Giving a Nine Year Old a .22 Calibre Rifle for Christmas?
So my SS9 is unfortunately obsessed (and I mean to a nearly unhealthy degree) with guns. His only request for Santa this year is to give him a .22 for Christmas. Needless to say DH and I got him anything but that... (we're not NRA members by any means, lol), new basketball (from me, he plays school basketball), baseballs, games, DVD's, and his grandpa (my FIL) got him an expensive pro RC car from a hobby shop. If anything he needs encouragement to get out and be active because his weight is steadily growing and he is clearly overweight.
I haven't heard who the giver of the gun was, but it's my guess that it's BM's current boyfriend. Apparently it's a single shot load so it's not as bad as a semi-auto, but still.
My SS9 isn't a bad kid, but he's a bit of a spaz and not very responsible or mature. I disagree with the appropriateness of giving him a gun when he's not even 10 years old yet.
What are your opinions?
I don't think the gun will be coming over here, at least I certainly hope DH has enough sense to not let him tote a small calibre rifle into our house.
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Well, I don't think a child
Well, I don't think a child of that age should be given a gun; What I mean by that is I don't think a child should be able to have access to a gun, of any caliber without a parent right there, completely fit and sane.
On a side note: DH and I will be buying our 5 year old daughter a .22 rifle. Not so she can "play" with it. Guns are not toys and she understands. But when we go camping we let SD9 and DD5 shoot some of our guns.
But, if your SS9 was just given a gun to run around with, thats a GIANT problem.
I don't see anyting wrong
I don't see anyting wrong with it...as long as the SF is safe with it. My son is 18 and has had guns almost all of his life. They can be fun and safe...IF-IF-IF he is supervised correctly! He should not have ANY access to the gun unless an adult gives him access.
Bad thing about being in a blended fam...you never know what the SF will allow.
He's not really a SF, he's
He's not really a SF, he's this guy who took BM and SS9 in when BM's last boyfriend dumped her in Aug., two weeks later she'd moved in with this guy in a dumpy old A-frame out in the sticks with garbage overflowing the front yard.
Supposedly they have a gun case but I'm not sure what all supervision, if any, is happening.
My DH and I are also both gun savvy, but not to the degree that we go shooting all that often. We also have a .22 that we've let SS9 use when we do go shooting. So it's not like he has no experience, it's just that I question SS9's maturity and level of responsibility when it comes to him having a gun himself. He has "OOPS" accidents all the time from just lacking common sense or any foresight, those are reasons why DH and I wouldn't buy him a gun for Christmas.
AAAHHAHAHAH!! DH won't do a
AAAHHAHAHAH!! DH won't do a THING about it, sorry. Believe me, I've tried, and tried, and TRIED to get him to grow a set of balls when it comes to his ex, but to no avail. He won't do anything about it, I've worked myself into a screaming fit before because he refuses to stand up to his ex and her manipulations.
Probably the only thing that will get the gun away from the kid is if he shoots someone or comes close to it.
My DH is a hopeless noodle, I've just come to accept that.
Disengage, disengage, disengage...
Thank you, this is exactly
Thank you, this is exactly what I'm concerned about, and exactly why I will NOT allow SS9 to just tote his new "toy" over to our house!
I have been shooting 22's
I have been shooting 22's since I was 4 1/2. I was rasied around guns and I love them. I was also taught how to be responsible and respectful towards guns, we never refered to them as toys in our home.
I do have to admit that I did get FSD6 a BB gun for christmas
it pissed BM off and she is still fuming about it. But she does not have free access to it and she has to learn what all the parts are names and what they do, as well as learn the safety with guns.
She is so excited to learn more about them. She loves it it was her favorite present. FDH is excited to he thought that she wouldn't like it
Yeah, I also grew up familiar
Yeah, I also grew up familiar with guns and had a BB gun when I was a kid too. SS9 has a BB gun, I have no issues whatsoever with BB guns and kids.
A .22 is VERY different than a BB gun, however. A .22 can kill a person, a BB gun cannot.
Maybe not kill, but I know
Maybe not kill, but I know getting shot with a BB is very painful. Not only can it be painful, but it can be very damaging. A friend of mine got shot in the foot, twice. The BB went through the top of his foot and came out the bottom, the other BB bounced around on the bones of his toes.
my FDH still has a BB in his
my FDH still has a BB in his leg from where his cousin shot him, but in his cousins defense he was being shot at by FDH as well. The girls love it because they can stick magnets on his leg.
Also by no means is she ever going to be unsupervised with it. it is currently locked in my gun safe with my hunting riffles.
I know from personal
I know from personal experience, yes, my little brother shot me in the abdomen at extremely close range with a pellet/bb gun when I was around 8 or 9. I grew up with a large-ish (1 acre) unfenced back yard and my dad kept his pellet gun on the back porch one summer because we'd had trouble with a roaming dog getting in our trash hauler and he was using the pellets to deter it. It hurt and bled a little but didn't do any real damage, I just made a BIG deal out of it and my brother got in huge trouble.
I would not be saying as such had that pellet gun been a .22.
I am aware that BB guns aren't totally harmless, but there's a bit of a step between that and a .22.
I grew up around guns, I
I grew up around guns, I remember getting a bb gun when I was a kid. I loved it. My son grew up with guns and my grandson has a gun. I think that it depends on the situation and the kid whether they should be allowed to have one or not. I also think that a child should never be allowed to have the gun without an adult around. They need to be taught proper gun safety and responsibility. I don't have a problem with some getting them as long as they have an adult in their life to teach them how to carry it and how to use it, mainly how to respect it.
You know what is truly
You know what is truly hilarious? I was just remembering the time BM and I got into it because she was using SS9's cell phone we had gotten him for emergencies (BM isn't capable of having a phone 100% of the time) and she said, and I quote:
"Nine-year-olds don't need to have a cell phone anyways!"
SO, BM... your logic is that he's not old enough to have a cell phone, but he's old enough to have a gun???
AHHAHAHAHA!!! Wow, she is a piece of work.