# ? about Wisconsin gun laws



## beorning (Apr 14, 2006)

My 7 year old daughter wants to start learning to shoot. She's primarily interested in target shooting. We are currently discussing getting her a .22 rifle on her 8th birthday.

She will be taking a hunter safety course prior to using the firearm, and won't have access to the rifle except under strictly supervised conditions.

I'm just wondering if anyone knows if there is an age limitation on possessing/using a rifle in Wisconsin, assuming that a responsible adult is in the child.s immediate proximity? 

I'd hate to get her the rifle and not have her be able to use it. 

On the subject of rifles, I'm looking at the Henry mini-bolt for her. Any opinions? She's very small for her age.


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## staceyfb (Jan 13, 2005)

well my son just went through hunters safety last year. You can take it at any age over 8 I believe is what I was told. As for using a gun or possessing a gun in the state. She can't take it anywhere by herself. She can't go out back and plink at cans or anything like that till she is 12. She can however shoot if you have complete control over her at all times. Meaning you can't turn your back, walk away to get more shells, nothing. She cannot legally take the gun anywhere by herself till she is 14. Then she can do whatever she wants to do with it. It sucks for laws here as we have over 1000 acres at our cabin and my 13 y/o son can't shoot unless myself or my father is there. No reason he can't plink at cans while I am bow hunting.


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## NWoods_Hippie (Nov 16, 2006)

All I could find was this page from the WDNR, even for the youth deer hunt up to the age of 15 you have to have a person 18 years of age and older accompany the child.

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/wildlife/hunt/deer/youthhunt.htm

Quote from page:

Open to persons 12 - 15 years of age (resident and non-resident) who possess a hunter education certificate of accomplishment and a gun deer hunting license. Hunters shall be accompanied by an adult 18 years of age or older.

I tried on the DNR page to find the age limits for getting the hunter education certificate and couldn't find anything, my suggestion is that you email or call the DNR.

Margie


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## NWoods_Hippie (Nov 16, 2006)

Ok, a little more searching and I found this also on the WDNR website. They seem to want children to wait until they are at least 12 to take the hunter education course. My personal feeling is that you should be able to teach your daughter to shoot on your land with 100% supervison, that is how I learned from my Gramps when I was about the same age as your daughter. Anyway here is the link.

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/es/enforcement/safety/hunted.htm

Margie


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## dagwood (Jul 17, 2006)

Henry Arms makes a sweet single shot bolt action .17 that is an excellent rifle for youngsters. The rifle comes with a 4x scope and sells for a bit over $300(stainless w/synthetic stock). The .17 ammo is a little pricey compared to the standard .22's.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

you may posses a fire arm she may use it under your controled supervision
for target practice (some ranges set thier own age for kids to be on the range but as long as your child is well behaved it will likley not be an issue)

if you have your own land plink away 

remember laws/rules are there only to decide fault if someone is injured 
ie if she shoots the neibor kid you are responsable for the negligent homicide 

in wisconsin you we have a law that states that if a child gains access to said fire arm and used it to injure them self others or to commit a crime you are also guilty of providing a firarm to a minor unless you took reasonable precautions ,unloaded and locked with triger lock ,or locked in a box/safe/locked closet with padlock you get the idea. there just has to be what is considered reasonable precausions taken

if you think that there are no guns on farms you have another thing comming 
nearly every farm i have been on had a gun loaded in the barn or just inside the door of the house and thier kids never hurt anyone or them selves so ther was no crime 

the state will not liecence children to hunt till 12 but they can certainly hunt unrestriced spieces like **** and possum before that with your supervisoin and if you own more than 10 acers i don't belive you or your imediate family need have a small game licence for rabit and squirl 

I would consider getting them a sherian blue or silver streak they are 5mm pelet rifles certainly capable of taking a a squirl or rabit and fine for plinking 
less noise they draw little atention and much deminished range but great inside 30-35 yards and very accurate will make them a better shot.

I certainly intend to get my children guns but it will be supervised shooting 
oldest is 5 now so far she has no interest i will probabley wait till her brother 3 is 6 then we can start 

if you trust your kids not to land you in prison then do as you please. they are rules , gravity is a law


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## beorning (Apr 14, 2006)

Thanks for all the input and info. There won't be a problem at the range, as long as I'm right there with her.

Her rifle will be locked up with my long guns. She won't have access to it without supervision. She's allready pretty well versed in firearm safety basics. But we plan on plugging her in to hunter safety class anyway. She can retake it at 12 for the certificate.

We currently live in town, so there won't be any outdoor shooting of anything. I've got a little mini airgun range set up in the basement and she plinks down there occasionally. I was thinking that it might be wise to start her out with a pellet gun before a .22. my air guns are a horrid fit for her. She needs something scaled down a bit.

Wasn't there a law just passed a year or so ago that allows 8 year olds to hunt with a licensed adult as long as they share a gun? I seem to remember hearing a bunch of screaming about the horrors of children with guns... Madison is great, isn't it?


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

beorning said:


> Wasn't there a law just passed a year or so ago that allows 8 year olds to hunt with a licensed adult as long as they share a gun? I seem to remember hearing a bunch of screaming about the horrors of children with guns... Madison is great, isn't it?



it didn't pass i think it was just a consevation congress praposal
personaly i think if you want to bring them with and happen to have a good situation where a deer walks in while you are sitting in your 2 person tree stand and you pass them the gun and sit right there and supervise the shot 
then i don't see a problem. 

i was reading field and stream in the doctors office the other day they had a page called my first deer they had 2 boys 6 and 8 had there first buck and one girl 14 who wanted to point out that cheerleaders can hunt too 

but then other states let girls get married at 14 also hereit is 16 with parents consent so it sounds like we do everything 2 years later than other places 

like the new 8 year old car seat law that did pass at the same time they were talking about the 8 year olds hunting 
guess they figured they couldn't say in one breath they need to be in a car seat because they are babies and that they can hunt with a gun in the next


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## dcross (Aug 12, 2005)

Madison gave us The Onion, and for that we are thankful


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