Guns Haven’t Changed in America. People Have. + I Didn’t Grow Up Around Guns.

Couple of articles/opinion pieces on the subject of guns...



Having enjoyed my 82nd birthday, I am part of a group of about 50 million Americans who are 65 years of age or older.

Those who are 90 or older were in school during the 1930s. My age cohort was in school during the 1940s. Baby boomers approaching their 70s were in school during the 1950s and early ’60s.

Try this question to any one of those 50 million Americans who are 65 or older: Do you recall any discussions about the need to hire armed guards to protect students and teachers against school shootings? Do you remember school policemen patrolling the hallways? How many students were shot to death during the time you were in school?

For me and those other Americans 65 or older, when we were in school, a conversation about hiring armed guards and having police patrol hallways would have been seen as lunacy. There was no reason.

What’s the difference between yesteryear and today?

The logic of the argument for those calling for stricter gun control laws, in the wake of recent school shootings, is that something has happened to guns. Guns have behaved more poorly and become evil. Guns themselves are the problem.

The job for those of us who are 65 or older is to relay the fact that guns were more available and less controlled in years past, when there was far less mayhem. Something else is the problem.

Guns haven’t changed. People have changed. Behavior that is accepted from today’s young people was not accepted yesteryear.

For those of us who are 65 or older, assaults on teachers were not routine as they are in some cities. For example, in Baltimore, an average of four teachers and staff members were assaulted each school day in 2010, and more than 300 school staff members filed workers’ compensation claims in a year because of injuries received through assaults or altercations on the job.

In Philadelphia, 690 teachers were assaulted in 2010, and in a five-year period, 4,000 were. In that city’s schools, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer, “on an average day 25 students, teachers, or other staff members were beaten, robbed, sexually assaulted, or victims of other violent crimes. That doesn’t even include thousands more who are extorted, threatened, or bullied in a school year.”

Yale University legal scholar John Lott argues that gun accessibility in our country has never been as restricted as it is now. Lott reports that until the 1960s, New York City public high schools had shooting clubs. Students carried their rifles to school on the subway in the morning and then turned them over to their homeroom teacher or a gym teacher—and that was mainly to keep them centrally stored and out of the way. Rifles were retrieved after school for target practice.

Virginia’s rural areas had a long tradition of high school students going hunting in the morning before school, and they sometimes stored their guns in the trunks of their cars during the school day, parked on the school grounds.

During earlier periods, people could simply walk into a hardware store and buy a rifle. Buying a rifle or pistol through a mail-order catalog—such as Sears, Roebuck & Co.’s—was easy. Often, a 12th or 14th birthday present was a shiny new .22-caliber rifle, given to a boy by his father.

These facts of our history should confront us with a question: With greater accessibility to guns in the past, why wasn’t there the kind of violence we see today, when there is much more restricted access to guns?

There’s another aspect of our response to mayhem. When a murderer uses a bomb, truck, or car to kill people, we don’t blame the bomb, truck, or car. We don’t call for control over the instrument of death. We seem to fully recognize that such objects are inanimate and incapable of acting on their own. We blame the perpetrator.

However, when the murder is done using a gun, we do call for control over the inanimate instrument of death—the gun. I smell a hidden anti-gun agenda.


link to article... Guns Haven't Changed in America. People Have.


I Didn’t Grow Up Around Guns. Here Are My 4 Observations From the NRA Convention.




I am a conservative. I did not grow up around guns. I can’t recall hearing my parents talk about guns in our home. My dad didn’t hunt and I never lived in an area prone to high crime or gun violence. Guns were never on my radar until I witnessed firsthand the debate over gun control in the U.S. Senate in 2013.

Since then I have come to understand the importance of the Second Amendment and that understanding grew even stronger this past weekend at the National Rifle Association convention in Dallas. Here a few of my observations and takeaways from the gathering that drew more than 87,000 people.

1. The NRA convention was a family affair.

The NRA convention was a place for families. Observing the thousands of families that attended the convention made me wish I had grown up around guns.

It was impressive to walk the floor of the exhibit hall and see dads and moms teaching their daughters and sons how to properly hold a gun. I overheard explanations of what different guns were used for and why this ammo was better than that ammo. For many of these kids, guns aren’t toys or just hobbies. Instead, gun ownership is a way of life.

2. The NRA convention was full of well-informed individuals.

As an exhibitor, I had the opportunity of shaking hands with and talking with many individuals. One of the biggest takeaways that I came back to Washington, D.C., with is that gun owners are well-informed. Gun owners even seem to have their own language, one that I need to learn. Some of these folks hunt to feed their families. Some shoot guns for fun. Others are members of gun clubs or belong to professional shooting teams.

