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KIDS & GUNS
If you would like to teach your children to shoot and you don’t know where to start, you may want to follow these six pieces of advice:


1..   Always start by teaching your kids firearms safety, and the steps they must follow in case they find a firearm (NRA Eddie Eagle - eddieeagle.nra.org):
     a.   STOP
     b.   Do not touch
     c.   Leave the area
     d.   Tell an adult


2.   Don’t assume your kid is ready to shoot just because you love to go to the shooting range. Always ask. They might not be interested at first, but without pressure they might find passion for the shooting sports on their own.


3.   This is an educational process, therefore you should treat it like that. For instance: You wouldn’t take your kid to the university to learn how to write or read, or perhaps you wouldn’t give them a race motorcycle as their first vehicle. My suggestion:
     a.   Start teaching your kids how to shoot with an air rifle.
            i.      It is safe
            ii.     No recoil
            iii.    Positive image
            iv.     Muzzle of the gun is away from his/her hands.


4.   Use the same educational method and tell your kids they will not be allowed to shoot a .22lr or another firearm until they know the safety rules by memory and they can prove they can follow all the safety rules with the air rifle.


5.   If you are not a gun enthusiast but you find that your kid is interested in firearms, then you’d better get involved, learn and guide them; DO NOT reject the idea of teaching them how to shoot if that is something that interests them. Your kids will always look for guidance, and what better guidance than yours?


6.   Make a list of your own rules and have them sign it, like a contract… This is obviously something extra and some of you might think that would be too much, but when is there ever such a thing as too much safety? NEVER! Making a list of rules for them will remind them of the things they can and cannot do. They will have one and you will have one. For example:
     a.   If you find an unattended firearm you will:
            i.      STOP
            ii.     Do not touch
            iii.    Leave the area
            iv.     Call an adult
     b.   Can only go to the gun range with Mom and Dad (tell them that
            they can go with someone else only if you authorize it)
     c.   List all the safety rules whenever asked.
     d.   Firearms are ONLY manipulated with Mom and Dad
     e.   Never show firearms to anyone (friends or family)
     f.    Insert as many of your own case-specific rules as you see fit.

As a parent, it is your duty and responsibility to give your kids the best education you can, and teaching them about firearms is no different. Don’t use shortcuts and teach them with common sense. In the long run you will be thankful you did!

Gabby Franco
www.GabbyFranco.com
Read about Gabby’s book here.
Facebook: facebook.com/gabbyfrancotopshot
Twitter: @GabbyFrancoTS4

Gabby Franco is most widely known for being a contestant on the TV Show Top Shot Season Four and Top Shot All Stars. She has been involved in competition shooting for more than 20 years. She participated on the XXVII Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia (Sept. 2000). She has won gold and silver medals in many international shooting competitions. Today, Gabby teaches firearms classes and offers seminars around the country to civilians and Police Departments, but calls South Florida her home. In 2013 she published her first book, titled: “Troubleshooting: Mastering Your Pistol Marksmanship”.  In 2014 Gabby joined the NRA News team as a Commentator and became a member of the Remington Shooting Team.

Teaching the Next Generation
by Dani Bryan-Nickens

PictureDani and Competitive Shooter Shyanne Roberts
As a firearms instructor, I am often asked if I teach children and at what age should they start.  This is a question with many answers.  My response is always that yes of course we teach kids and that we advocate responsible use of firearms starts at home: long before the kids get to shoot on the range. Children are curious beings and if you remove some of the stigma of guns kids will be less likely to mess with them. We recommend that you start by teaching basic firearm safety at a young age, as soon as children understand no. Teach them the NRA Eddie Eagle rules of stop, don't touch, leave the area, tell an adult.  Once kids have this basic understanding the actual live fire training can begin. 

There is no magical age that kids are ready to start shooting. Some children start when they are four or five while others will not be ready until they are much older. Parents know their children better than anyone and only the parents can determine when they believe their kids are ready. Typically we will not teach children younger than eight and require a parent or guardian to be present throughout the entire class. Find an instructor that you think will relate to your children and whom your children will respect.  If you know that your child cannot pay attention for more than 30 minutes do not schedule them for a four-hour class. Take it slow...slow is smooth and smooth is fast.  

My son is seven and fired his first shots (with me holding the gun) when he was four. He was ready. I understand that his attention span is about 45 minutes so we usually keep lessons to 30 minutes so he is still having fun and wanting to learn.  It is also important to understand that some kids will never like shooting just as some adults will never like shooting.  Respect that if it is how your child feels. Do not push extensive training on them if they have no desire to learn as safety and attention will go out the window.  It is still important to educate them on safety and function of firearms.  It is very hard for children to understand the finality of what happens when a round hits a soft target so it is important to reiterate these facts as well. Kids should respect guns, not fear them.  They need to understand real life is not a game on Xbox.  

