Appropriate Age for a Gun?

[fishonjazz]

So all you posting about how as kids you were shooting birds, rabbits, etc... do you not require to have hunting licence in USA? So any kid can just go around shooting rabbits and birds without any permit? Something sounds illegal here, I doubt hunting licence can be issued for kids that age.

I used to sit in my back yard and shoot birds out of my cherry tree when I was super young.
Probably illegal but lots of stuff is illegal yet not enforced.

Also went shooting jack rabbits without a license plenty of times. Tbh I have no idea if that is illegal or not.

 

[bigb]

So all you posting about how as kids you were shooting birds, rabbits, etc... do you not require to have hunting licence in USA? So any kid can just go around shooting rabbits and birds without any permit? Something sounds illegal here, I doubt hunting licence can be issued for kids that age.

There are age limits and license requirements for game: deer, pheasants, ducks, goose, moose, elk, dove, grouse, etc. Back when we were little, the area was a lot more rural. My grandpa had a barn and horses with several acres in what was then the middle of nowhere (all houses now). We used to shoot magpies, crows, sparrows, and stuff like crazy with pump BB and pellet guns. Places like that don't exist in the Salt Lake valley anymore. I'm not a hunter and I'm opposed to killing something that's not going to be eaten, so I don't shoot at jack rabbits and stuff. I don't know if that's illegal or not.

 

[franklin]

I got my first bb gun at 8 and first shotgun at 12. Neither of them were ever locked up.

 

[franklin]

I will say at no point should a kid or teenager have open access to a gun cabinet. Despite people talking about gun homicides and accidents gun suicide is by far the deadliest outcome from guns. Gun suicides out number gun homicides 2-1. About 70% of gun deaths are suicide. On a side note mass shootings are a very small part of gun deaths. The gun death by suicide is also a reason a lot of statistics thrown out are skewed or just wrong in the way they are presented. Such as that the majority of gun deaths are from white males, which is true unless you take out suicides.

Teenagers are very moody and often quick to action. Even the best teenager can be set off quickly and easily upset and think their world is over for a reason as simple as being bullied or broken up with. That is why they should never have access to a gun without an adult. Studies have proven that the harder it is to get to the gun the less likely it is to commit suicide. Locking up guns, putting additional locks on the guns once the cabinet it open and locking up bullets separately have all been shown to reduce the chance of suicide, even for adults.

The main cause for increased gun violence in the USA is due to suicide. Please dont let that happen. Teenagers are a big reason for that increase.

I think teaching kids gun safety and all about them is great for them and shooting a gun for fun or hunting purposes can be a good experience for kids and teenagers. Allowing kids or teenagers and even adults access to them without supervision at any age is a bad idea. Make it as difficult as possible and slow down the ability. Add extra locks, extra steps to getting a gun is great for kids and adults. A 17 year kid can make really dumb decisions really quickly and there is no reason to let them make that decision that could ruin many peoples lives.

Young people have a consistently lower suicide rate than middle aged and older.

 

[Gameface]

I've shot guns that were brand new and some that were over 100 years old. I don't think guns really have an "appropriate age" tbh.

 

[Ron Mexico]

Young people have a consistently lower suicide rate than middle aged and older.

Teenagers and men over 70 are the fastest growing groups of suicide by gun. Suicide is the second leading cause of death along teenagers in Utah. I do think precautions should be taken for everyone to lock up your guns and slow down the process. People of all ages have things set them off. Delaying access prevents suicide. Guns are by far the most effective means of suicide. So if people try something else it is likely to be unsuccessful and most people who have a failed suicide do not try it again. Suicide is on the rise very quickly. Teenagers and young adults are an at risk group.

 

[fishonjazz]

I've shot guns that were brand new and some that were over 100 years old. I don't think guns really have an "appropriate age" tbh.

Lol.
My dad has a 410 shotgun that is over 100 years old I think.

 

[JazzGal]

I've shot guns that were brand new and some that were over 100 years old. I don't think guns really have an "appropriate age" tbh.

Made me chuckle.

 

[franklin]

Teenagers and men over 70 are the fastest growing groups of suicide by gun. Suicide is the second leading cause of death along teenagers in Utah. I do think precautions should be taken for everyone to lock up your guns and slow down the process. People of all ages have things set them off. Delaying access prevents suicide. Guns are by far the most effective means of suicide. So if people try something else it is likely to be unsuccessful and most people who have a failed suicide do not try it again. Suicide is on the rise very quickly. Teenagers and young adults are an at risk group.

I guess I'd rather try to be an attentive parent, lock the guns up if my child shows signs of trouble then, hope he doesn't find a rope or dive off a cliff like the kids I knew growing up did. Just because it's the most convenient does not mean locking something away is a deterrent.

 

[Ron Mexico]

I guess I'd rather try to be an attentive parent, lock the guns up if my child shows signs of trouble then, hope he doesn't find a rope or dive off a cliff like the kids I knew growing up did. Just because it's the most convenient does not mean locking something away is a deterrent.

It is a huge huge huge deterrent. Yes people can still commit suicide other ways but that doesnt mean that it wont deter most not to. Teenagers who commit suicide other ways tend to have more external signs and a much longer process of thinking it out and more determined to do it. The vast majority will not commit suicide if they do not have access to guns.

Sure being an attentive parent is always great and I think if your a parent who is not you are a terrible parent or had way too many kids. However the signs are not always there or obvious or something small sets a teenager off and they act rashly on it before people have a chance to help. Many attentive parents have lost a kid to suicide. Why take an unnecessary risk?

