Am I in the wrong here? (kids and guns)

So a couple of months back I informed the ex-Mrs. Marty that I wanted to get our 11 yo (soon to be 12) son a .22 rifle of his own and teach him proper firearms safety. She was cool with that and gave her blessing. We went shooting at the local range and everything was a-ok.

Well fast forward to this past weekend when the current Mrs. Marty decided that for fathers day we should spend it at the range.

Well the day before my son and I went to a gun show with my BFF where he saw and bought a AK-47. At the range the next day my son decided he wanted to shoot a rifle with a little more oomph and was handed the AK. I had no issue with this and showed him how to operate it and stood right behind him as he did so. I even shot a little video of it which my son wanted to post to his Facebook account (I know he's too young for that but that was his mothers idea, not mine).

Well his mother saw the video and needless to say she did not approve. According to her it glorified violence and will make 11 yo kids want to shoot each other terrorist style. Mind you this is also the same person who doesnt mind that he plays Call of Duty at his friends house, which personally I have a huge issue with.

I don't think I did anything wrong as a AK is just another rifle that when used properly is pretty damn fun to shoot.

What say the masses?

Learning to properly handle firearms - zero issue from me - 100x's beter than that call to duty stuff.

Did you ask him if he want to shoot someone terrorist style? My guess is he does not. I think as we grow older we are afraid of the things we do not know. Maybe mom should spend some time at the range with the AK.

I see no problem with it if he's mature enough to understand what he's doing and to do it safely. When I was a kid the PAL held a shooting club in the rifle range in my elementary school and you could join from 5th grade on. We mostly shot 22's but the instructors were retired Marines who would bring something interesting from time to time. I don't know of anyone I shot with using a gun to kill anyone in a spectacular rain of fire, though I do strangle someone with my bare hands now and then.

Learning about guns takes the mystique out of it. He's less likely to fantasize about shooting it terrorist style when he realizes the consequences.

Now take him out paintballing where he can see that it hurts when you get hit.

Agreed w/ GrantMLS.

Seems to me she may have had more of an issue of a video being posted to facebook than actually shooting the gun.

I have not seen said video but I could understand how some other folks may take it out of context. What will the neighbors think! Or his friend's parents! People that arent a fan of guns will automatically jump into the "OMG KIDS WITH MACHINE GUNS?!?!?! WTF!!!" mindset.

I don't think there is anything wrong with the kid shooting an AK as long as he is taught gun safety (which it seems he is). But seriously he is 11 and has a Facebook?!?! WTF? (I know that isn't your idea but still.) My girlfriend teaches younger kids to shoot .22s at an younger age at a camp.

What's a "facebook"?

If he was shooting at a target the worst case is that it glorified target shooting. People need to get that the association of guns = crime out of their heads. It makes as much sense as calling the Food network and complaining that their chef's glorify knife fights when they cut stuff up.

I expect this is a similar thing to driving a car appropriately -- start with something less powerful (perhaps a Miata) and work your way up to an M3 or Elise (in our household, at least) once you've demonstrated responsibiity and sound judgment.

I probably wouldn't have posted the video, but that's because I avoid posting any videos or pics of my children at all.

I wouldn't want my child to play Call of Duty without some context . . .and I am not sure what age would be appropriate. I suspect it depends on the child.

IMHO, Firearm safety should be mandated. If everyone were trained in firearm safety and use, we'd have quite a few less "accidental" deaths. Knowledge is key to everything in life. I've taught my daughter all about guns and firearm safety. I had my best friend die from an accidental shooting, and the first thing I did was reinforce the safety of firearms with my daughter. I didn't throw out all my guns, I used it as a very important lesson.

Doing it safely is doing it safely, whether it's a 1963 Falcon or a 2011 Lamborghini.

At 16 I encouraged my son to partake in Auto-X and track days. My logic was if he has the opportunity to do it in a controlled environment with corner workers, fire extinguishers and no pedestrians, he is less inclined to try it in a high school parking lot.

That logic may also apply to firearms.

Dan

So when he's shooting a .22, he's just a normal kid, but as soon as he gets his hands on an AK he's transformed into a bloodthirsty jihadist?

I fail to see the logic. I think mom just heard the letters "AK" and got scared. Ask her if she thinks it's a machine gun.

Agree. Mom probably sees a .22 as cute and little and safe. The AK is black and scary and evil.

I'm as "gunny" they come. I agree with almost everything said here. If the lad has the interest and the physical capability to shoot an AK, fine. But...