On the flip side of the kids who will never want to shoot are the ones who will fall in love with shooting. These kids are the future of shooting sports. You can look anywhere and see these amazing junior shooters making a big splash in the competitive shooting world.  Shooters like Shyanne Roberts (pictured).  These kids have an extreme understanding of firearms safety, etiquette, discipline, and function and are a serious force to be reckoned with. Some kids like soccer, some like ballet, and some like to shoot. No matter what your children pick as a hobby firearms safety and understanding is a MUST!
Dani "Oakley" Bryan-Nickens is a sponsored pro shooter, Devil Dog Arms team member, field editor at NRA Publications, and owner/instructor at Diamond Defense LLC.
Meet sisters Brooklyn, Chloe, Sariah, and Madison Wilkinson. They train together near their home in Nevada.
BLOG ALERT! 
NIKI & CARRIN'S EXCELLENT 3-GUN ADVENTURE
Follow the progress of Niki Jones and Carrin Welch as they navigate the new and exciting world of 3-Gun competitions.
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Photos - Dieterich Photography

The Shooting Tradition by Kanani Fox
Last summer, the oil company my husband works for asked if I would host a shotgun clinic for new shooters at the annual family picnic. A number of people made the decision to learn how to shoot clays and fired a shotgun for the first time. I stayed for as long as there was someone  who wanted to learn which ended up being hours!  The ages ranged from children that came to learn with their parents to people on the verge of retirement.  There was one young boy that kept getting back in line to shoot over and over.  To my surprise, many of the new shooters were young girls.  What I also didn’t expect was how well the younger kids did and that they were striking the clays on their first shots.  At the end of the clinic everyone was hitting clays.  One of the spectators watching the clinic commented that she didn’t expect the younger girls to be able to hit the clays as shooting isn’t something she’d expect a girl to be able to do.  Her comments made me think about stereotypes of female shooters, but more specifically, younger girls who are learning shoot.
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Kanani instructing a young lady at the event.
During the mid-19th century, one female shooter stood above the rest.  Annie Oakley’s shooting skills were often underestimated by her male counterparts.  She is an American icon known for her impressive shooting abilities as a sharpshooter and exhibition shooter.   Fast forward to the 21st century, Kim Rhode is a triple Olympic Champion and in 2012 she tied the world record for hitting 99 out of 100 clays in the international skeet event at the London Olympics.  She is a daughter, wife, mother and shooter.  Oakley and Rhode both excel at the shooting sports.  These two women are separated by over a hundred years and are connected not solely by their gender, but their accomplishments as shooters.  Annie Oakley was recorded hunting at age 9 and sold her game to local hotels and markets to earn money to support her family. Kim Rhode began competing in skeet at age 10, participated in her first African safari hunt at age 12 and won her first gold medal at age 17. At that time, she became the youngest female gold medalist in Olympic shooting.  As you just read and hopefully realized, both Oakley and Rhode started at a young age.

The next generation of female shooters are interested in a wide range of hobbies, excel at a variety of skills, seek many different educational goals, and come from different political persuasions.  For example, Katelyn Francis is a 16 year old competitive shooter for STI Firearms.  Her mother noted in regards to an award Katelyn received on November 11, 2014, “A lot of people comment on Katie's page about how she should be just a normal teenage girl. Well, she is a normal, polite teenage girl. When her dad started to teach her about guns and shooting, I was not on board but he promised me that shooting and the gun community would teach her responsibility and manners.”

Shyanne Roberts, a 10 year old competitive shooter and second amendment advocate, includes in her interests, aside from shooting, hanging out with friends, music, and soccer.  In early 2014, Shyanne testified at a New Jersey legislative committee regarding gun control.  Only 9 years old at the time, she reminded politicians that the proposed magazine ban would punish her and other athletes instead of the criminals the politicians claimed they were targeting.   

Learning how to shoot teaches you the same life lessons as any sport: you must train and practice to increase your skills.  Shooting sports build character and teach you responsibility, sportsmanship, dedication, and perseverance.  These attributes help young minds develop discipline which in turn prepares them to face the hurdles of life.  Shooting has been passed down from father to daughter, mother to son and many other family combinations when you throw grandparents and uncles in the mix.  It gives children a reason to be outdoors, appreciate nature and develop valuable life skills.  Additionally, learning more about firearms provides the opportunity to discover American history, the Bill of Rights and how firearms have changed the course of human history.

In 2011, Lindsay McCrum released a pictorial attempt to describe the modern female shooter in the book “Chicks with Guns”.  The National Shooting Sports Foundation described it like this, “They reside in all regions of the country, come from all levels of society, and participate seriously in diverse shooting activities. From policewomen to hunters, ranchers to competition shooters, the collection of portraits in ‘Chicks with Guns’ defies stereotypes often associated with aspects of the popular culture of both guns and women.” 
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As a shooting instructor, the women I have taught include mothers, nurses, college students, and athletes.  In fact, I am often surprised at the variety of backgrounds that they bring with them.  These women also have one common concern, teaching their children about shooting and firearm safety.  Luckily, there are many programs that teach firearm safety to children as early as eight years old and some, like the NRA’s Eddie Eagle program, teach safety to children as young as four years old. Moms are especially eager to teach their daughters about safety, but there is more to this hobby than simply safety.   What I realized last summer, introducing the next generation of shooters to one of several shooting sports was more than just sharing safety and respect for firearms.  We are sharing our love of an American tradition.
In addition to being the founder of the Central Coast Ladies Shooting Club (CCLSC) in her hometown of Santa Maria, CA, Kanani is a NRA Instructor and is trained to teach Certified Pistol, Personal Protection in the Home and Refuse to be a Victim.  If all goes as planned she will be taking additional courses this year which will certify her to teach Personal Protection Outside the Home, Shotgun and Rifle.  Kanani learned to shoot last year when her husband bought her first shotgun, a Winchester SXP, to shoot clays at his company’s annual picnic.  Since then her collection has grown and she is extremely enthusiastic about teaching women to defend themselves, their families and to enjoy the sport of shooting.