My son is 14 years old and several of his friends have a CO2-cannister airsoft gun; my son is now asking for one. My instinct and limited research/understanding says this is not a good idea from a safety and legal perspective, even though all the kids wear eye protection. The pellets it shoots are plastic and the boys play in the woods nearby. They shoot hard enough to sting a bit (similar to paint ball). I seem to the be the only mom out of several that have this concern and my son is therefore the odd man out with no gun to play with. Has anyone ever bought one of these for their kids? Am I over-reacting? Thank you in advance.
A huge thank you to all the moms that responded so honestly and thoughtfully. After researching this more and speaking to law enforcement, I did learn that these are considered firearms in the state of NJ and require a permit to own. My son is only allowed to shoot the gun on our property or a legally sanctioned facility and I must be present to supervise at all times until he is 18. After much discussion, he will not be getting an airsoft gun, but I will take him to the local facilities with airsoft and paintball so he can play there. My son is going to take a gun safety class so he understands their use better in case he wants one in the future.
Thank you all again!!!
My son was into paintball. I can't tell you how many paintball guns he had. As long as rules are followed, I don't see an issue.
Updated
My son was into paintball. I can't tell you how many paintball guns he had. As long as rules are followed, I don't see an issue.
D.
All of my family has guns, real, air-soft and paint ball.
All of us know that the real guns are tools, not toys.
Air Soft can hurt, just like paintball. Therefore rules need to be followed, just like with real guns.
Why don't you go to the air-soft shop and talk with the manager and learn about air-soft before you make a decision? Being informed is always a good thing!
I don't know, my kids had them. I made them take gun safety first (well, they took it so they could hunt, but I wouldn't have purchased them the airsoft guns without the safety training) and they had to wear eye protection when using them.
Nothing wrong with it as long as the rules are being followed in my opinion. My kids loved them and also owned paintball guns (which I think hurt worse). I always felt riding a bike was more dangerous than airsoft guns :)
My oldest son enjoyed playing Airsoft at friends' houses when he was that age. I'm not a huge fan of it, and didn't allow it at my house, but it did get them outside doing something active, and no one got hurt. I didn't buy one for him because I have much younger kids who were 6 and 8 at the time and the risk of them getting their hands on his and using it unsafely was too much. That said, I did bring my middle son and a bunch of friends to a place where they played Airsoft battles for a birthday party. They were maybe 11 or 12 and had a blast.
I think as long as they wear eye protection and follow safety precautions, it's fine.
My oldest son played air soft for years starting in middle school. He even when to fields that they had actual organised games. Kinda like capture the flag. Our rule was he had to wear eye protection. One of the kids dads where big into it and build an area on their land just for this. It lets them be outside and play. He is not 20 and stays inside playing video games.
The glaring problem in your question is the phrase "limited research/understanding".
Before you purchase a weapon for your minor son, try to expand your "research/understanding" of the device beyond "limited". (In a more in-depth way than asking Mamapedia moms for opinions and related anecdotes.)
Check with your city or town or county laws. You may have to ask the police non-emergency line, or read your city codes online. We once lived in an area where displaying or using a gun that shot any kind of pellet was illegal except in one's own fenced back yard or at a target range. That may help you decide.
I'm of 2 minds on this.
Negatives: I don't like one bit that you're being pressured into "all the other kids...poor, poor me" at any age, but especially as adolescents want more and more responsibility (unsupervised parties, automobiles, you name it). Kids naturally choose kids with whom they have something in common. My kids asked about toy guns at a young age, and we had a discussion that I would consider it if/when he could explain to me why shooting another person was entertaining and a worthwhile goal. He never could come up with one sentence. We have a massive gun problem in this country, and normalizing it so that kids don't react to seeing one worries me. I worry if guns are at all realistic-looking, and what that means if someone else with a gun, or a police officer, comes upon them. People have been shot with toy guns and with cell phones, and not when they're in a crowd. I worry about what they will want to "upgrade" to when this is too boring. I am concerned that they promise to be careful and wear eye protection, and then they invite other friends in who aren't trained and have no protection, and someone loses an eye.
Positives: They're playing outside and getting exercise. They have a group and he's not moping alone at home.
So, is gun play the only way to achieve this? Obviously you need to learn more. You can go to a store, yes, but the manager's job is to sell you a gun and convince you that it's a swell idea and harmless. You absolutely have to have serious consequences for even a minor breach of safety - not wear eye protection for even 5 minutes, etc. If you do a serious safety course and he's still interested, and if he's working a job or doing neighborhood chores to pay for this, maybe it's okay. If you've scoped out the woods and there are clear boundaries with neighboring houses and zero chance that younger kids will hear the shouting and come to explore, maybe. Do talk to your local law enforcement (just go down during regular business hours) and ask if there are problems, if there are town regulations, and if they have suggestions. If they hate this, say no - you do not want your son on police department "radar." Kids need to learn that they don't get everything they want. And you have to follow your gut. Next he'll be telling you he wants to stay out until 1 a.m. and he's the only one who isn't allowed to. He'll want to be at parties you wouldn't approve of, but he's "odd man out." Figure out if he's got his act together or if he's drawn to the wrong kind of kids and feels unaccepted elsewhere - depression is on the rise and we don't want our kids thinking guns are the answer to anything.
I'd just be happy they are outside playing in the woods!!! lol, I think they're fine. Some training as other suggested would be great.
Just say no.
He'll have to learn to feel just fine being the odd man out - and we never bought into the 'well everyone else has one' whine - that's an instant way to lose any argument in our house.
He'll be 16 in a few years and wanting a car - you and he can save up for that or college.
Additional:
Our son shoots - my husband is an NRA certified instructor.
And Hubby has always said no to pellet guns.
Even if kids are trained in basic safety - kids being kids take dares and can out of the blue do stupid stuff.
Heck even adults who know better can do stupid - like the guy who answered his cell phone at the range with a gun in his hand and managed to shoot himself in the head.
Adult supervision is needed.
People treat this stuff like toys and it's not.
Follow your instincts - just cause others do it doesn't mean you have to do it too.
Very popular with boys that age, we never had a problem with it.
People get shot for having airsoft guns by police. Arrested for airshot guns and Robberies are committed. These look like real weapons and are seen as a real threat.
Try paint ball or lazer tag.
It's been a while, so I don't entirely recall the age, but I'm pretty sure my boys had airsoft guns at 14. I don't know what airsoft guns look like these days but I would make sure that they don't even remotely resemble a real gun. For me, that's the most important criteria. And they have to wear goggles.