When you let a 12 year old use the military weapon EVERYBODY recognizes instantly as the choice, for decades, of bad guys the world over, you knew you were on thin ice. Logic has nothing to do with it when the child's mother hears about it. I won't even start on the video.

Live and learn.

you're taking much more responsibility by taking the time to teach him proper handling and safety of firearms, make sure you drill it in his head to treat it like its always loaded, period.

As far as the other stuff goes, I'd prolly remove the vid from facebook, and the ex mrs., well she is just uneducated on firearms and associated that tool with terrorism, whereas the correct association should be with communism

Conquest351 wrote:

you've got it wrong, the third down on the right should be a "Anti-aircraft gun" and the bottom left should be high capacity automatic handgun......

I own guns. I grew up in a house with firearms for 3 generations of guys to hunt everything from rats to antelope. I think AK-47's are badass. I think teaching safety is super important and logically you did nothing wrong.

I'm sympathetic to your wife, though. She's not "right", but it's a valid reaction. Other kids and their parents are going to see that video of your son. Being the scary guy with the 11 year old who shoots an AK-47 is going to make people reluctant to let their kids come over to play and brand you as a bit of a crazy man wacko. That's either good or bad. :)

I think you did just fine. Kids should start off with a .22 and if proficient and wanting to, add to the mix by trying out other calibers. I don't even see anything inherently wrong with video'ing it. Yeah, there are gonna be negative reactions but standing up to those irrational reactions is the only way to reduce them. All you can do at this juncture is point out that the kids shows no interest at all in shooting everyone he sees, that he's gained a great deal of perspective on guns in general, and in closing he's the same 11 yr old kid as he was before the vid. I for one, have noticed that the more I take my kid out shooting, the less interest he seems to have in playing Metal Gear and the like. For that alone I'd continue to take him to the range.

But there is this -

Boy, 8, accidentally kills self at gun show

Blame to go all around, but still...

Otto Maddox wrote: But there is this - Boy, 8, accidentally kills self at gun show Blame to go all around, but still...

thats a younger kid firing a fully automatic machine pistol. not a semiauto AK. there are quite a few videos of fairly experienced shooters firing uzis, mac10s, and even glock 18s having trouble keeping the muzzle down, not sure why they'd think an 8 year old could do it

Boy firing an AK under parental supervision and guidance with understanding about the danger and responsibility of operating a firearm: fine.

Boy firing a weapon set to fully automatic: probably not good, since there is potential for them to loose control of the weapon, as above (although a 12yo is a lot bigger and stronger than an 8yo).

Posting videos of your child going to the gun range on facebook: not good idea. Aside from the reactionary "ZOMG you're training your kid to be a killer!" I'd also be worried that it is a case of showing off to his friends who maybe do not understand and respect firearms and could cause problems because they just see the shooting the gun, not the amount of time you spent explaining the rules of how to handle it safely.

CoD: I haven't played that recently. I am not a parent, but would probably consider that a "Parental Guidance" sort of game until the kid is mature enough.

Otto Maddox wrote: But there is this - Boy, 8, accidentally kills self at gun show Blame to go all around, but still...

The parents failed that boy. They say its a "self inflicted gunshot wound", but I would still say its the parents fault. The boy was eight...

Joey

I'm a little torn on this. I have no issue with teaching kids to shoot and I personally can't wait to teach my son. Maybe have the current go shooting with you next time, see how safe your son can be, show her that he's ready for more (under proper supervision of course).

Thanks for the insight folks. The video was pulled right after his mom saw it. All four parents have access to his FB account and monitor it religiously. She just wanted my approval before she did it even though I suspect that she would've done it anyway, but at least there was enough respect to ask first.

I tend to agree with the posts that the video was/is the bigger problem here as she said more than once that when/if his little FB "friends" see it that she would get the phone calls from the parents - not me.

It was also mentioned by her that the video didn't show the instruction that was given to him - just him popping off a few rounds (just like you said Salanis). But as I told her I still didn't see what the issue was as we posted a video of him with his .22 the first time he shot a gun, this occasion was the same thing - just with a bigger gun.

I do also think that he did want to show off a little bit too. As soon as my friend boughtt the rifle my sons eyes lit up and he immediately started asking if he could shoot it. When I asked him how he even knew what a AK is he said that it's one of the guns him and his friends use in CoD. So while I may not have been completely in the right here there's a little bit of blame to share.

From here on out the agreement is that he can keep shooting but no more videos/photos are to be shared. Which is good because I plan on getting a AR-15 next month.

And just because I can.......