r/canadaguns • u/Uncle_Ted_1942 • May 23 '26
Misc What’s an appropriate age to give a child a BB/pellet gun?
When I was 8 years old or so, my father took me to Canadian Tire and bought me a Ruger Explorer to learn to shoot. That’s one of the few good childhood memories I share with him. I’m just shy of my 22nd birthday and I still have it.
Today is my nieces 4th birthday, and it got me thinking, what is an appropriate age to buy a kid a BB/pellet gun? I know it greatly matters how mature a kid is, but I was mainly curious as to roughly what age a child truly understands how to act appropriately with a gun, even if it’s “just” a Red Ryder or something.
What are your thoughts?
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u/h3IIfir3pho3nix N E R F G U N S May 23 '26
Gonna depend on the maturity of the individual child. If you have to ask the question then they're probably not mature enough yet.
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u/King-Moses666 May 23 '26
I know adults who shouldn’t be un-supervised with a bb gun let alone a firearm. Maturity is 100% the main factor not age.
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u/War_Hymn May 24 '26
This. It never took, but my daughter had a Red Ryder when she was 7. Got her a .22 single shot when she was 9. But she's mature and well-adjusted for her age, and understands the gravity of safety with things like this.
On other end of the spectrum, I would never trust to hand over a BB gun to my nephew who is around the same age. His parents are those yuppie types that don't believe in disciplining their kids, so he's got no self-control and is mentally unstable.
Every kid is different, and some are just never meant to handle a piece of equipment that can do serious damage.
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u/Uncle_Ted_1942 May 23 '26
As far as a 4 year old goes she’s shockingly mature, but is in fact still a 4 year old lol. I’ll probably wait until she’s a bit older, and just teach her to shoot my pellet rifle and see if she has any interest
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u/Life_Dragonfruit6441 May 24 '26
That’s a really good point you bring up, actually. Whether they’re into it or not. I can only imagine being made to shoot a gun as a kid if you were scared of it would be traumatic af, lol
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u/Memorywipe May 23 '26
Check with their parents to see if they're comfortable with you purchasing one for their kid. If you're the parent then I think you have your answer:)
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u/Uncle_Ted_1942 May 23 '26
Oh yeah definitely, I don’t plan on giving their kid a gun without checking first. Just kind of a “shower thought” really.
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u/Benefit_Waste May 23 '26
8 or 12 could work. I was playing around with nerf and bb guns around 9… depends for some families
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u/Vast_Horizon47 May 23 '26
Be careful they might shoot their eye out.
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u/Vast_Horizon47 May 23 '26
On a real note it really depends on the kids maturity level. You don’t want to be the one responsible for giving them a weapon.
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u/Old_user_New_name May 23 '26
How can anyone answer that question? In all seriousness, there is no blanket answer for these types of questions. “What’s the best ____?” “Where’s the best ____?” It’s individual to the person, family, and kid.
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u/Uncle_Ted_1942 May 23 '26
Yeah, I was more asking in a discussion sort of way. Got my first pellet gun at 8 and 16 gauge at 12, meanwhile I know 17 year olds that I wouldn’t trust with a sharp stick lol
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u/Accomplished-Beat779 May 23 '26
I bought my 1 year old granddaughter a Savage rascal 22, it will be up to her parents when she actually gets it.
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u/Uncle_Ted_1942 May 23 '26
Smart idea. I don’t see her every day like they do, so I’ll probably ask them when she’s a bit older and see what they think
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u/Accomplished-Beat779 May 23 '26
Assuming she will be shooting with yourself or her parents, probably 6 or 7 is a good age to start. I have great memories of getting my Daisy at 7, and I still have it 51 years later
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u/newtoabunchofstuff May 23 '26
For my kids, I taught them basic gun safety at 2 years old using nerf guns. I made sure to explain to them the difference between toys and actual guns.
