People today are often horrified by 4 to 10 year olds having loaded guns in the 1950s and before

However, the rules and enforcement was different then.

For example, first of all you didn't give guns that were loaded to goofy kids. The ones that were chosen to have guns and bullets were told and trained "on pain of death or a severe bloody beating" that this weapon was for protecting the family from people or varmints around the house or farm. This tradition of giving guns and bullets to kids dates back to the 1600s and before that in Europe as well. So, this isn't something that started yesterday.

All this began to change during the Viet Nam War for a variety of reasons. So, when I grew up I was given my first gun a Remington pump .22 that could fire off about 17 shots as you pumped the rifle each time after you shot it. The idea was to train a child to be an adult. So, basically I was trained to be an adult emotionally at least by age 4 years old and trained to protect my family at all costs even if it cost me my life.

So, children WERE NOT infantalized like they are often today. Then children were expected to be young adults by age 4 especially if they were boys and almost every  boy I knew had a .22 rifle by the time they were 10 years old and I was given my rifle and bullets to keep in my closet away from other children.

This is just how things were done then historically for at least 400 to 500 years before the Viet Nam War.

Was that system better than now? In some ways it was better because children were taught to respect weapons and bullets on pain of death or being beaten within an inch of your life if you misused your gun privileges in any way. 

Note: Even though it is also true that when I was 6 years old my neighbor named Danny also 6 shot me in the leg with his BB gun (which shoots little BBs if you haven't ever shot one). Luckily I had jeans on because though it didn't penetrate my thigh it did make a silver dollar size purple welt on my leg and hurt like hell.

end note:

So, what I'm saying is that no system is perfect but at least we were taught how to use weapons and to respect those weapons as children. I was taught that a gun is a lot like a shovel or a pick or hoe. It's a tool that people use to protect themselves and their families and friends from whatever they need protection from.

In some communities it is likely still like this especially out in the Country away from the bigger cities.