Kids with guns, but safety comes first

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Wed, 25 Nov 2009 7:13p.m.

How young is too young?

How young is too young?

In New Zealand there are 4.3 million people, and roughly 1 million guns.

It's a simple question we are asking tonight - when should kids get access to those guns?

Your answer may depend on where you live.

In many rural families, not only is there nothing wrong with kids using guns, the younger they do it, the better - learning good habits that hopefully keep them safe for life.

So who are these kids, and who are their parents?

And can children safely handle guns?

William Cooling is seven years old, armed, and deadly from 25m.

Not far away in rural South Auckland, the Parsons kids are also enjoying a spot of target practice. Today they're using air rifles, but make no mistake - that's not the only type of weapon they know how to operate.

In downtown Auckland, scouts Daniel Lowther and Bradley Smith are also loosening up their trigger fingers.

The seven shooters are all part of a resurgence in the number of young children using guns. And despite their tender years, there's more than just practice targets in their sights. They're after animals.

Legally, anyone can use a gun, no matter what their age, as long as they are under the direct supervision of a firearms licence holder.

There are around 220,000 licence holders across the country.

When it comes to gun accidents involving children, the statistics are mixed. In 2007 and 2008 there were no deaths of children under 15 involving firearms, but there were a number of non-fatal accidents - 127 in 2007, 141 last year.

"Nearly all the accident reports I've seen involving children involve ignorance," says John Dyer, gun expert.

"It's like anything - we use education to protect them against those things that are dangerous out there... Why should firearms be any different to any other danger that kids find in their life?"

And Mr Dyer practices what he preaches. He taught his own son to use a shotgun when he was just five years old.

If you think that sounds extreme, it's actually an approach that get the cautious approval of an emergency medicine specialist at Starship Hospital.

"Children learn from a young age, but I think the younger the child is the harder it is for them to be able to sustain that learning and put it in to practice," says Mike Shepherd. "So you also need a lot of alternative strategies, and you can't rely on the fact that young children are going to retain that information you've taught them."

Mr Shepherd says the safest option is to not have firearms in the home - but if they are, a policy of ongoing education, adult supervision and secure storage is best.

There is no dispute from any of the parents of our primary school shooters.

Should William Cooling ever find himself lost in the bush, he's unlikely to go hungry.
 
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Comments

27 Nov 2009 09:35p.m.

Alwyn wrote:

Its good to see children learning good safe practices supervised by licenced firearms owners. Perhaps schools or scouting groups should promote safe instructed firearm use. A friend of mine has two young lads and they both have a very good understanding of firearm use and safety issues.

27 Nov 2009 12:28p.m.

Pistol Shooter wrote:

Good to see a positive story for a change, thanks Tv3. I think its important for kids and adults to learn safety and respect around firearms and also learn that its not just about violence and there are plenty of legal, rewarding and enjoyable sports and activities that involve firearms usage.

27 Nov 2009 06:48a.m.

Greg Keenan wrote:

I have two boys and began educating them at a very young age about safe handling of firearms. As an active hunter and competition shooter I have firearms in the home. I believe it would have been highly irresponsible of me to not have done so. Neither of the boys, now adults, share my interest in firearms, but, they are both well aware of safe handling issues. There is no doubt that from an early age they appreciated the reality of firearms as distinct from the BS picture of them promoted by the "entertainment" industry, surely a much better situation. Knowing and understanding the hazards and dangers of any situation is surely preferable to the alternative.

26 Nov 2009 06:58p.m.

MOD wrote:

Education beats ignorance. Learning it right from your parents instead of making it up as it goes, or worse still believing video games and TV are true. This was a great piece about NZ the way it used to, and hopefully will be again.

26 Nov 2009 05:44p.m.

Hudson C wrote:

Nice to see an unbiased gun article. Many of the comments reflect my own experience as a child. I was raised to shoot early and in return I have started teaching my girls (4 and 6) to safely shoot by firing an airpistol from a bench rest at a large cardboard box target. We have medal cermonies afterward using choclate coins tied to ribbons - a popular event! My wife and I often go to the gun club to shoot on weekends and I want my girls to feel included. Shooting is a sport that as others have already said, where skill does not depend on gender, age or size. Shooting is an action that absolutely requires personal responsibility and correct behaviour and that is a good thing for young people to learn early. Some of my workmates are people who are afraid of guns and have accepted the mainstream media portrayl of guns as too dangerous and unnecessary for people to own. As with fireworks my opinion is that this is sad as responsible citizens should not suffer the loss of their rights due to the silly actions of the minority.

26 Nov 2009 04:10p.m.

Ken wrote:

A well presented article showing that NZ has not changed much even with all the PC doctrine.
This is the reason that NZers are well regarded as hunters and conservationists world wide. I started hunting at age 7. My daughter at the same age and now my grandson who started at the age of 8 and is now 17 represented NZ in international compition this year. My wife also shoots. NO I have no problem with children being trained to shoot properly at an early age

26 Nov 2009 11:50a.m.

Mark wrote:

It's great to see unbiased and informed comment where firearms are involved. I started shooting with my Dad at about 7 years old. Firearm safety was reiterated all the time and any misuse of guns unthinkable. I have only recently come back to shooting as a sport (pistol shooting now). My young adults like going to the range and are very responsible. Depending on the child I would say 5+ years is the time to start so long as the training is on-going and reinforced regularly.

26 Nov 2009 08:58a.m.

Craig wrote:

Hi John. Thanks for providing an unbiased article. I have held a Firearms lIcence since 1978.I began educating my son in firearms safety at 6yo (1999). He is now 16yo and has his own firearms & licence.Exposure to guns in a controlled environment has been both healthy & confidence building for Chris.We have hunted together regularly since he was 12yo when he began carrying his own centrefire hunting rifle under my supervision.I fully support the NZ Police in enforcing the current laws and targetting criminals who misuse firearms.What I do not support is the NZ polce retrospectively changing existing laws that have ben in force for many years to create new classes of restricted weapons and making law previously law abiding owners criminals. I refer to the new stock configuration laws coming into effect in 2010 making many A class weapons now E Class restricted weapons. All this will achieve is to create a new black market and drive more guns underground.

Thaks again, really enjoy your show.

25 Nov 2009 09:51p.m.

Grant wrote:

Excellent piece. Well put together and devoid of the often irrational, uneducated and prejudiced views that plague firearm subjects. Firearms are merely inanimate objects that need to be used responsibly just like anything else - cars, knives etc. I went for and received my firearms license last year at the age of 23 and I'm glad I did. I enjoy target shooting and have helped out the neighbouring farmer with pest control on request.

I agree the gun law comments, law abiding licensed gun owners cause zero problems but when the Police fail to enforce the existing law and something happens like the Napier shootings the Police firearms division feels the need to 'be seen to do something' so the more than adequate existing laws are ignored and increasingly repressive measures are inflicted upon normal law abiding gun owners like myself. All the while the criminals couldn't care less. They aren't the ones to abide by gun control laws.

25 Nov 2009 09:14p.m.

Jak wrote:

I have a fire arms licence and own a couple of rifles. I was taught from a young age by my father and was drilled on the safety rules. They are second nature now. New Zealands gun laws are very good at the moment, more education for young and first time gun users is a good thing. The problem with firearms are the unlicensed users and these problems will not change by restricting the responsible licensed gun users.