My First Rifle

[Boom_70]

Local NY station WABC had an eye opening investigative report on marketing of rifles
to kids. Reporter went undercover to Walmart to show how easy it is to buy
a pink Daisy rifle.

Just don't see how any responsible parent would buy a gun for their 8 year old.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/investigators&id=9093575

 

[Dick Whitman]

As strange as this may sound, I'm almost less troubled by hunting rifles marketed to children - I realize that it's a way of life in some rural and Great Plains communities - than I am by some of the toy gun marketing I see in the kids' aisles at Meijer and Wal-Mart. I know that actual guns can do actual damage. On the other hand, I think that some of the marketing messages - essentially that war is a blast, no pun intended - can possibly have more damaging long-term effects on a person's psychological development. You should see some of the images on these toys.

 

[Dick Whitman]

This is not even very realistic compared to some of the others I've seen:

 

[Dick Whitman]

 

[JackReacher]

Just about every kid I grew up with had some sort of gun. Usually got their first at around age 7, 8, or 9. My one nephew is 7 and he's been hunting several times with my brother, who I believe has given him his first gun already. Maybe two. Then again, my brother takes the necessary precautions to make sure the kid can't get his hands on it any time he wants.

I didn't own my first gun until a few years ago, though.

 

[Boom_70]

You could lose an eye with that thing

 

[Bamadog]

I grew up shooting squirrels out of my grandmother's pecan orchard with an old Marlin .22. My grandfather instructed me on safety rules I follow to this day. He also showed me how to shoot, finding a little spot on the squirrel (like "aim small, miss small on the "Patriot") and fire away. Great gun and accurate like you can't imagine. With those old iron sights, I did a lot of damage to the squirrel population on the Gulf Coast.

I still hate squirrels to this day. And yes, I miss that Marlin .22. Great gun.

 

[YankeeFan]

More guns in the hands of Americans, yet gun crime is down:

Gun crime has plunged in the United States since its peak in the middle of the 1990s, including gun killings, assaults, robberies and other crimes, two new studies of government data show.

Yet few Americans are aware of the dramatic drop, and more than half believe gun crime has risen, according to a newly released survey by the Pew Research Center.

In less than two decades, the gun murder rate has been nearly cut in half. Other gun crimes fell even more sharply, paralleling a broader drop in violent crimes committed with or without guns. Violent crime dropped steeply during the 1990s and has fallen less dramatically since the turn of the millennium.

The number of gun killings dropped 39% between 1993 and 2011, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported in a separate report released Tuesday. Gun crimes that weren’t fatal fell by 69%.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-gun-crimes-pew-report-20130507,0,3022693.story

What's up is suicide, with 60% of gun homicides being suicides.

You probably saw the headlines late last week: suicides among middle-aged Americans appear to have surged over the past decade. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently found the suicide rate for people aged 35 to 64 jumped 28 percent between 1999 and 2010, a troubling development by any measure. This means more Americans now die of suicide than of car accidents.

...

According to a recent Pew Research Center report, over 60 percent of all firearm deaths in 2010 were suicides.

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2013/05/hidden-geography-americas-surging-suicide-rate/5489/

 

[Dick Whitman]

More guns in the hands of Americans, yet gun crime is down:

I hope you aren't implying causation.

 

[User 11148]

More guns in the hands of Americans, yet gun crime is down:

I hope you aren't implying causation.

I don't think he is. But those statistics certainly belie commonly held views about how making firearms easier to purchase makes Americans more vulnerable to gun violence.

 

[Shoeless Joe]

I got my first BB gun for Christmas when I was 8. I got my first shotgun (.410) for Christmas when I was 10. I don't remember when I got my first .22, but it was about the same time when a great uncle died. I was taught safety and how to use them. Guns aren't the problem. Irresponsible people are.

 

[Dick Whitman]

More guns in the hands of Americans, yet gun crime is down:

I hope you aren't implying causation.

I don't think he is. But those statistics certainly belie commonly held views about how making firearms easier to purchase makes Americans more vulnerable to gun violence.

