Kind of planning ahead here (my daughter is 5, so this is more like a next year or two thing), but does anyone teach kids shooting, gun care, etc. in Atlanta? I live intown, so doing things the old fashioned way is impractical (when I was a kid, shooting meant going out in the woods or to an empty field with a .22 rifle and shooting cans and bottles). Maybe there's a range with a "kid day"? Thanks, DH
With kids, that's probably going to be a one on one thing. One instructor to each kid. The potential litigation issues and public outcry if something went south is probably something most ranges wouldn't want to take on with a "kids day". Just TOL.
In retrospect, I suppose "kids day" at a gun range is a news story waiting to happen, even if everything is fine Maybe I need to finally buy that spread up in the North Georgia mountains somewhere...
Knock knock Who's there? DFACS It's a crazy world. Maybe call a range, they may have a program. I wouldn't expect a "kids day", but they may have something. Also, somebody here may have a place? Good luck.
I was a range safety officer at a gun club-- I think it was Riverbend Gun Club up in Dawsonville-- when they had a kid's shooting day. We used air rifles, shooting paper targets at 10 meters (33 feet). The air rifles were pretty accurate. Adults who were known to be good shots were getting groups smaller than a dime. What made this event unusual is that it wasn't just for the kids of members. In fact, I don't think many of those "children of gun nuts" came. It was for members of the general public, and kids who had only minimal experience with guns. There was a safety briefing before the airgun shoot, but I didn't attend that. I was busy helping set up the range and distribute targets, etc.
I'd like to see each county in the metro Atlanta area (where open land for outdoor shooting is not available or too valuable to use for that) have ONE public park with an airgun and archery range (and maybe suppressed rimfires with subsonic ammo). Quiet shooting, in the city and suburbs. Yes, it would have to be supervised. So there might have to be a user fee. Make it something like $4 per person per hour, and that should more than pay for the cost of having it supervised. The county could condition the use of this range on people taking, and passing, a safety class that could be held elsewhere, perhaps at a seminar room at some conference center or town hall meeting room or something.
To answer the question... Yes some of us do teach kids. I teach kids on a 1 to 1 base that MUST include 1 or at best both parents. 5 is not to young to learn. PM with question or more information if you want.
I am with Trail Life USA and led the team that developed their national youth shooting sports program. Right here in GA, Trail Life USA and it’s sister organization The American Heritage Girls runs a massive youth shooting sports eduction event once a year at the Pickens County Sportsmans Club (recoilrally.us) Youth education is very important and as President Heston warned us long ago... it’s so very important for the future of our country.
5 is probably a bit young for the classes, but DNR has hunter safety courses. They are even having a firearms training & shooting event this weekend. https://events.gooutdoorsgeorgia.com/Events/ViewEvent.aspx?id=5452