There is a Netflix series called "Fortitude" available now. The setting for this detective series is an Arctic community just coming out of the long dark period when Polar Bears are dam hungry and expected everywhere. I have watched several episodes and I was very interested to note that in the very first scenes there is a young girl, perhaps 12 years old but, maybe less, and her friend out goofing off alone along the shore. She has a rifle slung over her shoulder and the butt stock is about level with her knees and the barrel extends past the top of her head. She looks as familiar with it as if it were a Barbie doll. I assume that it must be, at a minimum, 30-06. No one gives her a second glance. You see her later in a grocery store with a shopping cart and the rifle is thrown in there with the milk. A new visitor coming to the town is told to buy his own rifle. A cop stops two snowmobiles and sends them back to town because they don't have a rifle for protection. So, the answer to your question is dependent on the age of the child, the threat environment, their maturity, and your ability to protect them every second.
I saw that episode and agree with you. I also believe that it depends on if you live in a communist gun state like Pennsylvania, California, New York, etc.
We don't have all of the commie gun laws in my state and we can start letting our kids hunt as soon as they are mature enough.
I've been teaching hunters education for over 25 years now and I have had "adults" come through the class that couldn't pass the written safety class and I've had 10 year old "kids" make 100% on the test. Younger kids can take the course but they can only be issued a certificate of completion if they are 10 or older but we often have kids from 7-9 years old ace the test and have to come back when they are 10 and take the course again.
With that being said I believe that opinions on the age are all relative to where you grow up and the mindset of the people that live in that area.
It isn't uncommon to see kids deer and hog hunting on their own at 10 years old.
If you grow up with hunting and shooting as a way of life, it's different than a kid that takes a gun out a few times a year to learn about them. When you do it as a way of life, a gun is no different than a chain saw, a 4 Wheeler, a tractor, a car, or anything else that may be dangerous if used improperly.
You often see "kids" running a tractor on a farm plowing fields, hauling grain or cotton in a tractor trailer rig (without a CDL), so as stated many times in this thread, it depends on the kid.
