Tbh, you still see this with pistols too. Most of the recoil is actually the slide slamming backwards, and when the spring pushes the slide forward it then slams the gun back down, mostly where it was before

I didn’t say teenagers shouldn’t be able to learn. But having their own guns is not an option IMO. They can borrow in very controlled circumstances.

Then why did you go after me for pointing out that some parents teach their kids how to hunt? That’s literally what you’re claiming to not be against.

And not allowed to purchase strong alcohol until 21, just like America.

No, not like in the US. Here, you can’t get any alcohol under 21. That’s the source of the taboo. High school students love to get older siblings and crappy parents to supply them with way too much alcohol and regularly host giant parties where they drink to the point of passing out or vomiting, and often drive drunk afterwards.

Thankfully for me, my parents took the European route, and let me have a beer with dinner on occasion, and that’s it. It also helps that I don’t like loud crowded parties so I rarely attended and generally left after a few minutes.

Knives are much easier to monitor and control by the supervising adult

Not really. A student can just go buy a knife from the local store or steal one from the kitchen outside of meal prep. If they wanted to, they could acquire one and shank someone without their parents knowing. Meanwhile in the US, a teen’s main option for getting a gun trying to convince Uncle Cleatus to illegally sell them one, which he generally won’t do because that’s a felony with a 10 year sentence (though admittedly this was different 15-20 years ago).

But if you are in a plane accident, the chances of it being lethal to everyone involved is far greater than accidents in a car, statistically, surely. Nobody freaking survives a plane crash.

Your example doesn’t fit very well. A plane crash will kill everyone, regardless if it’s deliberate or a mistake. And it’s very easy to mess up when piloting a plane.

A negligent discharge from a firearm is 1: not guaranteed to hit someone, 2: not guaranteed to kill someone, and 3: is going to be isolated to a single shot. You don’t have guns spontaneously firing in all directions. Not only that, the 4 core rules of gun safety are very effective at protecting everyone in the general vicinity of a firearm, and they aren’t difficult to teach and learn.

The main concern with minors having access to firearms is deliberate attempts at violence. I don’t think I need to go into detail on why that’s a larger problem for teens, but that’s prevented by 1: keeping the guns in a safe that the kids/teens can’t get in to, and 2: being good parents that communicate and support their kids.

Now I’m not one to say “everyone should have a gun” because that’d be fucking stupid. If you (or someone in your house) are depressed or you’re a shitty parent then you shouldn’t have a gun because it’s just asking for trouble. But a lot of people build guns up in their head as some giant boogeyman that will go off on its own and murder everyone in the room like a rabid bear.

And don’t get me started on a rant about the left’s insistence on gun control and disarming themselves is contributing the the fascist takeover currently going on in the US.

Fois gras

I do not think teens under 18 should be handling a lethal weapon. Matter fact it should be over 21.

Cars are a lethal weapon, but they’re allowed to drive on public roads under supervision before they’re 16, and can drive without on private property. Kids under 18 are allowed access to cooking knives at whatever age, and should be taught how to cook before they’re adults. Teaching kids safe firearm operation under supervision is useful. Not only that, sharing hobbies with parents help with communication and bonding, giving the kids a better support structure while growing up.

Your black-and-white mindset of infantilizing teens like they’re completely incapable of handling anything before they’re 18 is demeaning and ultimately damaging to society as a whole. It leads to adults who’ve never learned skills they need to survive on their own.

I’m saying to hand rifles to toddlers, nor that the kids get unrestricted access to the guns. JFC it’s like you’re deliberately trying to misunderstand.

Where I live it’s normal for teens to go hunting alongside there parents, and when the guns aren’t in use they are stored in the family gun safe that only the parents can get into.

These parents also teach their kids gun safety, and with exposure the kids know that the guns aren’t toys to be played with. This shares similarities to how many European countries’ drinking age of 16 removes the novelty and rebellion of drinking, generally preventing them from drinking to excess

Most gun owners have more than one. If you’re a hunter, you might want to shoot different rounds for different game or seasons.

My state bans the use of rifles for deer hunting in most circumstances. In that example, you’d want 12ga for deer hunting, 20ga for duck, and 5.56 would be used for coyotes, boar, or groundhogs. And if you go boar hunting you’ll want a sidearm (9mm or .45) because they’ll gore you if they get the chance.

So that totals 4 guns for a single person with decent reasoning. Plus, if you had kids and took them hunting, you’d want at least 1 more of each type.

And for people who live in non-rural areas, you might decide to concealed carry a 9mm for protection. But handguns aren’t as ideal for home defense, so you might want a shotgun or 9mm carbine for that task, so that’d be 2 guns for 1 person.

The United States has over 4 times more murders per capita than France, for instance.

One thing a lot of people seem to forget is that the US has significantly more income inequality and significantly less social safety nets than France. Poverty drives crime.

What the US needs most is nationalized healthcare, deregulation of marijuana to cut down on mass incarceration (which breaks up families and drives poverty), actually taxing the rich, and better regulations and workers rights to prevent corporations from exploiting everyone