“You see less youth in shooting sports than in other sports, such as football,” Oost continues. “They are still weapons, so you have to be extra careful. Safety is very important. That also requires more investments from our association. You have to have the right people in house, who can deal well with young people. They must be able to explain how to handle guns responsibly. We take that very seriously.”
In many cases, young people from a shooting club use an air pressure rifle. This is not the case with Freedom. There, all members shoot with a firearm, of course under strict rules of the supervisors. “We shoot with the .22 caliber.” That is a cartridge of 5.56 millimeters.
But the question is of course, is this wise to do at a young age? Developmental psychologist Gerrit Breeuwsma of the University of Groningen says that this question is difficult to answer. Little research has been done into the effect of joining a shooting club at a young age. “However, I don’t think this is the right way to deal with the declining membership of shooting clubs,” he says.
“Children at a young age will generally not understand the consequences of using a firearm,” Breeuwsma explains. “The fascination with weapons is great at that age. Many children play shooting games or games in which the use of weapons plays a role in the imagination. However, I have serious doubts whether you should encourage this by normalizing the use of weapons.”
The developmental psychologist has no doubt that associations are doing everything they can to use the weapons safely. “But that says nothing about the impact it has on children. Not all adults are automatically eligible for a gun permit, but how do you assess whether or not children can handle it.”
He therefore thinks it is good to maintain an age limit. “Compare it with driving a car. You get your driver’s license around the age of 17 or 18. Not because you would not be able to steer at a younger age, but because at a young age you cannot yet oversee all the consequences of your own behavior in traffic and the safety aspects that come into play. Ten years seems too young for a shooting club. An age limit of 16 to 18 years seems a lot more sensible to me.”