No, they don't. And you, of all people, know that.

 

[YankeeFan]

More guns in the hands of Americans, yet gun crime is down:

I hope you aren't implying causation.

No. But, there's also no correlation between more guns, and more gun crime, and most folks don't seem to understand that.

In fact, as the article point out, most folks don't understand that there actually is less gun crime:

Yet few Americans are aware of the dramatic drop, and more than half believe gun crime has risen, according to a newly released survey by the Pew Research Center.

 

[Dick Whitman]

More guns in the hands of Americans, yet gun crime is down:

I hope you aren't implying causation.

No. But, there's also no correlation between more guns, and more gun crime, and most folks don't seem to understand that.

In fact, as the article point out, most folks don't understand that there actually is less gun crime:

Yet few Americans are aware of the dramatic drop, and more than half believe gun crime has risen, according to a newly released survey by the Pew Research Center.

Yes, most people think that the world is going to hell in a handbasket, when it's not. It's becoming less violent.

But that absolutely does not mean that more guns does not mean more gun crime. The factors that lead to this result are so complex and multi-faceted that it's laughable to try to draw a pat conclusion like that.

 

[Boom_70]

I got my first BB gun for Christmas when I was 8. I got my first shotgun (.410) for Christmas when I was 10. I don't remember when I got my first .22, but it was about the same time when a great uncle died. I was taught safety and how to use them. Guns aren't the problem. Irresponsible people are.

Probably true, but a lot of laws are the result of irresponsible people and the greater
public good.

If we had a strong national organization called the NDWI we would still be able to
legally drive around drinking beer without wearing our seat belt.

 

[Boom_70]

More guns in the hands of Americans, yet gun crime is down:

I hope you aren't implying causation.

No. But, there's also no correlation between more guns, and more gun crime, and most folks don't seem to understand that.

In fact, as the article point out, most folks don't understand that there actually is less gun crime:

Yet few Americans are aware of the dramatic drop, and more than half believe gun crime has risen, according to a newly released survey by the Pew Research Center.

50 % of murders comes from the race that makes up 10 % of the population.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Local NY station WABC had an eye opening investigative report on marketing of rifles
to kids. Reporter went undercover to Walmart to show how easy it is to buy
a pink Daisy rifle.

Just don't see how any responsible parent would buy a gun for their 8 year old.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/investigators&id=9093575

Daisy makes BB guns, not the rifle in question.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Local NY station WABC had an eye opening investigative report on marketing of rifles
to kids. Reporter went undercover to Walmart to show how easy it is to buy
a pink Daisy rifle.

Just don't see how any responsible parent would buy a gun for their 8 year old.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/investigators&id=9093575

Daisy makes BB guns, not the rifle in question.

Looks like we just got Boomed.

 

[Boom_70]

Local NY station WABC had an eye opening investigative report on marketing of rifles
to kids. Reporter went undercover to Walmart to show how easy it is to buy
a pink Daisy rifle.

Just don't see how any responsible parent would buy a gun for their 8 year old.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/investigators&id=9093575

Daisy makes BB guns, not the rifle in question.

Looks like we just got Boomed.

No - used wrong name. If you read story pink gun is called "The Cricket"

 

[YankeeFan]

Yes, most people think that the world is going to hell in a handbasket, when it's not. It's becoming less violent.

But that absolutely does not mean that more guns does not mean more gun crime. The factors that lead to this result are so complex and multi-faceted that it's laughable to try to draw a pat conclusion like that.

Guns in the hands of criminals -- like gang members in Chicago -- leads to more crimes.

We already have laws against that.

So, what's the purpose of all these proposed new gun laws?

Despite the recent tragedy in Kentucky -- which resulted in the entire population of the state being branded backwards by one member -- it's guns in the hands of criminals that is the problem.

Young kids, learning to hunt responsibly, with their parent or grandparent, and owning their own, appropriately sized gun are not the problem. They largely grow up to be responsible gun owners, with a respect for the power of a rifle.