GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, OR DO THEY?

[HairOfTheDog]

Just throwing this out there for conversation.

It wasn't that long ago that firearms in the hands of children was no big deal, in fact it was common place. We did not have the issues then that we have now. Even when I was a child I was able to take a firearm to school. People did not freak out, I did not have the cops called on me. I was not suspended. I was allowed to use the handgun in my presentation and I was graded on it. No big deal.

Maybe my thinking is off base,maybe not. What say you all?

I respect the cultures of different states and locales, it makes this country interesting. I think your experiences as a child/teen are very different from mine due to geography. It has never been permissible to bring a gun on school grounds at any time in my life and we're about the same age. That doesn't mean I consider your thinking or experiences off-base - just naturally different.

I’m also a nostalgic person, but am very aware of how society and culture have changed over the 4 decades that I’ve been on this planet. 6 decades ago when the article was published, it was undoubtedly all the more different. I’m looking at societal problems/ issues with today’s eyes.

Having said that, the 1956 LIFE article that you posted was controversial even back then. That story didn’t make the cover because it depicted a standard sign of the times across the nation. Just the opposite. In response to 550 accidental gun deaths of children in Indiana that year, Mr. Rankin was motivated to teach safety. Education and safety are good, I agree with that completely. But, there was still reaction that grade schoolers were too young to be handling guns. I think in a classroom setting of that sort, considering how guns were typically used at that time, I probably wouldn’t have been amongst the objectors back then and still probably wouldn't object for reasonably aged children today. (I don't get the uproar over shirts and stuff either, btw).

The point that came up earlier in this thread with regards to children and guns wasn't an objection to safety education. It was a rejection by some, myself included, of the claim that educating/indoctrinating children to guns at a very young age somehow makes it risk-free and less irresponsible for adults to leave loaded weapons in handling reach of toddlers, 5 years old, and young children in general. Times and guns have changed; young children's' ability to connect actions with consequences has not.


Another picture from the 1956 LIFE article. I wouldn't have objected to gun safety education for them in 1956 and I wouldn't today. I also wouldn't leave a loaded gun where they had access to it or could find it after they received safety education in 1956 and I wouldn't today. JMO.

In terms of children/minors and gun control laws:
I don't think the minimum age for gun ownership should be lowered and I don't think minors should be able to take guns on school grounds today (but do like the idea of some armed teachers and/or security on campuses).