Don't tell him you are going to the range.BrassMonkey wrote:Then how do I tell him, "No, you have to go to the babysitter while daddy goes and had fun..." That is the hard part...
With a BB or pellet rifle, you can teach safe gun handling and basic marksmanship skills in the comfort of your garage or back yard. When I lived in a small apartment we were still able to figure out a way to set up a 50 ft. range.
After he gets comfortable with the air gun, then he can tag along to watch at the range and learn how to disassemble/clean the firearms. At some point, you will hopefully get comfortable with his level of maturity/demonstrated responsibility and then he moves up to a .22 and later the larger firearms.
As a point of reference, most boys learn how to air up the tires, fill the tank and possibly even change the oil on the family car many years before they ever get a license and a set of their own keys.