How not to use a Gun

there’s something beyond disturbing about this video. Is this some sort of bizarre militia indoctrination? The child’s brain hasn’t even developed to the point where critical thinking is possible! No, no, NO – this is just plain STUPID.” – How not to use a Gun ~ Chris Pirillo

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I don’t see anything wrong here. The younger you teach a child the proper and respectful use of guns, the less likely that child is to be involved in an accidental shooting. It’s teaching fear of guns that leads to a child’s curiosity and a new tragic story of an accidental shooting (and about half the time, improper training of the adult owner of such guns).

Here’s a case where a 12 year old, who had been trained in the proper use of guns by his father, was able to intervene and possibly save his father’s life: http://www.fox21.com/Global/story.asp?S=5134073&nav=menu149_2_1

Well, I never felt the urge to have the right to bear a weapon.
And maybe this guy just teaches his kid how to shoot his father as soon as the kid realizes how sick the guy is? (In the face of stuff like this there is only sarcasm left…)

This is just way too young. I have a 4 yr and a 8 yr and while they know about gun safty, they have never ever handled a live weapon. Both my children have used CO2 air (target guns) and spring powered toy things. Allows for teaching of use and safety with basicaly a toy.

And I am all for total gun freedom.. dont get me wrong there.. hehee

(side note.. they arnt very safe either, the camera person (mom?) bot hit and burnt by a shell. She SHOULD have filmed from the other side, where the hot shells dont fly.)

Kid probably isn’t even potty trained but yet he could pop a cap in your ass! Weened from mothers milk replace with blood thirsty desire. Smart.

Not only are your right about this, but my opinion is that legal weapons is WRONG ! I hope everyday that Europe will never allow it. Someone I know told me he had a gun at home, I was shocked.

[...] Video over on Chris Pirillo’s blog. Sickening. Totally sickening. [...]

Hey, thats just like teaching a 2 year old how to drive.
Or operate a chainsaw.
Or fillet a salmon.
Or climb Mt Rainer.
Nothing wrong that I can see.

I’d say this is a little young. More like Dad is just trying to look cool to his hunting buddies. Also, Dad should be wearing ear protection. I agree that gun safety is important, but at this age this is just silly.

Not something I’ll teach my kid at that age, but living in a free country you end up seeing a lot of things being done by others and their kids that you don’t want for your own.

Such is life in a free country.

Guns are cool and fun to play with.

Definitely agree. And, who the F_ _ _ is filming it? The mom? Another loser. Poor child.
Mike

It’s a .22 pistol. I guess I don’t see anything wrong here. I was shooting at an age not much older than that kid and I turned out to be a systems engineer.. not a “bizarre militia” person.

@TWiG: You said that “Both [of your] children have used CO2 air (target guns) and spring powered toy things. Allows for teaching of use and safety with basically a toy.”

If you were teaching proper gun safety and etiquette you would NOT be teaching your children that Air Guns (BB/Pellet) are toys.

Anyway, Chris and those who are referring to this guy as “sick”, you need to take a chill pill. Sit back, relax, and realize that there most certainaly far worse things than a father teaching his son (with mother standing by [Oh noes.. a family milita event]) how to properly handle a firearm.

Am I the only disturbed by the fact that both father and son have their heads shaved? Maybe he is indoctrinating the kid into something more than just guns here?

I’m from North Carolina, so this doesn’t seem unusual to me at all. Guns are a big part of life in the South, and many people feel that if you’re going to have guns around, it’s safer for your children to learn to respect them.

That said, I have mixed feelings about the legality of guns. I now live in Chicago where they’re illegal. When I’m alone and walking down the street at night, sometimes I wish I could carry one.

On the other hand, I feel that Columbine and all the subsequent copycat shootings might never have happened if teenagers didn’t have easy access to firearms. With this country’s love of guns, though, I’m not sure that making them illegal would really solve that problem.

As someone who is both a father of two young boys and an adherent of the individualist interpretation of the Second Amendment (although I am not a gun owner myself) this video gives me a small knot in my gut.

Then again, since becoming a father, I have a much-heightened sense of the perils that surround us every day in this world. Even though I know, statistically, that bathtubs kill more children than guns by several orders of magnitude, I can’t imagine bringing my sons anywhere near a loaded gun until they can truly understand and respect the danger involved.

