I must be an evil person - well, to the anti gunners I am.

[Sinister Angel]

So I was over at my grandparents cleaning the .22 after snow blowing their driveway. As I was doing that, my little cousin (about 5-6) came down and was like "What are you doing JR?" "Cleaning the .22" "Your not going to fire it, are you?" "Nope, it's not safe unless its at a shooting range. Do you want to see how to make sure there isn't a bullet in the chamber?" So I bring it off the bench and show it to him as he has his ears covered thinking its going to go off. After I showed him he was like "cool!" Then I put it back up on the bench. He runs off and grabs my other little cousin and brings him down. So I show him how to check as well, then I let them clean the barrel.

I just thought it was kinda cool teaching the kids to respect the gun and how to clean it. On the other hand, the anti-gunners would probably think I'm an evil person.

[509Rider]

I dont see a problem with that, teach while there young to respect guns and use them properly, but you are right a lot of other wont like it.

[Vesicant]

Your not evil, its good to teach someone about what it is, how its to be used correctly... etc. But just for gods sake, never let them ask you to take it out just so they can "play" with it.

[kcnewell]

I taught my son to shoot when he was 5......It's never too early to learn about your tools...

[Ralph]

My dad taught me when I was about 5 also. It started with a pellet rifle in the basement, he set up a little non-richochet type range for me.

If there are children in the house, just make sure to take the bolt off and hide it if is a single-shot, or trigger lock. I only recommend that if there are children in a house because he might bring a friend over and get curious about it.