They’re not weapons…
Don’t be such a liberal. It’s good to get children into firearms and gun safety while they’re young. Think about it like this:
There’s a red button that says “Do not touch.” What’s your first thought? You wanna touch it.
Replace that with a gun. There ya go. If you remove the temptation and “taboo” about the gun, the kid will be less likely to WANT to screw with it. One of my nephews for example. He shoots all the time w/ my brothers and I. Some days, he doesn’t feel like shooting. It’s because he was introduced at an early age and understands that to some people, guns aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. He knows if he wants to go shooting, his father will take him, thus removing the temptation to screw with it at home.
I understand your concern as a parent, but to judge someone else and say “how dare you!” over something is just wrong. It’s parents like that that are turning a lot of kids into giant pussies. It’s not like John is doing drugs or being violent. For you to judge his parenting based on your opinions is just plain wrong, and it’s not for you to decide what is “good” parenting.