Dad teaches kid how to assemble rifle in 15 seconds
Categories: Kids 8-11, Fun & activities, Health & safety, Weird but true
Ah, kids these days. And their parents too. I remember when I was a kid trying to impress people by getting my room clean as quickly as possible or hitting a badminton birdie farther than my dad. Clearly, as an eleven-year-old I had nothing on the girl in this video. Woah. Not only does she dismantle the AR-15 (it's a gun, it's a weapon, it's a killing machine) in fifteen seconds, she puts it back together after that for a combined total time of 53 seconds. The kicker? Not so much that she's a tween or pre-tween herself, but that her father was the one who taught her how to do this, and he's the one who filmed the video.
Both father and daughter seem very pleased by the girl's abilities. My husband summed it up best when he asked me, after I was visibly shocked by the footage, when they took the girl into custody. Who the heck really keeps guns in their house when they have children? And who the heck teaches them how to use them? Better yet, who keeps an AR-15 in the house and teaches his eleven-year-old daughter how to use it?
Who's to say whether there is a mom around, whether she saw the video, and whether or not she knows or cares that her daughter has the technical skills of an assassin. Perhaps it was supposed to be funny, but the video is more terrifying than anything. Children and guns, of any kind, do NOT go together. Plain and simple, guns kill people. And, sadly, more often than not, they kill children.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
SKL 8-29-2008 @ 5:22PM
Who the heck keeps knives in their homes? Who keeps hammers in their homes? Most shocking of all - who keeps DOGS in their homes with kids around? Dogs are responsible for a lot more childhood injuries and deaths than guns. WHAT are people THINKING??
I don't get why folks don't see that gun ownership is just an aspect of many peaceful people's culture. Like cultivating roses with thorns on them - why the heck would anyone do that? It could injure a child!
Kudos to this man for sharing his traditions with his child; for teaching his child about guns and gun safety; and most of all, for spending quality time with his daughter. He deserves a medal.
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Mihir 8-29-2008 @ 5:38PM
don't forget pencils. they can be pretty pointy too.
also, assassins have FAR more technical skills than simply being able to put a rifle together. in fact, any assassin that suddenly needs to put their rifle together shows that they were not prepared in the first place. and that's makes for a piss poor assassin.
Derek 8-29-2008 @ 10:41PM
iz me gramer skilz da keyboordz falt?
ame s 8-29-2008 @ 5:26PM
Do you need the smelling salts, there, Jen?
I'll skip the obvious but true "People kill people" arguement. Before there were guns, people killed each other with rocks and sticks. Heck, in some countries they still do.
I the heck have 3 handguns. I the heck have 2 daughters, 8 and 10. They know not to ever touch a gun without permission.
My 10 year old is 5'2", weighs 105 pounds, and knows how to load and shoot all 3. My husband and I take her with us to the firing range, which is run by our local TN Highway Patrol, a couple of times a month for target practice. When my 8 year old is bigger and more mature, I will teach her also.
In our part of the state, there are boys who go hunting (I don't like hunting) with their fathers and can handle rifles as long as they are tall.
I have a permit to carry a concealed weapon and do. From my cold, dead fingers will it be pried. I'm not worried about that, though, because this is America and I'm a heck of a good shot.
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Jenni 8-29-2008 @ 5:55PM
Guns don't kill people, people kill people. If there were no guns, there would still be murder (and accidental killings as well). My 6 and 10 year old nieces have their own guns that they go hunting with. They have been taught gun safety from a very young age. They are still strongly supervised, but they know how to use them.
I wouldn't personally have a gun with my children because I wasn't raised around guns and wouldn't even begin to know how to teach them about gun safety. However, if I did, I would have be teaching them how to be safe with a gun.
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CLM 8-29-2008 @ 6:05PM
I learned how to shoot when I was 8 years old. When I was six, I learned how to make shotgun shells. The problem is not guns in houses with children, it's how the parents store the guns. My father's rifles and shotguns were always kept unloaded and locked up in a gun cabinet. Nothing in the closets, the nightstand, etc. It was well understood by my brother and me that so much as touching that cabinet without my father's permission would result in dire consequences. Learning how to shoot at such a young age, I had a VERY healthy respect for the damage a gun could do. Sadly, not a lot of parents seem to put the kind of thought into gun ownership that mine did. Personally, I consider the NRA to be a horrible organization and prefer the American Hunters and Shooters. BTW - I am pretty much as liberal, pinko-commie as they come. It takes all kinds.
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Eileen 8-29-2008 @ 6:34PM
I absolutely agree with all of the above posters. The writers husband asked her "who the hell keeps guns in the house when they have children." Many law abiding responsible citizens who love their children thats who. We have several guns in the home all of which are always locked up in a gun safe, not the pretty kind with glass that can be broken, but the ugly metal kind and the locked guns also have cable locks on them as well. My husband is a former Marine and is very well trained on gun safety, they pose absolutely no threat to our children. My oldest, who is 12, sometimes goes to the range with his dad and has learned all about handling a gun the proper way. Having guns in the house is not a choice some people are comfortable with and that's fine, but do not criminalize those who do, it is their right to own one!
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Inger 8-29-2008 @ 8:10PM
Amen to all of the above!
We own 3 guns, but due to the nature of our oldest son we will not have them in the house until he's out. If he were of a calmer less destructive nature I would be more inclined to have them around. We don't hunt, they are simply heirlooms, and so we have no real need of them. When he's out, they'll be back.
That said, if you want to have them around, that's great! Some kids can handle the responsibility, others, like my son, are simply not mature enough to be around such weapons.
Best of luck to all!
