I think people are ready to recieve a gun as a gift once they are about 100 years old. Honestly would you give your child a chain saw as a gift???

you'd give your child a gun for a gift?a child....say it.since when did people buy each other guns anyway?

Never

To me never esspecially here in Ireland with all the crime it would sen dout the wrong impression of what was right and wrong :)

Did you read about the kid who killed his new stepmom because he had a kid sized shotgun? Kids don't understand the power and abilities of a weapon like that. Don't buy a kid a gun, no one's ever old enough to use one.

You don't put lethal weapons into the hands of kids .. MISTAKES can happen that take a LIFE .. and then what ; "But I taught him how to use it " ... ?? The irony would be IF it was YOU who got shot !

I was given a BB gun when I was about 5. It was all that I could do to cock it. Around 10, I had graduated to my Dad's single shot .22. The earlier a child learns about firearm safety the better. It is like learning to swim. I would recommend a Chipmunk .22.

I got my first BB gun when I was 6 or 7... It was a single pump daisy that held like 200 BB's at a time. I was surgically accurate with that thing! lol I got my first "real gun" when I was 12. It was a .410 shotgun. My dad and uncles taught me how to responsibly use it (i.e. never walk with it loaded, how to clean it, and NEVER point it at anyone loaded or unloaded.) Thats the key. Teach them responsibility. Guns dont kill people...people kill people.

Shady, don't listen to those people who say never. I would say (according to the maturity level) 12 or 13 is old enough. Get them the proper hunters safety course, supervise them closly and they can learn at a young age how to be responsible and enjoy shooting sports. I have 3 guns at 12, i have not killed one person in my entire life.

In my opinion, never.

Teenagers with guns... FFS.

14 after you have sent him to the gun safety courses in your area. No child should have guns without proper supervision. Keep it locked up and make sure he does not handle it or touch unless you are there. Safety first and know he is responsible and every so often remind him of the safety rulds as they tend to forget.

i dont like world with wepons

My kid's getting an Oozie for her rattle!

Ask Jordan Anthony Brown's stepmom...oh wait, nevermind...

it depends on the maturity of the child and the household climate. our children were given BB guns and were taught how to use them when they were about 10. they were given shotguns when they were about 12, after they had completed a hunter's safety certification course. all guns in our house are kept locked in a burglar-proof steel cabinet and are used only under adult supervision.

I shot my first .22 I think when I was 9. I got my first gun when I was 10. I'm 16 now and love to shoot. I have never shot anybody nor been shot my self and I have been around a LOT of loaded guns. Just about all of the kids at my school started shooting earlier then 10 and I don't believe any of them have ever caused or been in a shooting accident.

Probably like 10, but dont let him keep the gun. you should keep the gun locked up away from all kids. But i shot my first gun when i was like 9 and I had one rifle that was "my rifle" when i was 11, but of course my dad kept it. teaching them gun safety at a young age will lessen the chances of them being involved in some tragedy later.

Why would you want to give a child a gun?

To be frank, I don't really think anyone should have guns. But, if you really must give children guns, give them all guns from birth. We need equality.

OK, without even reading all the 20 different answers posted, I can tell you will probably have gotten plenty of conflicting answers, perhaps some pretty vehemently worded ones. I won't tell you exactly how old in terms of maturity, because we all know children develope and mature differently, physically, mentally, nad emotionally. I'll just give you the guidelines I grew up by and you can take it for what you will. When I was growing up, rifles and shotguns were part of the household. They were no big deal. I was the youngest boy out of five kids (my sister having the dispicable honor of being not only the youngest, but the only girl, but that's for another discussion...). My brothers are 8, 13, aand 15 years older than me and Dad was 41 when I was born. By the time I was old enough to go hunting or target shooting, Dad was well into his fifties, so my opportunities for this were fewer than my older brothers had. In fact, I believe I only went hunting with Dad maybe twice. The other times were with my brothers once in a blue moon, or maybe with some friends. In fact, I remember Mom talking with Dad briefly about how he had gone hunting with my older brothers and not me...and how much it would mean to me if he took me hunting. So, I was probably around 14 or 15 when I first went hunting. Maybe 16. But the subject of me owning a gun never really came up much. I could use Dad's shotguns or a rifle from a brother if I wanted. But Mom and Dad would not buy me my own. If I wanted one, I could buy one myself...as soon as I was legally old enough to do so. As a result, this is my philosophy about firearms: Until my children are old enough to legally purchase a firearm on their own, they may use my own firearms...WITH my express permission and WITH appropriate supervision and training ONLY. When they are old enough to legally buy a firearm, then they may make their own purchase. Or I might buy one as a gift. So the age that I would CONSIDER buying one FOR A CHILD OF MINE TO OWN would be the legal age. 18 for shotguns/rifles or 21 for a hand gun. I might buy one specifically so my younger children could use it...one that is built for the smaller frame of a child (like a .22 Cricket rifle: http://www.crickett.com/CrickettRifle/crickettrifle.html). But the gun would be MY gun that they may use ONLY with MY SPECIFIC PERMISSION.

Give him a minigun! :P

oh why u afraid?only god can kill your child.

1) A "child" shouldn't own a gun at all. If they want to use one, it should be with a parent. 2) I don't think a gun (or any weapon) is a good "present" at any time. If someone wants one, they should buy it themselves - most people wouldn't accept a hand grenade as a gift...but they do the same thing as guns, ultimately

I dont think a child should own a gun. i'm a city slicker though so i dont know what is acceptable where you are from.

Never, unless you are one of the parents and will make sure that the child takes safety courses and that there is a safe secure place to store the gun and ammo.

Where can I mount this Gatlinburg on the crib dear?

That depends on how competent the parent is.

Guns are not good gifts, period. Unless it's an antique mounted on a wall.

Great question, Shady. I'm all over the board on this one, because I don't believe there is an "age" that magically determines when you can "have" a gun in my house. It is really more properly determined by maturity, attention span and discipline. My oldest boy was taught to shoot at the age of 4 (intended to be my long range competition protege)... Now, his shooting was STRICTLY supervised and trained, and he was not allowed to carry a rifle in the field by himself until he was 11 and had completed both my 7 years of training and an accredited Hunter Safety class. He has received two guns for Christmas since then, but still (even at 18) - has to have me get them from the armory if he wants to use them. If they are in my house, they are locked up, or concealed in a child proof place. My youngest boy, by contrast, didn't get to start shooting until he was 12 - because he had a terrible attention span. He is an excellent marksman - but I still do not allow him to carry a rifle afield unless I am right on top of him. In these two very different cases - age wasn't a factor at all.

Personally the idea that giving guns to children is even something someone would contemplate is scary. I have never understood the casual way in which people just hand around guns in other countries. I wonder if going to war is made so much easier and more glamorous due to such casual use. To me, a child should never have a gun.

I will give my son a 22 when he turns 7! That is how you teach. Guns don't kill people people kill people!

well if i know that they are good with guns then i would say 11/13

its the 10th aniversary of the columbine shooting this year it could offend a lot of people this question

you dont give a gun to a child, that might not even be legal