Super, I will give you a reason I don't like hammer gins for kids.. Lowering the hammer on a loaded lever gun is where the safety problem lies. Kids with small cold hands, or hands with gloves or mittens trying to lower the hammer of a lever gun or a single shot hammer gun can and does result in accidental discharges. If the gun s pointed in a safe direction, no harm done, if not some WCO is going to have his day taken up with a shooting investigation. I am not just speculating, I know it happens I have been there when it happened. When you hear a shot in a parking lot or in the woods when it is too dark to see your sights, good chance it was the result of a hammer gun having the hammer lowered by an inexperienced hunter. When I was still teaching hunter ed, I would advise the parents who were in the room not to start their kids with hammer guns for that very reason. I don't think you can be too safe with kids. My 45-70 Marlin has a crossbolt safety, I don't like it and I don't use it ever since I lost a deer because of it. Never having shot a Marlin lever action with a cross bolt safety I would put the gun on half cock and engage the safety which you must do, either half cock of full cock to engage the safety. The first year I used the rifle I used half cock and the safety. I didn't know that the safety unlike my other rifles would allow the hammer to fall but nit hit the firing pin. A big doe came by me and stopped at about 20 yards, I put the cross hair behind her shoulder and squeezed the trigger and was rewarded with a loud clank when the hammer fell. That doe and about 6 others too off at light speed. About 20 minutes later another big doe came along and I dropped her so it didn't cost me a deer but lesson learned. Half cock is safety enough. This has nothing to do with safety but just a human interest story.