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u/Steelringin May 23 '26
I've seen kids as young as 3 using a pellet gun. It really depends on the kid and the context. In the case of a 3 yr old it was on an acreage with nodody else around for 1/ 4 mile, the rifle already loaded and held in place for them and they were just put behind it to press the trigger. Same kid at 4.5-5 years old was carrying that pellet gun to hunt gophers around the same property and was shooting a single shot .22 at targets. Always supervised within arms length but by the age of 5 he had the understanding and ability to use it safely with little to no intervention.
That's obviously an outlier. It really depends on the location, the person teaching them and the individual. During open houses at our range I've personally supervised kids as young as 5 on a .22. I had one kid that was 7 work his way up through various calibers all the way to a 12ga in the course of one day. Plenty of 8-9 year olds are able to work their way up to full calibers in a day. Again, this is very direct, arms-length supervision where I would load a single round set the firearm up on a rest or hold it myself while their parent or another instructor set them up behind gun and had them press the trigger.
Don't do like my parents and seemingly all the other parents in my town did and give every kid aged 7-8 a pellet gun and let them roam unsupervised with it.
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u/BiggGlue May 23 '26
Airsoft is better IMO. Story: i had airsoft and a friend was once over. He chambers a pistol, drops the mag, and then shoots me as a joke which hit my neck from about a foot away thinking the mag was out so nothing would happen. Though I was responsible, we were both playing and the friend was the idiot. It hurt but i was ok. I’m glad it wasn’t a BB…
So your kid could have a good maturity level but if they have friends over they might not necessarily be assertive enough to ensure their idiot friends are responsible with them especially because even just holding it for a second can lead to an idiot kid quickly grabbing it and pointing it at someone as a joke not understanding the basic mechanics like my friend who shot me when i was like 10.
Unless you only let them use it under your supervision and lock it away etc like you would if you gave your kid a first rifle.. but thats just me.
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u/DryF1re May 23 '26
airsoft needs to be banned in canada.
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u/BiggGlue May 23 '26
Why, Jesus
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u/DryF1re May 24 '26
you mean you dont see a reason to ban replica firearms that usually end up in the hands of wannabe gangsters, meth heads, and basement dwellers? none whatsoever?
Whether you like it or not, these skids give us decent firearm owners a bad image and contribute greatly to reducing general acceptance of firearms
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u/BiggGlue May 25 '26
You should go join the liberal party of canada if you think we should ban everything that makes us look bad. Basement dwellers.. with airsoft.. oh the humanity…
You realize any retard who wants to go out in public with a fake gun can 3 d print one, right?
Airsoft is a popular sport here and a super healthy activity. I’m not part of it but it doesn’t kill anyone and the fact that you’re being serious (i thought at first you were being sarcastic) just bewilders the mind. You’re the one who sounds like a meth head.
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u/mitchumz May 23 '26
Depends on the kid. My son is 7 and a half, but he's pretty rowdy so he just got started on a slingshot last week
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u/Standard_Custard2338 May 23 '26
I was 4 or 5 when I learnt on a pellet gun. About 6 when I started shooting an old Cooey 22 at the range (I had to be benched because it was to heavy for me). By 10 I was packing a Win 94 in 375 win big bore around the bush.
My daughters started on a Savage Rascal at about age 5. They were both mature enough and under direct supervision. The Rascal is amazing in that it's purpose built for children to handle properly.
Every kid is different so I would recommend using your judgment. One of mine is an adult now and both moved on to bigger rifles and pistols when the time was right.
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u/AntiNakedman May 23 '26
I would suggest you ask their parents, since it’s your niece.
I started shooting .22 at 5 years old. I think my kids probably will start with air guns around 7-8 given their maturity, and get into .22 and maybe pistol when they are 12+
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u/adhq May 23 '26
It's not about an exact age. It's about reaching the maturity level required to own and responsibly use a gun. Any gun can kill or severely injure live beings.
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u/Mother_Refrigerator3 May 23 '26
We were mature kids and had a break action pellet gun at 8 and had a 12g shotgun at 15.