These gun owners know exactly what they shoot and why they shoot. They are well-versed in the Constitution and the politics surrounding the debate over gun rights. They are also very interested in school safety and took over 3,000 school safety products from The Heritage Foundation’s booth. Anyone who claims that NRA members are uninformed or “sheep” needs to attend next year’s convention.

3. The NRA convention was a place of diversity.

Individuals and families came to Dallas from all corners of the nation. I personally met folks from Washington, Idaho, New York, California, Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, and Missouri. The NRA convention attracted people of all races, religions, social classes, and ages.

The NRA moms and women of the NRA were out in full force. After attending the convention, I was not surprised at all to find out that women are one of the fastest-growing segments of the shooting sports business. These women and moms are passionate about protecting themselves and their families.

4. The NRA convention attracted the salt of the Earth.

The NRA convention was a peaceful place that attracted people who simply love freedom. I saw many a T-shirt that said: “Family, Faith, Friends, Flag, and Firearms: The 5 Things You Don’t Mess With.” These T-shirts paint a great picture of the type of people I interacted with for four days.

When the national anthem came over the loud speaker, every person in sight stopped, put their hand over their heart, and sang along. These are people who love their country, love the military, and love the sacrifices made by those who have fought to preserve freedom and liberty from the days of the Revolution down to today.

It’s true, many of these attendees fear for the future of the country and that is why they are involved in protecting their rights. I am grateful that so many of our neighbors, teachers, doctors, law enforcement, and family members are part of the NRA.

I Didn't Grow Up Around Guns. Here Are My 4 Observations From the NRA Convention.

 

I'm only 57 , and we never had those problems in school. I remember seeing a cop at school a few times , and it was usually for some kid getting busted with some pot.
So , their fix is taking away everyone's guns , instead of making parents be a parent. Make the parents teach these kids right from wrong , hold the kids accountable , give them curfews , teach them to respect others . Taking guns is only going to be a temporary minor fix , to a more major problem,,,,the kids.

 

Only 54 and nothing like that was going on in my youth. Think I remember a news story or two of fast food restaurants getting shot up and gang drive by shooting were just starting to get real popular.... you know where they hit everyone and everything except for the person they were trying to whack. And so help me if one more waitress tries to give me a senior discount I am going to come unhinged!!!

 

49 and I regularly took a rifle to school with me (Sako 22/250) during high school....no one thought a thing of it, hell a couple of teachers borrowed guns off me.

 

well, there's your problem...liberals hate those people ( salt of the earth types ), remember Obama's clinging to your God & guns speech ? His god was better than ours and those people all had AK's but, he did not want you to have any guns. Gun violence here is bad over there killing off their competing sects and Jews is fine. when a liberal wants you to compromise it is to let you allow them to dictate the terms of what you are to be allowed to have or keep. If you don't agree with a libtard your a fascist, raciest, homophobic, red neck uneducated Christian trailer trash blinded by hate.

If your a follower of the Prophet or any fringe social group, well now that's different they are educated, open minded, progressives ( not retarded like you ) filled with ethnic pride, equality, free speech and peace ( as long as it is in complete agreement with their views ) if not, F___ you shut up and run you down riot threaten act out violence upon you and use the full power oi all the government to destroy you if your killed you deserved it if one of their mouthy ex convicts want to fight and threaten the police you cannot arrest them and anything they do is in response to your ( white toxic salve owner past, racist culture ) and you fo not have the compassion or understanding to grasp that they are defending their culture ( of the welfare state, crime riddled communities ) . The only reason their children do not thrive is because of inner city unemployment and under funded government programs ( never mind their children skip school deal drugs kill one another and live in filth because their parents are to lazy to bend over and pick up the garbage at their feet or spend their money to paint or fix rental property they live in that is subsidized by our tax dollars. We the working are supposed to finance, build, maintain, clothe, feed, supply health care and medications free school breakfasts and lunches, daycare, pay their utilities and give them a monthly check and food stamps, even though they have never paid into social security or held a job !!! Oh and we have to bus them to vote they can vote as many times as they like and all of us that have a job income and responsibility are privileged and we need to let them vote not demand a valid ID to vote even though you need one to collect and use government benefits and your being heartless to require a drug test and be illegal drug free to collect from government programs........ and God help you if your a working conservative of any color, ethnic group, race, religion or non democrat because you can't label or question their leftist logic and will label call out accuse you of not being a loving or kind person a traitor to your own race creed and color.

THE REASON TO CONFISCATE YOUR FIREARMS IS SO YOU CAN'T KILL THEIR LAZY, LYING, STEALING CHEATING, DOPE HEADED VOTER BLOCK THAT BURGLARIZE CAR JACKs HOME INVADEs, ARM ROB, RAPE AND MURDER YOU AND YOURS !

