TargetTalk

Do you need a license to shoot an air gun?

and another question, at what age do you think a child would be able to start with an air gun, and at what age can a child start competing?

Brian

Answers:

Do you need a license to shoot an airgun? Usually no. I suppose there is some place where some town has tried to do it but no place that I am aware of has a license to shoot an airgun. Local ordinances might prohibit shooting it outside at other than an approved range but that is usually about it.

Age varies, at 5 or 6 most kids can safely shoot off a rest. If they can physically complete the course of fire and are mature enough to respond appropriately to firing line commands they can compete, clearly under adult supervision, 8 or 9 is probably not unreasonable depending on the child and the course of fire. CMP has some wonderful programs in this regard.

'Dude

oneshotveth wrote:Do you need a license to shoot an air gun?

and another question, at what age do you think a child would be able to start with an air gun, and at what age can a child start competing?

Brian

This will also depend on what country you are from. Unlike the US where there are pretty much no limits to power, in most of Europe that are varying limits on how powerful an air rifle/pistol can be without the need for licencing. For example here in the UK the limit is 12 Foot Pounds or 15 Joules muzzle energy and in Germany it is IIRC 5 Joules. I think Canada has a relatively low power limit too, something like 8 Joules. All theses are often accompanied with varying age restrictions.

So it would be useful to know where in the world you are before a definitive answer can be given.

Alan

As mentioned above, licencing depends on where in the world you are.

With regards age, there is generally no limit save any that may apply in law (see above).

In the UK we have pony club tetrathlon competitions where the youngsters start competing very young (7 or 8 ???) - with air pistols. In these circumstances they must be supervised 1:1 and the adults have to load the guns before handing them over to the shooter for each match shot.

In my club we just state that youngsters must be strong enough to safely handle the guns and are of course supervised by a responsible adult. They will then almost certainly shoot off a rest.

Rob.

What country do you live in?
In Canada if the rifle is above 500fps you need a PAL.
If the pistol is above 500 fps you need a RPAL, a restricted licence for handguns and centre fire semi-auto rifles.

Sorry, I'm in the US.

Massachusetts to be exact.

Thanks for all the replies.

Oh yeah, My Bad earlier.

I was assuming a US located shooter.

As has been pointed out by some of our international members, other countries have very different, much more restrictive laws.

In the for what it is worth department, I was shooting in competition by the time I was 8. About 5 months shy of my 9th birthday. First fired a gun when I was around 5.

'Dude

If you are in Massachusetts, you can use this link

http://ct.thecmp.org/app/v1/index.php?do=clubSearch

to find CMP (Civilian Marksmanship Program) clubs located in your state.

(Just search on MA for state and leave all other fields blank.) A pretty good sized list of clubs will come up.

'Dude

AP/AR no age limit in MA.

PS. No question is too dumb, unless it is asked by me, who is the unofficial master of dumb questioner here.

I'm in general agreement here, the one quirky thing I recently ran across was a town here in Colorado required our small youth air rifle club to get a permit to discharge within City limits. Mostly it was simple but their city code did not differentiate between firearms and air rifles..

Here in Vancouver the bylaw is short and sweet. Basically a firearm is a pellet gun is a bow and arrow is a slingshot. All are equal in that none may be discharged within city limits, period. Well... except for the shiny new police advanced weapons and tactics training centre right in the middle of the city. But that's different, right? So no airgun clubs, no archery, no spanking tin cans down the railway tracks with a slingshot. Have to go to a satellite community to get in range time.

Gerard, Is a shot put OK or is that too fast also.


My granddaughter who is 10 is certainly responsible enough to shoot an air gun but it is still too heavy for her to make more than 3 -4 shots before her accuracy goes to pieces.

I think they still do shot put in highschool track and field... but I know that javelin was cancelled for most programs years ago when some kid tried to catch one... and succeeded. Okay, he was just overly enthusiastic about scoring the spear and managed to get under it, but dang, you'd think just about everyone would have better sense than that. Kid lived. Went right through his torso but as they say 'didn't hit anything important' and he was home in a few days. Why on earth that should lead to cancellation of a sport for kids generally is beyond reason.

I heard a TED talk some years ago by a guy who teaches summer camps for kids in California, has them use power tools and such. Parents sign a waiver saying if fingers are chopped off, well, that's part of the learning process. At the time he'd put some thousands of kids through the program and none had left any digits behind. This guy says there are a few things you need to teach your kids. Playing with fire. Making and throwing a spear. Carving wood. I can't remember the whole list, but it all sounded like my childhood. And yeah, I shot pellet rifles as a kid, started with a BB rifle aged 7 and had a break-barrel by age 10. Learned to work on it, shoot very well with it, not hurt other kids, all the stuff one learns by actual hands-on experience. But the trend towards a babysitter culture seems steady. Soon we won't be allowed to walk down stairs by ourselves, we'll need robotic assistants to make sure we don't fall. Before that Google will be driving cars for us. Well... that one I sort of agree with, because frankly most drivers are absolutely incompetent.

My youngest son throws javelin. Here in Washington State they have to have a rubber "cap" on the business end of the spear. It makes the spear throw and fly differently, and makes scoring difficult as the spear no longer sticks in the ground, it bounces!

The accident rate has risen with the Javelin since the cap requirement. Scorers are trying to get closer to the impact so they can get a better read on where the spear strikes, and they are now getting hit more frequently.

I so love how governments to world over really do "protect" us! I sleep so much better. Sorry for such an off topic comment!

Yesterday I was repairing a magazine for my Olympia in front of a friend's 7 year old daughter, with the Olympia right there. When I asked her has she ever seen a pistol she says no. She was totally fascinated by the act of me repairing a magazine.
I proceeded to tell her that pistol shooting, archery, etc, is for competition so that one can go to the Olympics. I did not bring up the crime or self defense part. I repeated the same "lecture" again when her mother came by.

I think kids are much smarter than you think, and they think much straighter than adults. I hope at least my white washing version can put a positive image of pistol to her, that pistol is best use for target shooting, not killing people.

She is more fascinated by my crossbow though. But that is another story.

I have never even heard of a place in the US where you need a license to shoot a large bore gun. There may be some places that are not gun friendly that has been able to skirt around the 2nd ammendment.

Depending on the kid and his maturity, most I know start shooting .22 and shotgun for target or hunting at around 7 or 8. Providing the child is mature enough to understand, I would think a 5 yo could start with an air rifle. I know of no laws against it.