8 year old murders father and friend - poll

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I don’t like guns, never even bought toy ones for our sons to play with as children and they are all adults now who do not own guns. I don’t understand the circumstances of this incident, but no matter what, this family is indeed in serious crisis. There’s alot more to what the story describes I am sure. Even for the reason the father has sole custody of this child when the mother is in the picture too. May God help this family is all I can say.
 
A child of eight is old enough to learn to handle a gun. Part of that is learning to respect danger and be careful. He shouldn’t have free access to a gun until he has shown himself trustworthy for a few years. He should learn a rifle at eight or so and a handgun at 25, after a psych screening.
 
I think that the age is dependent on each child. I have used many different firearms over the years and have taught children their use. One friend’s son I taught to use a rifle at age 12. My own son I will not teach until 15 or so. The child has to be emotionally mature enough to handle it. Normally speaking I’d say 12-14 for rifles/shotguns for girls, maybe a year or so later for boys. Handguns not until at least age 18. I strongly believe in the right to keep and bear arms but am honest enough to admit that a handgun is designed to be used in close quarters only and thus more likely to be used against others in anger.
 
I am in the military so for me a handgun is as much of a tool as a set of knives for a chef. It is a tool to be handled with respect and eventually the use of it is to be taught to future generations. I know one day when my ten year old step daughter was over I did have the “gun talk” with her. I told her that there was one in the house and that if she ever wanted to learn how to use it for the right reasons (self protection, sport) her father and I would take her to a range. That was the only place that she would ever be allowed to handle my firearm. I also told her until then there was no reason for her to know where it is was because unless she was snooping she wouldn’t “happen” across it. She laughed and got my message. She has not taken us up on this offer as she is very much a Pacifist. She didn’t even like coming to my Army family day until she found out they served free food and snow cones. 😛 This shows me that she is not ready for that kind of training because mentally and emotionally she cannot see it as a tool but only as an instrument of death. Hope my babbling meant something to somebody.

God bless,
 
There’s a huge difference between learning how to handle a gun, and having access to a gun. This shooting happened in a little town that I visited while on vacation this summer. It’s very rural and in the mountains. I haven’t heard the facts yet, but I suppose it is possible that the gun used was somewhere in the house where it could be used rather quickly.

Up in the White Mountains where this occurred, there are problems with coyotes, wolves, and even bears. This whole incident is very disturbing, and I hope they figure out just what went wrong.
 
i voted 8, but would have gone 5 if it were an option. thats when all the kids in my family always learned. started small with basic safyet pronciples and watching others do it right. then moved up to bb guns, .410shotguns and .22s then on to bigger and better things. just always keeping the content and gun type age approiate.

proper gun saftey isnt a 1 afternoon type of deal. its a habit that gets engrained over time, so that when you go hunting or to the range it is just instinct to act safe.
 
GUN !!! not at all to be handle at any age man!!!..at least to me is ridiculous…!!..sorry about that…
 
We had guns in our house from the time I can remember. They belonged to Daddy. His statement on them was “If it isn’t yours, DON’T TOUCH IT.” If we were caught touching anything that was not ours, we got a smack on the backside and a repeat, “I SAID…” until we caught on.

Daddy tried to teach me to shoot at age 15, but he gave up. He said that the safest place to stand when I have a gun is right in front of me.

However, I am a dab hand with a knife.
 
I voted age 12, but that would entirely depend upon the maturity level of the child and to a great extent, on where they live and the reasons for this in the first place.

I live in the rural south, so handling a firearm is common place here. Youth are taught at a young age how to handle and most importantly, how to RESPECT them.

With this case, the bigger question is not at what age is appropriate, but why would an 8 year old child murder his father and friend. A whole lot more to this story then what has been reported so far.

Pray for all involve.
 
I would have voted 5-6 were it optioned for us. My brothers and I were all taught from around 5-6 years old. It started off with learning safety and how to check to see if the weapon were loaded.
I get truly upset with people who want to ban all guns. I am terrified of guns, but find it necessary to have myself armed given the area I live in.
As for this 8 year old boy, Sounds like he had been trained in how to use the weapon. He killed both his targets. He had probably been taught safety and use of the firearm, but they neglected his moral and religious education.
 
That’s one thing I was wondering. Why did an 8 year old murder his father and a friend of his father? Was there something else going on? The artical said that there were no reports of abuse, but at that age, would the kid have spoken out if there was? There’s a lot of questions unanswered here. 😦
 
I believe that with all things learning is a slow process. At early ages a child should be taught to never touch a gun. That is because the best of children sometimes push the limits. I will start letting my son become acquainted with a gun at 5-8, but only to see and understand how it works and why it is dangerous. Once I do it once, I will let him handle it supervised when he wants. This is to dispel any mystique and temptation to try and get hold of my gun when I am not with him. I will let him shoot probably around 10-12.

Each child is different. The key is it should be a gradual process with proper training and safety instruction at all times.
 
I voted 16. That is the average age of learning how to drive…so I think that is appropriate.

As a mom, I cannot see a younger child having the strength, or the hand-eye coordination necessary to be able to handle a firearm.
 
I voted 8, only because that was the lowest available.

Both of my kids got a .22 caliber Cricket rifle for their 2nd birthday. They don’t actually start “shooting” until about 3 or 4 years old. This means sitting on DH’s lap while he positions to rifle and assists with handling, etc. They may shoot balloons or steel targets.

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They are also taught respect of the gun, proper handling, not to touch when an adult is not present, and all that. Plus, our guns are all unloaded and locked in a safe when not being used. The kids don’t even know where the keys are. They will graduate to that level gradually as their maturity shows they are ready (in the teens).

I am confident that my six year old DD is pretty well trained. We were visiting my parents and she was looking for something that had rolled under the bed. She saw that my dad’s rifle was “hidden” under the bed and came running out into the kitchen to “yell” at him for not locking it up.

I agree that there has to be more going on here for an 8 year old to premeditate the murder of these 2 men. Just the presence of firearms in the home does not make kids do things like this. Hmmm, another man living in the house makes me think of some kind of abuse by the “friend” and kill them both because dad let it happen? Just speculating…
 
That’s adorable!! 👍

I can’t wait until my daughter is old enough for my father in law and I to take her shooting.
 
Mary_Gail_36 said:
I voted 16. That is the average age of learning how to drive…so I think that is appropriate.

As a mom, I cannot see a younger child having the strength, or the hand-eye coordination necessary to be able to handle a firearm.
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ok second part first. hand eye coordination. have you ever seen kids play video games? they dont even blink. trust me thats not an issue for them.

as for strength well it depends. a 4 year old may struggle with something like a .45 or 50 caliber handgun, and an 8 gauge shotgun hurts my shoulder pretty quick. if you match the gun to the person it stops being an issue.

first gun my wife ever fired was a .30-06 with 180grain bullets. and shes not a big lady.
 
Thanks for all the responses. My husband is in the process of teaching a thirteen year old to shoot.
 
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