HELP PLEASE!! Honest opinion about an air soft gun for a mature 11 year old

[JPie1]

my son is begging for this...I feel like something out of the Christmas Story saying you'll shoot your eye out...oh to be a mom!!!

Crosman Stinger R34 Airsoft Carbine

says you must be 18 or over to buy this...but then it says adult supervision...do you think this is safe with the proper eye protection etc??

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5913347

or do I need to stick to my "guns" and think this is too dangerous for his age....

help please, he is a good kid, sensible, a boy scout, has badges in archery and has shooted a bit at camp last year.....

am I just being a nervous over protective mom??

 

[General Zod]

my son is begging for this...I feel like something out of the Christmas Story saying you'll shoot your eye out...oh to be a mom!!!

Crosman Stinger R34 Airsoft Carbine

says you must be 18 or over to buy this...but then it says adult supervision...do you think this is safe with the proper eye protection etc??

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5913347

or do I need to stick to my "guns" and think this is too dangerous for his age....

help please, he is a good kid, sensible, a boy scout, has badges in archery and has shooted a bit at camp last year.....

am I just being a nervous over protective mom??

I say get him the thing But make sure he understands how it could hurt someone if it's not used properly

Also,don't let him use it unless and adult,such as yourself,or an adult you trust is around to supervise him

 

[kurchatovium]

I dont have any kids but trying to think like my mom would (and I think she is a darn good mom) I would agree with you and say he is too young.

 

[LD_Tickler]

A BB gun is dangerous. This thing says it fires plastic BBs... I don't know enough about guns to say if that's a big difference, but any air rifle that fires metal Ball Bearings can seriously fuck you up.

 

[JPie1]

they a plastic little balls...softer then metal...but I still it can be dangerous...

 

[Bugman]

Buy it for him and supervise him while he uses it if you feel the need. By the time I was his age I had my own .22 caliber rifle and a shotgun. My parents didn't worry about it because I was taught how to handle them, and respect what they could do if used irresponsibly.

 

[JPie1]

you texan's are a whole different bunch than us northeasterners..

 

[natural tickler]

as long as an adult is present, I see no problems.... my father let me shoot his gun when I was 13

 

[General Zod]

you texan's are a whole different bunch than us northeasterners..

It was a different time

hell,back when my friends and I were teens,we had BB gun wars during the winter time in PA We always wore safety glasses,and never aimed for the head

I don't advocate that now

 

[Bugman]

you texans are a whole different bunch than us northeasterners..

I was born and raised in Kansas, but that's beside the point. Education and proper supervision are the key, whether with a bb gun,an air rifle or the real thing.

 

[kilitiinko1]

You Texans are a whole different bunch than us northeasterners..

I think you just answered your own question,JPie...

Seriously,I`d have to agree with Bugman, Gen Zod,and Natural.As long as your son is ready for the responsibility and understands that there are serious consequences for misuse,whether intended or not,I`d let him have one.You or a trusted adult can supervise him until YOU are comfortable that he will treat this with all due respect.

You might even consider checking around for some sort of firearms safety course that you could let him attend. Local civic groups used to put these on when I was a youngster.In today`s politically correct world,it may be more difficult to find one.Guns ARE evil,you know....

 

[Leo tickles]

No.

All the stories you read about kids doing stupid shit or hurting themselves, and the mom saying "well he/she is a responsible child, never thought this would happen"?

Yah, shit like that happens because parents give in, buy a toy for their kids, a toy that eventually ends up hurting somebody.

 

[KrazieDog]

Buy it for him and supervise him while he uses it if you feel the need. By the time I was his age I had my own .22 caliber rifle and a shotgun. My parents didn't worry about it because I was taught how to handle them, and respect what they could do if used irresponsibly.

you texan's are a whole different bunch than us northeasterners..

