I ask this question because I recently saw a YouTube video of a kid on a gun range. She was the cutest thing. She was obviously excited about shooting a semi-automatic weapon.
The problem is that video clip is incomplete. The video clip that I saw of the smiling blonde little girl was actually taken a few seconds right before a very horrible accident involving her gun range instructor.
There is no video, thankfully, of what happened after that segment. This little girl was all smiles and giggles right before she started shooting in the firing range.
It turned out that in the space of a few seconds, she couldn’t handle the semi-automatic rifle she was operating and she ended up tilting it up. This is a serious problem because she was positioned in front and under her gun range instructor. The recoil of the semi-automatic weapon she was using was simply too much for her. There is also an open question regarding her posture, stance, and how she held the weapon. These, of course, are taught to her by the instructor.
The gun range instructor died.
The little kid is probably going to be scarred for life. Now, everybody knows that it’s not her fault, but this does beg the question: how young is too young for gun ranges?
When I was looking at that video, I looked down on the comments section and I was not surprised. There were tons of people basically insulting, making threats, and otherwise harassing the parents of this poor girl.
This poor girl has gone through hell and it’s not going to help if people harass her parents. How young is too young? Well, it really depends on the parents of the kid.
If this kid had proper training from home, as far as firearms safety and proper handling are concerned, that video probably wouldn’t be made. Why? There would be nothing to report.
She would’ve handled herself well and everybody would’ve walked home in perfect health. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened. Somehow, someway, the parents did not prepare the kid properly.
Now, does this mean that the parents deserve all the abuse that they’re getting online? Of course not. However, this does say that there has to be some sort of scaling system for young people as they master firearms.
I would suggest that they go through very basic starter classes before they hit gun ranges.
Otherwise, we run the risk of living through the same tragedy over and over again. That instructor did not need to die.
That kid did not need to have nightmares for the rest of her life. She did not have to suffer from all sorts of post-traumatic stress disorder. In other words, the whole thing could’ve been avoided.
Again, it all boils down to the parents. It’s all about stepping up, taking responsibility, and making sure that your kid turns out okay. Nobody can do this except you. You have to step up. You have to take stock of the set of circumstances of your situation. This is the key.