“Guns and Children”
October 31, 2019
By Jim Culp
I read an article today
about one part of the young generation of kids being anti-gun, and the other
part of it being “pro-gun.” The article stated that kids are being trained by
their parents that are “NRA supporters” and “patriots.” Well, I don’t think either
one of those things matter when it comes to kids and guns. Let me explain.
I hold true to the
belief and reality that guns are tools. Granted, they are
powerful tools, but so are my other two objects that will be today’s examples.
These are my Honda Civic automobile, and my 12-inch miter saw. Both are tools,
and when used improperly or carelessly, can be dangerous or deadly. But let us
get back to guns for a short time.
Our society (here in
North America) has demonized firearms to the point of people fearing them as
much as they do fire, death, or war. The media daily pours gun violence, gun
laws, and gun restriction down our throats like we were dogs in a training
yard. “Guns are Evil,” and “Guns kill Children,” are sounded from the speakers
like the Pope preaching love and peace to a crowd at the Vatican.
The truth to the matter
is that guns are inanimate objects unless they have interaction from three
sources. These are the human brain, a human programmed machine, or an impact
from a powerful source that causes the ammunition inside the gun to discharge.
The third source is highly unlikely; but can happen. Firearms are tools just
like my car or my saw.
I began teaching my
daughter how to use and handle forearms when she was about 9 years old. Some people
would tell me that she was too young, but I believe a parent is the judge of
their own children, as long as it doesn’t involve abuse. My daughter and I
would drive out to my private shooting range, and I would fire my “big guns”
first, and she would play in the creek and the woods while I did so. We’d then
eat our lunch and go over the rules of shooting. After that, we’d shoot .22
(rimfire cartridges) at paper targets to make sure they remained sighted in.
Then we would scatter 9 or 10 fired shotshells in a large area, and play “walk
the shell.”
This is a game of two
players shooting the same target, one at a time, and trying to “walk” the
target over a line in the distance (about 10 yards).
The shooter that
succeeds first gets a point. When all the shells are “walked,” the person with
the most points is the winner. By the time my daughter was 12, she was beating
me one out of three games, sometimes two of three. She never shot anyone, held
up a store, or killed 10 people at Walmart.
So back to my other
examples of dangerous tools. Again, I’ll use my daughter as my human example.
My car is a great tool that can transport me to distant places like Omaha,
Albuquerque, Florida, and North Carolina. It’s a very handy tool for these and
other travels; near and far.
If I decide to go to a
party and drink a liter of Old Number 7, I am foolish indeed to make the
decision to drive my car one block, much less 20 miles. I fully admit to doing
so (many times) in my younger days. Oh, the folly of youth. The tool (in this
case, my little Honda Civic) becomes a deadly machine that weighs 2,500 pounds;
and is moving at anywhere from 20 miles per hour to 65 miles per hour. The
result of this machine (driven by an impaired person) can be tragic, life
changing, or even deadly. For this reason, I coached my daughter on driving for
over a year and a half before I let her drive alone. I also made her learn to
drive my truck with a 5-speed manual transmission, just so she knew the
difference. Why all this? Because in a short time, you’ll be allowing a kid to
get behind the wheel of a vehicle that weighs over a ton, can attain a speed of
over 100 mph, and effectively becomes a big bullet. That responsibility puts a
handgun or a rifle in the back seat. But people today think the other way
around.
So back to my second
example; the miter saw. This is a tool that electrically powers a twelve inch,
toothed circular blade at 4,800 revolutions per minute. It cuts boards, blocks,
and just about anything made of wood. Change out the wheel, and it cuts metal,
plastic, or other materials. You wear well made eye protection, and good ear
protection. If you don’t, a piece of material can fly out of the blade and
leave you blind or bleeding.
Did I ever allow my
daughter to operate this machine? No. It’s a machine that takes years of use to
gain proficiency on. Even experienced users take short-cuts sometimes and the
results can be very bad.
So, some folks would
say that guns are more deadly and kill more people than miter saws or Honda Civics.
I say nay, because it’s all about the training, a good teacher, and an
open-minded student.
In closing, I will say
that the gun issue is a closed subject for me. I know what a gun is, what it
can be used to do, and the legal limits of how a gun can be used within the
confines of the law. I think that most of these people that don’t allow their
kids to grow up with guns are probably the same parents that don’t assign
chores to them or make them clean their rooms. I reckon there is a connection
there.
-Jim
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