a sad story all over chores. i believe that all guns should be kept in a secure location that only a parent or a gaurdian can have acess to. A 10 year olds emotions can get the better of them when there frustrated or upset, this is why no 10 year old no mater how mature the parent thinks they are shouldnt have a gun they have immediate access too.

I just don't know. I have no problem with young kids learning to hunt and shoot young with adult supervision. I do think a kid younger than 13 or 14 may have a harder time with consequences and are more likely to do something in the heat of the moment that they'll regret becuase of that lack of perspective. I think the 'supervised' portion of this topic is where I have my hang-ups. I'm sure there are kids who are perfectly responsible and can handle having a firearm in their room and solely under their discretion. They may even be in the majority. I don't know that I think it's a great idea as kids are kids. They tend to be more impulsive, more rash, and have less of a sense of proportion about the ills they perceive. I'm not going to argue that adults can be subject to all of the above, we all know the type. I think little Johny or Susie can own a gun, but I generally think an adult should be in possession of it until it's time to use it. This does open a self-defense argument that I'm not sure I can square this view with.

A 10 year old may be mature enough to shoot guns and/or go hunting, but he or she is not mature enough to own or possess guns. No way. They should always be locked and unloaded when not in use. a possible exception is a bb gun, but even those require adult supervision at that age. Very sad story. C'mon people, lock'em up.

The first time my kids asked me about guns in general, they were introduced to everything I owned at the time. They were allowed to shoot .22's ad nauseam. They were constantly reminded that firearms kill humans as well as game animals. Their mother assisted in this training and helped reinforce that guns are deadly when handled wrong, but perfectly safe when handled correctly. Both my children ended up in law enforcement. I'm VERY proud of them both.
They have both been handling guns since age 4 or 5. Both have had open access to every arm in the house from that point forward. Some kids can handle the responsibility just fine at age 10, some can't.

Bubba

I think that as long as theres no ammo in the possesion of the child or some that they can get to they should be able to have guns in their room, because without ammo whats gonna happen? I'm 16 and have my guns on my wall on the gunrack I made in woodworking and I think they make the room look nice, just sayin.

I believe the guns should be locked up and secure. A 10-year-old should not have easy access to them. I believe if there a guns in the home, a 10-year-old should have had extensive training in how to use a gun and the results of shooting a gun.

However, that is a family issue, and not something to be determines or set in law by any level of government.

Also, please remember that this is not a gun issue. Any 10-year-old who would be willing to shoot his own (?) mother because of a disagreement over chores would just have easily clubbed her with a baseball-bat or stabbed her with a knife. A gun, I'll admit is more convenient and more lethal, but the problem is the kid, not the guns.

I've often wondered about the appropriate age for a first gun. For me my Grandpa began teaching me to shoot when I was 10 (.22 rifle that he kept locked up in his gun cabinet and I was NOT allowed to touch it unless he or my Grandma were teaching me) also he began teaching me to hunt at the same time. At 12 I was given a BB gun that I could use around the woods near their farm. (Also kept locked in the gun cabinet and I had to ask permission to take it out.) For Christmas when I was 15 I was giving a 20 gauge shotgun to hunt rabbits and birds alongside my grandpa. (Again same rules applied as with the BB gun.)

When I tell some people this they are shocked that I had access to firearms at such a young age. Other people tell me they had their first gun much younger. It’s clear to me that NO parent should let their child have easy and unsupervised access to a gun.

I was 12 when I got my first shotgun. Like many of you when I started driving I sometimes had it in my trunk, as did many of my friends. The only case I knew of where a kid shot someone was a boy protecting his mom from a very abusive dad. It simply never would have occured to any of us to shoot someone to settle anything. I don't know if you blame violence on tv, video games or what but it's obvious some of these kids today are exposed to something that gives them a very casual attitude about killing, but don't try to tell me the problem is access to guns.

I was introduced to guns and hunting by my father way before I was even big enough to carry a .22 rifle. He kept his guns secured however. I raised two children and introduced them to weapons and hunting also at a young age. They were really impressed with was my .357 and 9 mm did to a milk carton full of water but they also appreciated what they could do to a human body. I trusted my children by kept my weapons secured. I think it is normal to introduce children to weapons at a young age, but they must be kept secured! A fatal mistake whether by accident or on purpose. We must teach young people responsibility and consequences whether it be with weapons or life in general. Just another reason for the anti's to rant against guns and hunting.