Did I miss anything ?

 

I am 80, went to a 1 room schoolhouse with no running water or indoor toilets, 16 kids in 8 grades, heated with wood and in the cloak room there was a gun rack and during hunting season there were guns in it. The oldest student in the school would have been about 14. When I went to high school in town, there was a rifle team, and the 2nd year I was on the team I got a rifle from the ODM to keep, still have it. We shot at the National Guard Armory, they supplied the ammo, and had to take the guns back to school for storage in the gun locker at the gym. Page in yearbook for rifle club and special assemblies to tell about our team wins. Course when I graduated I joined the USAF and shot the M1, not the Springfield, but the sights were the same.

 

At first I thought you were talking about an episode of little house on the prairie

 

Changes, my great grand dad and the neighbors built the school house, never was a debt in its construction, and he donated the land for it, 1 acre , and his children, grand children, and great grand children walked 150 yards to school while some others walked 2 1/2 miles. If you had a child in school, you were required to furnish 1 cord of wood a year and board the teacher for 1 month a year. The teacher instead got paid the board as she lived in her own house, but the parents were not excused from paying . My mother was the school board secretary and in 1948, the teacher was paid $200 a month, no benefits or pension, and I remember mom complaining that the budget for the year for 16 children in the school was up to $4,000 a year total and that was to much. That did not include the tuition for high school. We learned cursive writing, Palmer method, how to make change, how to add, subtract, multiply, divide, use log and trig tables, parse a sentence, read the classics, and dad and grand dad said we had it easy as they had dropped Latin about 1925. This was in the first 8 grades.

 

When liberals began to dominate the school system is when things went down hill fast.
My school experience began in the 50s and by then there were liberals demanding their way and spreading their own fears to the kids . It didn't help we had atom bomb scares, remember the drills ?
By then there were already all kinds of rules about what you could take to school ,at least at that time you could point your finger and pretend to shoot at one another .
We played cow boys and Indians in the neighborhood all the time and no one thought any thing of it, or became a mass murderer as a result .
In those days a murderer was put to death , all the incentive necessary to deter those crimes . Liberals have removed the consequences, so where is the deterrent ?free food and shelter for the rest of your life ? That's a deterrent ??
Kids knew that as a minor they could not be tried as an adult so they knew how to abuse the system .
Little has been done to change that .
Psychiatrists and lawyers are to blame making ways to abuse the system to fill their own pockets . Why do your think we have such a corrupt government ?

 

I grew up around guns I could not open a drawer without a gun in it or ammo except in the kitchen and there was a rifle and a shotgun by the back door. I had my own before I was 13. I was not to handle or use the others that is why I had mine, I have a credit at the local store and I could buy ammo soda pop and lunch now and again I did buy smokes and chew now and again with cash so my dad would not see it he would every once in a blue moon use my credit if he didn't have cash on him. although we were never robbed we did not have a lock on our door. it was an accepted fact vagrants or hobos rode the rails and came into towns and came by homes to do a chore for some money or food on rare occasion we were not worried about visitors we had dogs unfriendly ones if you got close to the house. unless we escorted you or we called them off from the door you did not make it in or past the carport.

I used to carry my 22 rifle with me on my bike to the dump and shoot rats and tin cans. No one thought anything about it no more than if I were carrying my fishing rods and tackle box. Pardon my French but this world is full of Pus___s I remember women use to faint rare but I seen it happen but since they got all, empowered equal and physically fit they got fearful of everything. My Mother would snatch up a snake and pop its head off was as proper a lady as most and didn't put up with drunks or fools I recall her kicking a drunk in the shin so hard he could not stand because he put his hands on her falling out of a local store door.mostly because he was mouthy she also carried a pistol in here purse. I only heard her say one or two mild cuss words like damn I recall in Germany a Gypsy got snotty with here and she cleaned her clock.

It's a different world and not at all the one I was born into.

 

I always had a shotgun and a .22 while growing up. The ammo was in my dresser and my mom would ask if I needed more. I would walk or ride my bike out to the desert to plink or shoot unfortunate lizards. This was in grade school, In high school, my friends and I went shooting and hunting together. Mostly rabbits and Doves when in season. it wasn't unusual to keep a rifle in the trunk of a car at school. I never even thought about shooting anyone at school. I did keep it in the back of my mind that I could protect my family if anyone tried to break into the house. I truly believe everything you experience has an effect on you. So I wonder about video games. A guy at work says all this seems to have started after the schools stopped paddling kids for misbehaving.