Last night I went to Wal-mart to get a pair of insulated coveralls since I ride a motorcycle year around and it has been getting cold. Well I go look at the coveralls and I notice they are right at $60 a set and are poorly made compared to how they were so I got 'a bit' frustrated. Well nothing makes one feel better than the sporting goods isle so I meandered over there and looked at the Sig AR15's in the case for a while and the BB gun rack caught my eye. My son is 4, about to be 5 in a few months so I called my wife and explained to her very nicely that I was going to do something that had a potential of making her a bit upset and if she didn't like it tough. Needless to say I walked out with a Crossman BB rifle, an indoor/outdoor pellet trap and 1500 bb's.

When I got home the wife was on Alert level Red but I called my son into the room and told him to cover his eyes and when he opened them he about exploded from excitement. I went and got 2 pair of safety glasses and set eveything up and showed him how eveything worked. Well on his turn I showed him the basics, (finger off the trigger, how to look down and align the sights, don't try to shoot mom's cat, etc.). He has to tuck the butt of the rifle under his arm to reach the trigger but he managed pretty well. Well then came the shooting. I wasn't sure if I should laugh or cry, he didn't realise that if you move the rifle it throws off the shot, and jerking the trigger as hard as you can with your eyes closed is a bad idea. Needless to say I will be putting tooth paste in a few small holes in the drywall today. Finally after a bit he started calming down and figuring things out and put a few holes in the paper. That spawned exitement that put us back to square one and more toothpaste.

It felt good teaching him what was taught to me so long ago, carrying on a tradition that has become so big in my life and watching him enjoy himself so much. The more surprising part is my wife had almost as much fun as we did!

Another one where a little effort will go a loooooooong way!!! You have set him on the right path for life!!!

You should put there "both" instead of "him" LOL

Nice story and funny to read

__________________
Jorge

Latest awsome daddy moment I had started off with my wife handing me the phone at 1:30 in the morning with the words "It's your son and he's in the back of a police car."

__________________
Forum consigliere

Good start. Only thing better would have been if it was Christmas morning!

A side note, if you want to see the little guy grow up, ditch the bike. I say that as someone who has nearly, very nearly, lost relatives on them. It's not you, it's everyone else on the road. Please take that in a positive way.

__________________
War Eagle! '10 BCS & '13 SEC

You know, I completly understand, and I know the risks. However this life is as much a part of me as my kids are and if something happens I have plans in place for them to be taken care of indefinatly.

Also, it was for christmas, but I couldn't wait

Was he calling Dad or his lawyer?

I would like to think "dad" but more than likely it was "lawyer"
Wife asked me if I was going to go get him (he was in Baton Rouge-I'm in bed 102 miles away-guess what my answer was).
It turned out ok-he was the designated driver-he only blew a .066 Wake up call of monumental proportions
God was with everyone that night.

__________________
Forum consigliere

Is that why you didn't kill him?

__________________
War Eagle! '10 BCS & '13 SEC

No...I told you he was in Baton Rouge and I was home in bed
Funny thing though-it wasn't "our" son or "my" son when she handed the phone to me I distinctly heard her say "YOUR son"

I can't wait until he has a little boy-I hope it is just like him

__________________
Forum consigliere

It sure is neat to watch the youngster's faces as you are explaining and showing them the proper way. I have a 11 year old grandson that is on his way and an 11 year old granddaughter that is going to start soon. Love it.
BTY---leather is your friend riding in the winter.

Odds are, he will be.

Are you sure it wasn't .066?
The new standard for legally drunk here in Michigan is .08. It was .1, but the Feds threatened to hold back highway funds if the States didn't adopt the new standard. I'm pretty sure .66 is legally dead!

__________________
"I also cook."

My answer for that one would be to hand her back the phone and tell her to instruct HER son to BEG the nice officer to take him directly to the county lockup and keep him there for at least a couple of days. That would give me enough time to cool off enough not to kill him.

Years back, one of our pards blew a .38 on Bourbon St.
He was fine the next day-hung over but was ready for the game that night. I try my darnest to keep those stories from my son.

__________________
Forum consigliere

What a wonderful story. When my grand daughter was born, I staked a claim to buy her first handgun.

Many of the folks I work with thought this was awful. I will warp her, how could I do such a thing, etc, etc, etc.

When she is old enough I will present her with my gift, and those that disagree, I respect their position but otherwise can rot in the lower depths of Hades.

You are to be commended for your action sir.

__________________
I am a sheep dog!
1601 (ret)

Among the happiest times of my life have been giving my (then 5 y.o.) son his first BB gun, seeing him act responsibly while having a BIG time with it, figuring out how to get accurate hits, and doing so consistently.

Then his first .22 rifle (Big as him, it was, at the time. Savage knockoff of a Stevens Favorite with Lyman Creedmore front and rear sights. Realized my misjudgement and bought him a Cricket soon after), applying the knowledge of trigger mechanics and use of a rest that he learned with his BB gun, and getting accurate hits from WAAYY further out. And loving it as much as Dad does. Ya just wanna burst, I tell ya.

Then his first shotgun and wanting to try to work out the differences from his rifle on his own. And then getting to watch him work them out on the trap range.

Now at 15 and 5'11", he wants his first centerfire rifle. Having become a WWII buff just like his paw, he saw a Mosin Nagant and the, "Gee Whiz!" look in his eyes was all she wrote as far as I'm concerned. In a few weeks, he'll find his under the tree. Knowing him, since his birthday is soon after Christmas, I know for his birthday, he'll want dies for 7.62x54R.

He's my shootin', reloadin', squirrel huntin', catfishin', cookin', WWII and Western movie buddy. I hope you all get to experience such magical times as those of which I've been fortunate enough to share with my son.

And as a bonus, my ex-wife CANNOT stand that he's so much like me. :-)

Congrats and it only get's better.

Let me give you a little of what is to come.

Age 6 first BB gun.



Then moves on to 30/40 Krag with chamber adapter in 32 S&W.



Last Christmas 1917 Remington he loves it.


Your in for some really good times

Mine was from my 19 yr old son 60 miles away saying he had too much to drink to drive home( I thank god he did) I went and got him and told him he had 1 more so make his choices wisely there wouldn't be a third one. He's 34 now and I still haven't had that second call yet.

My dad told me that if I did something stupid enough to land in jail in the middle of the night not to bother calling until the morning because he wasn't going to come bail me out at 2 AM. That it would teach me a valuable lesson to be in the pokey overnight. Don't know about that, but I made darn sure the situation never came up.

Caj, I got one of those 2AM calls some years ago, but from the Hospital ER. "We have your son here, from a car accident". Needless to say we were up and in the car within minutes. Seemshis Blod Alcohol was > .18, and he was still "happy". He is now 46 and the father of 2 of his own, the boy being 11 and growing up fast. They do straighten out. But, I did notice in a recent Christmas card photo the amount of Grey getting into his hair. Hmmm, what goes around comes around.

__________________
H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Just be sure to teach your son bike safety as well. Glad my Dad was a life-time biker. And you could just see him swell up with pride when he would climb on his bike, and his 4 girls, and wife, were right behind him climbing on ours. Those road trips are memories that will never die.

All I could think of when you said BB gun was "You'll shoot your eye out". Love that movie.

That's great and nothing wrong with starting them young either.

I met my newest great niece last Monday night. I told my nephew I was going to start building her pink 10/22 soon. He was all for it too, guess it runs in the family.