You can, of course, train your child about gun safety with an unloaded gun. And to be honest, you should do that at some point. However, you can teach them about gun safety quite a bit earlier without using a gun. How?
Well, personality experts have documented the 5-7 year shift. This period is when, historically, 5 to 7-year-old children have been given adult responsibility (the age range is due to children getting to that point at different times, based upon their individual development). So, let’s say you’ve determined your 7-year-old can have some adult responsibility. Unfortunately, many hunter-firearm safety courses start at the age of 10. Therefore, we have a three-year period to teach children the essence of gun safety without using a gun. For most homeowners, this is easy to do.
You’ll need to use a battery-powered reciprocating saw. You can think of it as an AR-style pistol. Here is what the tool simulates:
Blade Inserted: Round in the Chamber
Battery In/Out: Loaded Magazine / No Magazine
Trigger: Trigger
Safety: Safety
I would also use a cut-off saw blade you cannot easily see to simulate a round in the chamber.
As an exercise, for example, place the saw with the small blade inserted, insert the battery, have the safety off, and p it on the table. Tell your youngster: “Make sure this weapon is safe.” Here is the procedure:
- Safety on
- Detach the Battery [unload the magazine]
- Remove the blade [unload the chamber]
A lot of bad habits can be nipped in the bud by watching your child perform this exercise. Where is the tool pointed? Is your child checking the chamber by looking down the “barrel?” Where is their trigger finger? Ear and Eye protection? And so on…Here is another exercise:
Hand your youngster a saw ready to use (safety on). Tell your youngster to pretend to cut a piece of wood but activate the saw while pretending, then place the saw in safe mode and hand it back to you. This exercise will simulate handing a firearm to your youngster, having them shoot, putting the g in safe mode, and then handing it back to you. Ensure your child checks the safety and has proper trigger finger discipline when receiving the saw. When your child is “sawing,” you can check the location of the hands. Also, watch when your child is done “sawing,” ensuring they hit the safety, and use proper trigger finger discipline. You can think of many other exercises as well.
When it is time to pack up, ensure your child “unloads” the saw and safely puts it back where it belongs.
Also note, if you have a bolt action rifle with a 3-position safety, it is compatible with this training. The safety can be set in the position where the bolt moves, but the trigger does not. The magazine/battery can also be removed, and the saw blade/chambered round removed.
Unfortunately, the simulation of “loading a magazine in a semi-auto pistol and putting a round in the chamber” cannot be done safely with this approach and still be compatible with saw safety. For instance, you’ll always put the blade in the saw without the battery. With pistols, you’ll insert the magazine and cycle the slide to load the chamber. You don’t want to teach your child to put a “free round” in the chamber [insert a round, then slam the slide], then insert the magazine. Many pistols, such as 1911s, will have an issue with this approach. However, this training is valid for some situations. For example, many hunters who will be stationary (e.g., tree stand, coyote calling, and so forth) will often put the safety on where the bolt moves and the trigger does not, chamber a free round, then load a fully loaded magazine.
Using this approach, a youngster can learn saw safety and gun safety. While it can’t simulate everything, it can significantly help youngsters learn safety safely (!)