I totally agree its a different culture, but I'm with Bug, having grown up 6 hours east of him in Louisiana, I had my first BB gun at 7, and my first .22 and shotgun at his age. I was taught gun safety and responsibility at a young age, so I don't see a problem with his "age" being inappropriate for a bb/pellet gun, much less an airsoft gun. What you can do, is have Dave take him for a hunter safety course and/or shoot with him to ingrain the respect that he needs to have for any kind of firearm. It needs to be paramount that you don't point a gun at anything you don't want to hurt/kill, and to take in to account things kids sometimes don't think about, like what is beyond what I'm shooting at. "Yes it is a coke can, but if I miss, will I shoot old man Caruthers in the ass?" lol Not only does it teach him respect for the tool and handling it, it is a good way for some father/son bonding time.

So I think he is plenty old age wise to have his first airsoft gun, but don't blindly buy it and walk away, make time for you and the hubby to teach him about it first.

 

[xionking]

Buy it for him and supervise him while he uses it if you feel the need. By the time I was his age I had my own .22 caliber rifle and a shotgun. My parents didn't worry about it because I was taught how to handle them, and respect what they could do if used irresponsibly.

This. Personally I hate guns, but this.

Bugman, were you preparing for the escalating Cold War?

 

[Musicroxmysox]

Absolutely not.

There are many other options out there that are far less dangerous. Or rather if he is very interested in guns see if maybe you can take him to someplace safe like a local range to learn.

 

[ticklingfeet4fu]

JPie---You know I have a child, I say no. Accidents even under adult supervision do happen. I was allowed to shoot a gun at 12. But we lived in a different society and a very different time. Remember we use to be able to keep our doors open while we slept on a hot night. Those days don't exist anymore. I would rather error on the side of caution than do something I might later regret. Especially when it comes to our children.

Good luck JPie!!!

 

[JPie1]

I personally hate guns, totally hate guns...but he was into army since he can talk, always fascinated by archery, shooting... He loved the shooting range at boy scout camp last year.

I am going to try and find out what kind of ranges we have here, me I couldn't shoot a gun...don't like them. I want to trust him.

 

[Saeria]

If you truly feel he's responsible go for it. It'll likely make him feel more responsible for having it. I had a bb gun from the ages of 7-12. After the initial talk about how to handle it many a day was spent stalking around the woods pretending to deer hunt. My parents only had one rule though, if you kill something you've gotta eat it. I have only tried finch once and it was tedious to pluck and kinda gross so I just shot a few cans (and pegged the buzzards on the power line since I knew it really didn't do anything other than startle them). When a responsible person handles something dangerous, chances are by nature they'll hold a certain reverence for it and think "I could really get hurt if i don't pay attention". At the same time, through the experiences I had, I learned the difference between acceptable and non acceptable uses for a weapon.

 

[asutickler]

I'm with Krazie and Bugman. I grew up out in the Minnesota woods... Hell, I had a slingshot that was probably lethal at 50 feet. 😀

Seriously though, a ton (if not the majority) of gunshot wounds are accidentally self-inflicted. There's no better way to teach a youngster gun safety and a healthy respect for firearms in general than to get them one of their own, even if it is just an airsoft gun to start. 🙂

 

[Angel77]

Buy it for him and supervise him while he uses it if you feel the need. By the time I was his age I had my own .22 caliber rifle and a shotgun. My parents didn't worry about it because I was taught how to handle them, and respect what they could do if used irresponsibly.

This. I learned how to shoot a BB gun at a very young age and was taught to respect them and the proper way to handle them, always under adult supervision. So yeah, I definitely think it's possible for another kid to learn this as well 🙂

 

[Wildtime]

I don't see a problem as long as he gets educated about gun safety and he has a safe place to fire it off. However, if he wants a gun to play cops-and-robbers with, maybe a non-firing gun might be more appropriate.

 

[venray]

Personally I would never give a child any kind of weapon....

 

[grrl]

My son is only 4, but he already knows that he is not allowed to play with guns, They are not toys and I disagree with ever pretendng they are.

 

[ali32]

Personally I would never give a child any kind of weapon....

I agree...

Ali32

 

[ViperGTS]

You're seriously considering buying a gun for an eleven year old boy?

To a 15 or 16 year old, there's a difference between a firearm and an airsoft gun. To an eleven year old, it's a GUN. Five will get you ten it ends up at school because "mom said it's just a toy!"

When he's an adult he can make the decision to buy himself one - until then, I think he needs to be taught what a gun can really do.