I personally see nothing wrong with teaching your kids how to properly handle and respect a firearm. I feel that many of the fatal incidents involving weapons and children could be avoided with proper education. Does that mean you should take your three-year-old out to shoot, not necessarily. After all, this gun in the video is a .22 cal.

I was raised where respecting firearms was a part of life. My dad would take my brother and I out to shoot cans with BB rifles and .22 rifles. It was fun. From a VERY young age we were taught safety and respect for firearms.

Simply put, it is up to the parents to teach their child/children the safety of firearms. When they feel that it is appropriate. I see nothing wrong with the video (except the kid should have had some sort of eye protection) . If it would have shown the kid shooting it by himself…then I would have been concerned.

Re: Zach – March 30, 2007 @ 5:34 am

Am I the only disturbed by the fact that both father and son have their heads shaved?

I don’t think the kid has his head shaved. He probably just hasn’t grown hair yet. Some kids are bald (or have very light colored hair) for a long time. You’re making a pretty big assumption here.

He’s not “teaching” his kid how to fire a weapon; Dad’s got his hands on it, is controlling it, and except for possible squeezing the trigger Dad’s doing everything (and I do believe that’s Mom handling the camera and giving her support at one point — Why single out the Dad then?). The kid’s too young to have any idea how to handle a weapon (can he even competantly handle a spoon and fork at that age?).

Is it wrong? I think so, just as it would be wrong to hold a kid in your lap and have him “steer” a car. But some Moms and Dads do things like that; Put ‘em on ATVs as soon as is physically possible, put ‘em on skis, take ‘em skydiving, etc.

Some Moms and Dads overmedicate their kids, over-feed them, never teach them healthy habits, etc. That Dad’s doing something I wouldn’t do, you wouldn’t do, many or most people wouldn’t do, but he’s doing it in as safe a manner as is possible considering what the activity is. It’s not like he sent the kid out hunting by himself (yet).

[...] Only in America… http://chris.pirillo.com/2007/03/29…t-to-use-a-gun/ Dette er det v�rste jeg har sett p� lenge!! __________________ Mammaen til T og J 250703 3 �r [...]

Nothing wrong here??

Noone seems to be wearing eye protection. And the father isn’t wearing any ear protection. WTG Safey first…

I personally prefer the safety of a supervised range.

All of you outside the United States have to realize something, it’s people that harm people. By whatever instrument available. It is an unfortunate fact that some unstable people have access to deadly weapons. Do not condemn the majority due to the irresponsible actions of the slim minority. Weapons are a fact of life throughout the world.

A few years ago we had a vote before the people that would have required trigger-locks and training for gun owners. One of the points of the proponents of the bill was that this bill would reduced the amount of children harmed by unsecured guns. The fact was that only ONE child had been killed by an unsecured gun in the previous year and this legislation would not make that ZERO. This bill was voted down 70% to 30%. We need education not legislation.

And did I mention, it’s an absolute gas launching 230 grains of JHP downrange.

[...] http://chris.pirillo.com/2007/03/29/how-not-to-use-a-gun/ er helt sjokka jeg < Melding endret av squat — 30.03.2007 21:39:39 > _____________________________ [...]

From the “I know what let’s do mate” file…

1) This is nuts. Completely nuts, and I say that as a gun owner. Kid is absolutely too young. He can barely stand on his own let alone hold a firearm. Yeah, I grew up in Texas and was shooting guns as a kid, but not until at least 13 when you could be taught some of the basics and fundamental safety issues. This goes for any gun (including air guns) regardless of caliber. They all can launch high speed projectiles that can maim or kill (particularly with the thin bone and skull structure of an infant) and one should have some semblance of awareness of what they are doing. The sad thing is that in much of “gun culture” there is a common lack of critical thinking ability and situations like this are not uncommon. Kids this age have no business being anywhere near a firearm of any caliber as even spall from a misfire or fragmented shell casing could do irreparable harm to someone with thin skin and bones which brings up the next two points…

2) Neither dad or kid is wearing any eye protection. Come on now, this is 2007! Speaking as a vision scientist, this sort of thing should be unconscionable. Any injury to dad, the kid or anyone around not wearing eye protection would be entirely preventable.

