 weeks in late June and July.

I work both of them, not certified in shotgun, I don't shoot shotgun much, but I am Certified in Pistol, Rifle, Home Firearm Safety and Personal Protection in the Home as well as being a Range Safety Officer. That makes me more than good enough to stand on the trap line with a kid and feed ammo into his gun one shell at a time, though I usually start out with the little kids, on trap 3. We set it slow on straight aways and they shoot right off the back of the house, we actually set the shells and stuff on the house roof for those days.

Several have been through the Boy Scout program and we adopted their "never alone, always in pairs" thoughts.

We keep as many parents as possible as close as possible, too.

Don't let the fear keep you from getting the kids involved. The NRA and several other outfits will give you grants for Youth activities, so GO FOR IT.

Buckshot