My 2 Cents: Shooting Parties For 8-Year-Olds? - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |

My 2 Cents: Shooting Parties For 8-Year-Olds?

This one is sure to fire up people on both sides of the gun issue. A family friendly gun range in Lewisville Texas is taking it one step farther. The owner has decided to make the gun range, kid friendly, to the point of offering shooting birthday parties for children as young as 8 years old.

He says the kids at that age will start with BB guns and .22s, and be taught how to effectively and safely use firearms.

I stepped back and asked myself how I'd feel if one of my kids had been invited to a shooting party at age 8 or 9, and honestly I would have been alright with it. Guns are a fact of life folks, whether you like it or not.

I'd rather my kids have an understanding of how guns work than be ignorant and fearful of them. Kids are learning how to shoot at church camps for crying out loud. It's a sport, just like archery.

I don't really think just because a child goes to a birthday shooting party they're going to be any more likely to shoot a gun at someone later in life.