The implication isn't that they are giving young kids guns to keep and handle independently. My dad bought me a rifle when I was 13 or 14. It wasn't mine to use whenever I wanted like a Xbox, it was just the one I used when he took me shooting. I wouldn't trust a young kid with a handgun because they are much more dangerous as far as accidents go, but some parents living in the rural southwest probably trust their kid to carry a long gun for defense against coyotes. Unless child abuse or neglect is going on, parents know better how to raise their kids, not the government.