They aren’t very accurate, and they aren’t very powerful… But powerful enough to go through my kid’s shoe and imbed the BB about 1.5 diameters into his foot when fired by our neighbor’s mean, bigger, older, dumb@$$ son from point-blank range.

His dad, upon learning of the incident, took the BB gun away, broke it in half, and $#!+canned it — so Tykie-Poo went on to other forms of torment. A little training before the fact might have been more effective …Although, technically, the cops in most cities regard BB guns as “firearms” and, technically, it’s illegal to shoot ‘em within city limits except on approved shooting ranges.

Daisy Red Ryders are great in rural areas for Pa to teach Kid shooting fundamentals, and target practice is cheap,* quiet, and (under the right circumstances) safe.

I don’t hold with ‘em much in the city.

*BB stands for size BB shot, 0.18 inch diameter, 50 of ‘em to the ounce. Bought in bulk, is way cheaper than almost anything else you could buy for beginner-level target plinking.