I gota daisy bb gun when I was 3. I learned to shoot by plunking pop cans in the back yard all day. I started going goose hunting with my dad when I was about 7yrs old using a .410 shotgun which I still have today. (recently refurbished it too)

I believe it depends on the kid. If your kid has behavior problems I would wait on it. Other wise I don't see any harm in giving a bb gun rifle to a youngster coherant enough and big enough to operate it. as with anything the younger you learn the better. My dad was big on keeping the gun on safe at all times so that is something I am now overley cautious about. It's good to engrain these things at a young age so they stay there for life.

btw, once I wanted to see whata bb shotfelt like so I put my finger on the end of the bbl and shot my finger. fortunately the bb didn't go in very deep& I learned a valuable lesson that day, as did my parents. Don't leave the bb gun where your kid can reach it, after he learns to use it he will think he is ready to do it allby himself, naturaly.