Stevens 410 gauge single-barrel shotgun @ age 6. By age 8 I was squirrel hunting by myself on our hillside home.
.30-06, forget the make/model, bolt-action rifle @ age 10.
Both weapons was a christmas present at each age.
Growing up in eastern Kentucky, in the hills, back in the early 90s, no one really cared that kids 8, 9, 10, etc would hunt with live-fire weapons, by themselves. Because our parents taught us what to, and not to do, and hell, when my Dad was at work, and it was squirrel season, turkey, rabbit, etc, my mom would give me a box of shells, and tell me to go play, and not to shoot the neighbor's cows. Just like when my parents was that age, their parents would send them out to play all day, with knives, guns, cars, whatever, ya know? Kids my age and older in Kentucky, and other gun-friendly areas, and rural areas, we'd be told to go out and play, and we'd not come home until dinner, but we knew we was safe, our parents knew we'd be safe, and we didnt have a care in the world.
Kids these days, oi, they spend too much time on the computer, and consoles, then when they dont have an outlet for their kid-ish energy, their parents put them on dope meds under the guise of ADHD.
Even though I'm gay, I do have the prospect of having a kid sooner or later, blood or by law, but I know I'm gonna make sure they know what I knew about guns, at 6 they'll get a shot gun, 10 a rifle, 15 a pistol, just like I did; I just hoep that when they do, that it'll be without having to get such things from a black market, or from a mobster, or whatever, cuz I have an odd feeling that when I have kids who come of age, the things I enjoyed in my youth, will be all but gone.