There is no good reason to give a teenager access to guns. If they want to go out shooting or hunting, great. They should not be out alone doing that and you can unlock the gun and let them go out and lock it up when they get back. I think a responsible adult should be with them to go shooting but at the very least other responsible kids their age. Although I would not let my teenage kid do that simply because teenagers are dumb and like to goof off, shoot stupid stuff and generally not safe without adults around.

However the idea that he will find another way is incorrect. Chance of committing suicide are way less common and they are way less effective. Like I said if a teenager is unsuccessful than chances are they will never try again. Every study has shown the more complex or difficult suicide attempts are the less likely they are to do it. Guns are a fast, easy and effective way to commit suicide that is why they are #1. Eliminating that option will save a lot of people. Ever extra step in committing suicide lowers the chance they will do it greatly. Yes, some people still will do it but at a much lower rate and it will give more time for themselves or someone else to talk them out of it.

 

[franklin]

It is a huge huge huge deterrent. Yes people can still commit suicide other ways but that doesnt mean that it wont deter most not to. Teenagers who commit suicide other ways tend to have more external signs and a much longer process of thinking it out and more determined to do it. The vast majority will not commit suicide if they do not have access to guns.

Sure being an attentive parent is always great and I think if your a parent who is not you are a terrible parent or had way too many kids. However the signs are not always there or obvious or something small sets a teenager off and they act rashly on it before people have a chance to help. Many attentive parents have lost a kid to suicide. Why take an unnecessary risk?

There is no good reason to give a teenager access to guns. If they want to go out shooting or hunting, great. They should not be out alone doing that and you can unlock the gun and let them go out and lock it up when they get back. I think a responsible adult should be with them to go shooting but at the very least other responsible kids their age. Although I would not let my teenage kid do that simply because teenagers are dumb and like to goof off, shoot stupid stuff and generally not safe without adults around.

However the idea that he will find another way is incorrect. Chance of committing suicide are way less common and they are way less effective. Like I said if a teenager is unsuccessful than chances are they will never try again. Every study has shown the more complex or difficult suicide attempts are the less likely they are to do it. Guns are a fast, easy and effective way to commit suicide that is why they are #1. Eliminating that option will save a lot of people. Ever extra step in committing suicide lowers the chance they will do it greatly. Yes, some people still will do it but at a much lower rate and it will give more time for themselves or someone else to talk them out of it.

I'm not too big on fretting over causes that have a very low probability of affecting us. Suicide rates seem to be your thing here: The US rate is about 1 in 1000. Guns account for half of that, so you're making an issue about something that is a 1 in 2000 rate (and not adjusting for gun suicides that would still happen anyway, so perhaps 1 in 2500 or 3000). Alter that for under 18 only and you're probably at about a 1 in 20,000 rate for your demographic of concern.

I don't think those odds require extreme action. For all I know, the coddling nature of locking up guns, telling kids no over simple things, coddling them, and taking perceived risks with low probability may actually lead to our increasing suicide rates.

https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2...for-putting-kids-at-perceived-but-unreal-risk

Many parents who grew up playing outdoors with friends, walking alone to the park or to school, and enjoying other moments of independent play are now raising children in a world with very different norms.

In the United States today, leaving children unsupervised is grounds for moral outrage and can lead to criminal charges.

What's changed?

One possibility is that the risks to children have changed. What was safe in the past may be unsafe today, placing children in genuine danger. But, for the most part, the data don't support this. Statistics from the National Crime Victimization Survey, for example, suggest that violent crime rates have decreased since the 1970s (and not only when it comes to children, whom one could argue are benefiting from the increased oversight).

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The odds that a child will be abducted by a stranger — one of the fears that motivates constant supervision — are tiny in comparison with the odds that a child will be injured in a car accident. Yet parents aren't under investigation for choosing to drive their kids to school.

So here's another possibility. It's not that risks to children have increased, provoking an increase in moral outrage when children are left unattended. Instead, it could be that moral attitudes toward parenting have changed, such that leaving children unsupervised is now judged morally wrong. And because it's judged morally wrong, people overestimate the risk.

This may seem to get things the wrong way around, but it's supported by new research available Tuesday in the open access journal Collabra. In a series of clever experiments, authors Ashley Thomas, Kyle Stanford and Barbara Sarnecka find evidence that shifting people's moral attitudes toward a parent influences the perceived risk to that parent's unattended child.

 

[Ron Mexico]

I'm not too big on fretting over causes that have a very low probability of affecting us.

Your skewing the statistics but that is besides the point. It is the second leading cause of death for teenagers in Utah 3rd across the USA. By your same logic kids shouldn't wear a seat belt. Both are needless risks. But they are your choice as a parent like many things. It's not codling kids to not give them access to guns.

The latest statistics from the CDC which is from 2014 is that 42k people died from suicide of which 24k were by gun, 35k died in car wrecks and 38k died from accidental poisoning, I guess there is no reason to lock up poisonous chemicals that can kill toddlers and young children or labeling chemicals. All estimates have suicide on the rise as well. This is keeping in mind that most houses in the US do not have a gun in them and that most houses that do lock up their guns. Also keeping in mind that suicide rates for teens in Utah has tripped from 2007 to 2014. Also if you are white and/or a male your chances are much higher for committing suicide.

Edit: I just read that in Utah suicide is the leading cause of death for 11-17 year olds.

People stress and talk so much about mass shootings, school shooting or even homicide but this is a bigger problem and growing much faster.