3) Dad is not wearing hearing protection. His choice. Not a smart choice, but his choice. There are at least two pairs of hearing protectors shown in that video. Hopefully at least the kid is wearing one pair and the mom is wearing the other.

i agree chris, even though i would like to teach my son how to shoot a gun someday. . . . .i wouldnt do it when hes just a kid. that guy should be lucky the gun didnt roll back and hit the kid.

Well there are a couple of things wrong. People have talked about the need for eye protection. The noise from a .22 is not that bad even without hearing protection. Lots of people suffer worse from loud MP3 players. But it’s not clear to me that the father doesn’t have ear plugs in anyway.
What’s right about it? Well the father is taking the mystery out of the gun and showing his child how the gun works and what it does. Studies have shown this makes it much less likely that the child will play with it on his own and that this sort of thing prevents accidents. Also the father is keeping complete control over the gun so that it can’t kick back and hurt anyone. That appears to be a Ruger MK II BTW. Very calm reasonable target pistols with very little kick back. Fairly quiet as well. Not a lot of risk there.
While that is younger than I taugh my son to shoot I would have to say that its a poor parent who doesn’t make sure their children learn how guns work. There are guns out there and kids are going to see them. The kids most likely to be involved in gun accidents are those not trained my reasonable adults on gun safety. It’s like teaching kids to swim so they don’t drown.
You know what is stupid? Getting all bent out of shape over this.

“The kids most likely to be involved in gun accidents are those not trained my reasonable adults on gun safety. It’s like teaching kids to swim so they don’t drown.”

Though I personally believe that kid’s too young (my opinion vs. the Dad’s opinion — and it is his kid, not mine) I agree that familiarity with what a gun is, how to handle one properly and safely, and, MOST important, what a gun is capable of doing, in other words, “education,” is vital.

Kids who grow up sheltered from the reality of firearms are the ones who think they can point one at someone and pull the trigger without real and tragic consequences (after all, they do the same thing all day long while playing video games, or they see it on TV and in movies, and nobody really gets hurt, right?).

I grew up with firearms around and never even CONSIDERED touching them except at the range with my father, and at home only after a day at the range, with Dad there, for maintenance. I never once showed them to my friends, not even my own (a Ruger 10/22). And holy cow, I would NEVER have thought about actually aiming a barrel toward a person. I fully understood they were not toys, or even “cool,” they were firearms that required adult supervision and the upmost care and safety.

I also understood their capabilities and that made seeing fictional use of firearms more easily understandable as pure fiction, not something I might have felt the desire to emulate (unless I wanted to be an actor or video game designer, I guess).

The father was in control of the firearm. I see nothing wrong here. I do not agree with the age here but that is not my call to make.
I use a similar technique at the firing range with my son (he started at 8).
As long as the weapon(s) are stowed properly after use I would not get upset about this activity. I do think adults should be held liable for improper stowage that allows children to unsupervised access to weapons/ammo.

A Response to Chris Pirillo About a Video on His Site…

A response to a blog post by Chris Pirillo (of TechTV fame)
Below is the video that Chris was talking about.
Worst Dad Award Nominee
You see, I live in Alabama. A lot of you probably think that this is just everyday stuff to bumpkins like me, but you …

If you’re willing to feed, raise, educate, and love that kid, then, and only THEN will you make decisions on whether he learns to use a gun.

Nothing wrong here except the lack of eye protection and some negligible lead exposure.

I live a building in chicago with crack hos drugs and crime.
Thats liberal chicago where they have no respect for the constitution.
no hand guns in chicago
if i could afford one i would have one.
even if it were “Illegal”
they just reversed the dc ban maybe it will come to chicago

dude at that age … he looks like hes 3 … sure u are holding the gun but really a 3 year old? i would AT LEAST wait till my children are around 7 to use a c02.. and calvin I WOULD NOT CONSIDER GUNS ” PLAYFUL” its cool to use one but PLAYFUL dang dude do you think it would be fun if you accidentally shot yourself in the foot … dude think of what you say

oh yea the other thing that made me think the dad isnt really that bright is look where the kid and him shoots at the first part .. pause it look at the distance between the poor little guys face and the guns butt its only like 2 and a half inches plus the shell almost hit his face .. ive done that before with the shell and it hurts like hell im only 11 imagine how much it would hurt a 3 year old