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SKL 8-29-2008 @ 8:45PM
I just noticed the last statement in your post. "More often than not, [guns] kill children."
What exactly do you mean by this statement? It isn't remotely accurate, no matter how I read it.
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Paul Cyopick 8-29-2008 @ 10:25PM
I'm just glad I live in Canada, where there aren't nearly as many guns or killings.
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John 11-09-2008 @ 1:39AM
Oh, come on Sarah. Guns aren't responsible for the low rate of violence in Canada. you're all just too dang passive and lazy!
:) Joking
ninainindia 8-30-2008 @ 12:54AM
I agree with you Jennifer, there is no need for children to handle guns. Why would you want your 6 year old child to be able to handle a gun?
Yes, guns are not what kills but it makes it a whole lot easier than killing someone with bare hands or a knife.
So your children know not to touch a gun without your permission, but do children always listen to parents? No, they don't. The teens that killed their classmates and teachers with the guns they got at home and were tought to shoot by their parents could not have done that much damage if their parent had never put a gun in their hands in the first place.
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john 8-30-2008 @ 1:18AM
I have guns, but not in the house. It's a choice I have made, and my wife agrees. It's a personal choice. I think that children raised in a house with responsible parents, who happen to own guns, more often than not end up more respectful of guns than other kids. Parents should have them safely locked away, obviously. It's the stupid kid who's never heard of gun safety that finds a gun and shoots his/her friend or self. I think that no matter your views on guns, you should teach your children some BASICS of gun safety. 1. Don't touch. 2. Tell an adult. 3. DON'T TOUCH! 4. Leave the area. If they're smart enough to handle those, and you're so inclined you can move on to safe handling rules, etc. but if every kid knew those 4 basic rules, there'd be many less stupid accidents. Also I believe taking kids shooting to show them the actual power of guns would instill a healthy respect/fear/awe of them to understand the purpose of all the rules. It helps to show that guns are very different than movies make them out to be.
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ninainindia 8-30-2008 @ 5:11AM
Why should a child have to know about gun safety and be respectful of guns? It's only because they are so readily available in the USA that this sounds logical to you.
I grew up in Europe and have never in my life even seen a gun and neither have any of the people I know. They are not available and therefore not an issue.
John 11-09-2008 @ 1:54AM
In response to ninainindia's posting I would like to congratulate you on living such a sheltered life. Gun laws are very strict in Europe. Unfortunately this means that only predators and criminals have gone through the trouble of obtaining them, meaning should you be accosted by such a one, you will be completely helpless against them. I say this not to raise ire, but out of true concern for your wellbeing. The fact is that firearms can be crudely manufactured by anyone with the technical knowledge, which is quite a lot of people nowadays. Meaning people who want guns will always have guns.
Though I am an American, my stepfather is a Scottish immigrant, having lived in Europe for more than 45 years. In that time he was held up at gunpoint multiple times and finally broke down and purchased a gun on the black market, which subsequently saved his life some months later. To say that gun laws in Europe control gun related crime is a fallacy. It simply prevents citizens from defending themselves, like lambs to the slaughter. Furthermore, people who really want to get a gun will always find a way to obtain one.
I am not telling you to go out and get a gun. That is really for each man or woman to decide for themselves. I am suggesting you learn how to handle one safely and how to defend yourself against an attacker using one. Surprisingly enough, speaking from personal experience, if the assailant brings the gun in range of your arm, there's a good chance you will be able to deflect it given the appropriate self defense training. In this way a knife or other edged weapon is a greater threat, but we're not about to go and outlaw kitchen knives, are we?
CCP 8-30-2008 @ 10:53AM
Ms. Jordan:
If you're going to get all hysterical about homes with guns AND children - and especially if your argument is that guns statistically kill lots of kids - please note that, statistically, the number one danger to children is this: Men other than the father in the home. That's right. Yes, guns kills kids. I have no problem accepting that. Who knows, I may even agree with you that there is no place for guns in a home with children. But if we're statistically assessing child risk, there is just no getting around the fact that the most harm is done by mothers who date or remarry. It's.A.Fact.
So...I ask that you consider penning a similarly earnest post about the dangers of other men in the home. Because that would signal intellect AND good journalism.
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Sarah 9-02-2008 @ 4:29PM
"Who's to say whether there is a mom around, whether she saw the video, and whether or not she knows or cares that her daughter has the technical skills of an assassin."
I am so sick of this kind of representation of men!! What's the deal, I see it every day on TV in commercials - poor dumb man, he should really listen to his wife. Lame!
Honestly the mother is most likely on the same side with her husband - who's to say she didn't help teach their daughter about guns?
As her father he has every right to teach gun safety; and anything else he deems necessary.
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John 11-09-2008 @ 1:33AM
I see nothing wrong with a parent teaching a child to take apart, clean, reassembly, or use a firearm. I come from a long line of military brats. Two uncles, my father, and both my grandfathers taught me weapon safety and it's made me more savvy than those who were raised in households which aborred guns. my girlfriend, for example, immediately pointed a rifle at me in jest, though she had not checked the weapon. Thankfully it was mine and I knew it was not loaded, though that was not the point. She came from a pacifist home that hated guns, thus she did the worst thing one can possibly do with them as she had no experience with them.
Gun safety and use combined with combat training given by my lifer marine corps grandfather has kept me alive, despite the fact that I've been attacked by armed assailants more than half a dozen times. If I were not schooled in emergency use of firearms as well as unarmed and close quarters combat I would have been killed each time.
The fact that this father has taken the time to teach his daughter firearm use simply shows that he cares for her and is thinking ahead to a time where she will have to watch out for herself.
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