We (the community) had a young boy (6 or 7 years old) killed around here with a Chipmunk a few years ago. The gun accidentally discharged while the butt was on the ground, which would have without question been the responsibility of the supervising adult. The problem was that the Chipmunk was so short that the bbl did not reach this very small boy's chin while resting on it's butt like that, and the bullet entered under the chin. I always liked starting my children out with a firearm that had enough size and weight to demand some respect and attention. I've always been a little nervous about starting a child out with something that might resemble a toy in any way. We have a Rossi pump .22 with a full length bbl, and it has always seemed like a pretty good teacher for us.