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u/AurelianINVICTVS May 23 '26
Depends on the kid. When I was a kid my dad would bring me hunting and to the shooting range when I was about 7, but my son has adhd (there’s more to it than just adhd but I’m over simplifying) and didn’t grasp concepts like responsibility and accountability until he was closer to 9 or 10.
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u/Orcasystems99 May 24 '26
Six, teaches them life skills.
I also recommend doing what I did to my son. I told him many times to always treat a gun as loaded until he had ensured it was clear. One day we were shotting BB guns in the back yard and he need a pee break. So he correctly put his rifle down on the table pointed down range and ran into the house.
While he was gone, I loaded it and put it back. When he got back, he grabbed his rifle... and I asked him if it was loaded... he said no. I asked if he would like to point it at me and pull the trigger, or at the target. He pointed it at the target and pulled the trigger... big surprise. Lesson learned.
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u/AllDay1980 May 24 '26
I was handling firearms by the age of 7 got my own pellet gun at age 10
But I also grew up with bows, machetes, chainsaws and power tools so really for as long as I have memory’s I was trusted to act reasonable with tools that were dangerous to operate.
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u/Jester54 May 24 '26
I just bought my two kids aged 1.5 and 3.5 guns. Obviously only the 3.5 year old is shooting so far but he loves it! Aiming is kind of lost but putting the idea of shooting guns and its dangers into both of their heads early is important to me. I see no issues with it as long as your child is capable of understanding.
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u/Tryce3 May 24 '26
Depends on the child’s maturity level, and ability to take direction and adhere to it.
Every child is different. Do what is safe for them not your want to have them shoot. Start them young and enjoy
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u/hawkbat05 May 24 '26
My son has been coming to the range with me since I finally got around to getting a membership again when he was 8. He's 14 now and over the years he's been gifted a Daisy Powerline BB pistol, a Red Ryder and inherited a 12ga and 30-06 when his grandfather passed. He also shoots a 20ga I picked specifically for my kids to use and at 14 basically anything I shoot, he'll shoot.
For the ones that are his, we keep them in my safe and treat them like any other firearm. They're used at the range and treated the same.
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u/Financial-Brother-93 May 25 '26
I believe it all depends on where you live and your teaching techniques. Seems all first few replys are all ideal to me. I was around 8 or 9 when I forlund my fathers old Slovaki pellet gun feom his childhood. He gave it to me, I since restored it, and still have it 30 somethin years later, on the other side of the Country.
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u/Additional_Fold_1350 May 25 '26
My boy got his first Daisy Red rider at 4 years old and was shooting pigeons in the barn by 6. As long as you train them and supervise no issues in my opinion. Wife was horrified when he opened it at christmas but she got over it and has no worries now he's 16 and packing my 12ga in the bush alone.
Only bad thing is he will go through 1000 rounds of 22LR, and 250 12ga in a weekend!!!!!! Likes to shoot skeet, and alot of target practice so it gets expensive with the two of us. He really needs a Job!!!!!!!!!!!!
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u/windexo May 25 '26
I was given a 30-06 at 5 years old. to hunt gophers and crow on a cattle farm.
Would I recommend this? No. I however believe the earlier the better with supervision.
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u/Bearthegood May 23 '26
I raised 3 kids, all learned to shoot at about the age of 6. They learned safety and the basics of shooting in our yard with a pellet rifle. To reinforce the importance of always pointing in a safe direction. I would tell them to imagine a laser beam coming out of the muzzle. Anything alive the laser touched would die. You must find ways for the child to visualize what you are telling them and why.
By age 7 they would come with me to the range.
Things were clear from the start :
If they broke any rule they were NEVER coming back for at least a year.
I only brought one with me at a time.
I would never shoot on the days I would bring them until they were in their teens. My only goal was to make sure everything was done safely and also focus on teaching technique.
There were no mishaps.