I learned gun safety from my father. He loved to hunt quail and took me with him at every opportunity. At age 5 or 6, it was a BIG DEAL to get to go with him and watch the dogs and take quail home for my mother and grandmother to prepare for dinner or breakfast. I have never dined any better.
He let me carry my BB gun when we hunted in my early years. We discussed loaded and unloaded guns, where the barrel was pointed, and how to put the gun on the ground or hand it to someone when we crossed a fence or difficult area. My most dangerous lesson occurred when we were hunting with my uncle Bryan (I was named after him) and he and dad were walking in front of me to a new spot. Uncle Bryan had his gun over his shoulder pointed in my direction and accidentally pulled the trigger. That blast missed me by about 2 feet. I can remember my father looking at him after making sure I was OK, and not saying a word. We never hunted with him again as I recall.  
He gave me a 22 rifle on my 10th birthday. We went down to Glynn D. Harrell’s hardware store and he said it was OK for Dan to charge 22 shells any time. We went out to his car, and he looked at me and said “always be careful.” I still remember that very direct look in his eyes sitting in his car when he gave me that admonition. He was very serious. In my teen-age years, I took several girls rabbit hunting and really hunted rabbits. I shot a lot of 22 shells.
On my 14th birthday, dad and Lee Sadler (he owned the drug store) gave me a 410 shotgun that they had jointly purchased a few years prior. They took me to the café and wished me well and gave me that gun. I was looking it over and pointed it somewhere in the room. My dad took the gun and said “don’t point at what you don’t want to shoot” and didn’t let me have it for a few days. Another lesson well learned.  
I had those guns in my vehicle at school most of the time I was in high school. We hunted after football practice, on week-ends, and my friends and I probably had the most fun and freedom with our guns that is possible.  
You would think that I lived in another time and place. That is not true. I see fathers and children hunting together at the Bottoms and in the fields here in our area. I have heard gun safety and best hunting procedures defined in the field with these kids. I have seen their guns confiscated by concerned parents for a period of time. There are fewer kids hunting now. Urban sprawl, loss of habitat, and maybe cell phones and computers have pulled youngsters out of the fields and marsh in favor of other activities. I would love to see gun safety taught in schools. It certainly is in some other countries. Hunter safety courses are so valuable. Cheers to those instructors!
Obviously, the best way to learn gun safety is at the feet of careful parents and adults. It might be the best gift a child will ever receive. A big “atta boy” to those parents hunting with their kids instead of hunting for their kids!
Doc