Range 14 age restriction

[TheMan 45]

Hello folks, are there any age restrictions at range 14? Looking to take my 7 year old.

[XDJohnTact 49]

I would call and ask?

[TheMan 45]

Will tommorow, just wondering if anyone here has taken the kiddies to shoot.

[medved11 71]

There's nothing here that mentions a minimum age and I've seen some pretty young kids there from time-to-time

 

http://www.range-14.com/rules.html

 

I've seen some pretty young kids there from time to time. I'm guessing there's no issue as long as everyone is following the basic safety rules.

[jm1827 284]

I believe "official" minimum age is 10, this is what I have been told when I asked and I thought I read it somewhere in the rules or at the range.  But, they told me that as long as the child was capable and safe they didn't draw a hard line at 10. 

 

My son has been shooting their since he was 8 and we never had a problem, except running on the range occasionally.

[Maximus 16]

I took a 7 year old there to shoot a couple of years ago. No questions asked. I just made sure to be right there to control things. 1 shot at a time. No sense fully loading and running any risk.

[maintenanceguy 510]

Never been to that range but that's how I always do it with young kids - or brand new shooters.  One shot loaded at a time.  If anything goes wrong- it can't go wrong more than once.

[AVB-AMG 530]

I was 11 years old when I first learned how to shoot a .22 rifle at a summer camp where I learned to respect firearms and how to handle them properly, as well as shoot accurately from a standing, kneeling and prone position. My instructors were knowledgeable and very strict that I learn how to safely use a gun and understand and respect that they are not toys. I really enjoyed .22 rifle shooting, joined a rifle team and over the next two years, became quite proficient, working my way up to the NRA Sharpshooter level, Bar 9. Then I discovered girls and left my interest in guns behind, not to be resurrected until many years later.

 

IMHO, I believe that 10-11 yrs. old is the ideal safe age for teaching most, but not all children, to fire age appropriate weapons in a patient, methodical, and controlled setting. Every child is different and therefore a strict age limit is very hard to impose by any gun range. Teaching a child about firearms is key and should be performed first by knowledgeable adults and only under very good supervision, taking into account the child's strength, maturity and discipline. Also, the parent should recognize that the selection of the appropriate caliber of the weapon needs to be factored in as well. Starting them off with something like an airsoft gun or a pellet/bb gun is far more appropriate though until they have the necessary physical ability and maturity to handle a real gun. Most importantly, I was taught and children should be taught to never point the gun at anything that I/they did not want to put a hole in. Live firing of any weapon should never supersede intensive gun safety instruction. There is no substitute for it. You can't put the horse before the cart. Also, I agree with the previous posters here that loading a gun with one round and one round only, is a good way to start off a child so instruction may be performed after every shot, until they learn what to do properly.

 

As with anything else potentially dangerous to children, education is vital, whether it is about sex, alcohol, drugs, fireworks, swimming or guns. Children are naturally curious and it's better for the parent to be proactive to teach their child/children about gun safety as a good preventative measure. If you can't or will not do it, have a professional do it for you in an organized class or if you can afford to, one-on-one instruction. If you don't do this, someone else may “tell” your child about guns and they may not get it right.

 

Most young children with their parents at the ranges I frequent in NJ are well behaved and seem to listen intently to what their parent and/or instructor is telling them to do and not to do.
What concerns me is what I have observed on occasion at some ranges in other States. Some very young children, younger than 10 years of age do not have the discipline or attention span to understand and abide by necessary safety precautions. While the parents may have good intentions, they have not really thought it through and are risking the safety of their child and others on the range. I have witnessed examples of a child running around the ports, picking up shell casings from the ground and not properly holding a gun. It scares the heck out of me and I have asked the RSO to intervene, for everyone’s safety. Parents need to act responsibly and rationally and not bring their children to a gun range before they are ready. Sometimes, I have a suspicion that the parent is not thinking beyond their ideas of a "cute" video for YouTube when they set these potential disasters in motion with a child too young to safely be on a shooting range. 

 

AVB-AMG