A Kansas class is introducing guns to kids as young as 8 years old, teaching them safety and allowing them to shoot at a gun range.
First Shots is a program in Kansas that purports to introduce kids to handguns in the name of safety and the prevention of gun accidents.
The program is designed to teach the youngsters about gun safety while also satisfying their curiosity about guns.
For two hours, the kids are taught about handguns and even get to enter a gun range called Frontier Justice. There they learn how to load and fire the guns themselves, with adult supervision of course.
This probably seems like a perfectly sound program to most hunters and gun enthusiasts, but at a time when anti-gun hysteria is becoming more and more extreme, this sensible program is newsworthy.
Third-grader Brody Risen, loaded and fired a .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun for the first time. When asked what it felt like to shoot, he replied, "It kind of felt (like) energy in my body."
His father Paul said, "I think the younger you are, the more you're comfortable with it around them, the better they are to handle (guns)."
"I learned the four safety rules," Brody said. "Never point the gun somewhere or in danger and never... I forgot." Oh well, his father said they'd be back for more education and more shooting.
Frontier Justice also offers more advanced classes to the kids. In Second Shots, they learn about and get to fire rifles as well as handguns.
What age do you think it is appropriate to teach kids about guns?
Wisconsin recently made national headlines for a bill Governor Walker signed, which eliminates the age restriction on young hunters. The legislation created quite a bit of controversy. Some parents felt that the law would be abused and that age limits should be in place, while others felt it's a parent's job and not the government's to decide when their child is old enough to handle a firearm.
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