Question on supervising child shooting .22 rifle.

Hambone · May 19, 2012

I have a question on the "laws" in this state. I have done research and I believe I am correct in doing this.

Today we went shooting on a friends property. I have a Mossberg tactical .22 rifle. Nice little piece. Great plinker imo and very fun to shoot.

Here is how we had this setup:
Rifle's barrel was resting on a single leg rifle stick. I was holding the foregrip steady, along with the rifle stick. My daughter (6 years old) had the stock up against her shoulder, proper safety gear on, and was pulling the trigger down range at some targets. She was never holding the rifle loaded until I already had it set on the rifle stick and I had a grip on it. During this trip, she never went in front of a gun or rifle. She stayed back with my wife while the others shot weapons.

Question I have is, Was what we did today allowed? Property owner consented it. Both me and my wife (both legal birth parents and guardians of her) consented. She never once went to the other weapons and picked them up and played with them etc. She only touched the .22 rifle like I said after it was ready for her to fire with me there. When we walked down "range" so did she. When she emptied a magazine she would say "I am out. Going cold". I try to teach my daughter gun safety etc. Btw, magazines for this rifle are always stored empty in my home and no where near it. Along with the ammo.

armaborealis · May 20, 2012

I reveiewed SC statutes and could find only a few mentions with regard to age.

It is unlawful for anyone under age 18 to possess a handgun unless they are receiving instruction under immediate supervision of a parent or adult supervisor (or some military exemptions) per 16-23-20 para 3. SC will not issue CWPs to anyone under 21.

Federal law prohibits dealers transferring any firearm or ammunition to minors under the age of 18 and generally prohibits possession of firearms by individuals under the age of 18. Federal law also prohibits FFLs from transferring handguns or handgun ammunition to anyone under age 21 although there is no federal ban on individuals age 18-21 from possessing a handgun (if, say, they obtain one lawfully in a private transfer NOT involving an FFL).

Federal law allows exceptions to the blanket ban on minor possession of firearms for activities such as hunting, target practice, ranching, etc (18 USC 922 X 3).

So, I see no legal issue with what you did. Be aware that there is always the potential for civil liability if something goes wrong. There's also the possibility for criminal liability if an incident occurs due to gross negligence. But as an example, say you're on the friend's property and a stray round causes injury or damage at the next house over. Such an incident could trigger liability for the adult. If the adult was grossly negligent (say, lax supervision, intoxicated, not physically present, etc) then it could trigger criminal liability. You may want to consult an attorney if you're worried about such matters, as well as consult with your insurance agent and make sure that you've got appropriate coverage for both yourself and your family as well as others in the event that you are held liable for an unintentional accident.

Hambone · May 20, 2012

https://www.facebook.com/video/video.ph ... 0824304366

As you can tell she did not fire until she was told to do so. We allowed her to "rapid fire" in this video. But she would only fire single shot when we told her to. As you can tell, after she was finished she had me take it.

PCShogun · May 21, 2012

Nope.

However, potential civil liability applies in almost any circumstance.

I like teaching on a bolt action .22, less chance of a dropped weapon causing a misfire, and it seems more conducive to aimed fire as there is less opportunity to "Play" with the weapon by rapid pulling of the trigger. You only get one bang until you reload. BB guns are good starter guns also.

Glad to see you are teaching them at a young age.

lafayette gregory · May 23, 2012

Hambone said:
https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=3960824304366

As you can tell she did not fire until she was told to do so. We allowed her to "rapid fire" in this video. But she would only fire single shot when we told her to. As you can tell, after she was finished she had me take it.

Eye protection my friend.

I see nothing wrong and armaborealis seems to have covered all the bases.
BUT, I would not post a vid or pics for others to see during these activaties. Nothing wrong with what you are doing, but there are some crazy arse people out there and I would not want a crazy person to make a case to DSS.