My grandson, Linkin, is 9 years old now. I introduced him to the world of firearms when he was 6 years old. Under extreme supervision, I taught him how to shoot his first BB gun. He loved this! Now I admit that this was a challenge.At 6 years old it is extremely difficult tokeep a 6-year old’s attention span for very long. That’s why we couldn’tpractice for a very long periods of time. One of the biggest problems was to make sure that he didn’t point the muzzleany place other than downrange. I was finally able to get him to the point to where he could hit his orange targetsplaced on a cardboard box from 15 feet away. His little arms were barely long enough for him to hold it correctly, so Idid allow him to tuck it under his arm so that it was more comfortable for him. Thenext year he progressed to a largerpellet gun. It was easier to teach him this as he remembered all of the safety lessons from the previous year. Whenhe was 8 years old, I started teaching him how to use an older Springfield semi-automatic 22 rifle. Hepayed attentionand followed the rules with no problem. when he became a 9-year-old, I actually allowed him to move up to a 410-bore shotgun. He was very excited about this. I really think he just likes the noise that it made. We always had him inear protection. We really have a very good place to shoot so I didn’t emphasize the eye protection too much as wehave very very little risk of ricochet. Finally, we made it a little later in the year and I introduced him to the handgunwhich he has always admiredand wanted to shoot. We started with a 22-caliber revolver which has NO recoilwhatsoever and he performed very well. Then the day came when he finally asked to move up to the 9mm handgunand I introduced him to the S&W EZ 9. This handgun is well suited for older individuals or anyone with a weaker wrist.So, I thought this was a good choice to begin with. On his 2nd shot he hit the bullseye from 25 feet away. I was soimpressed with him and his ability to breath and squeeze the trigger off like a veteran.The only thing we must workon now is to make sure that his trigger finger stays clear of the trigger until it is time to fire. Teaching my grandsonhow to respect and treat firearms in a responsible manner. I hope that he can take these lessons om throughout therest of his life. These will always be memories that I will cherish forever!!
