Children, Rules and Guns
My father kept his
in the bedroom closet.
My grandfather said he didn't need one,
but when I had to crack his safe because he forgot the combination, I found two
old ones in there. My uncle kept his
on top of the chest of drawers in the bedroom. As a child, all of my friends had
essentially the same experiences.
In my 14th summer, Elvis made the
charts with "Heartbreak Hotel."
I had a little jingle in my pocket from my paper route, mowing grass and
caddying for the rich folks down at the fancy golf course. Because, you see, I wanted one,
too. So I worked and saved for it.
Well, there came a day back that summer
when I had the $25 I needed, so I peddled my bicycle the seven miles over to
the closest Wards store. And
therein, I purchased my first one:
A brand new bolt-action, single shot 22 caliber rifle.
"Don't load that thing around
here," the salesman admonished as he rapped a sales receipt around the
barrel and bagged my 300 rounds of "High Power" ammunition.
That was sold in the basement of the
large department store. Picture a
lanky 14 year old boy walking through a department store today carrying a rifle
and a bag of ammunition. That would
cause a bit of attention today.
Back then, no one cared. Nor
did anyone say anything as I held the rifle across the handlebars of my bike
while I peddled home.
It wasn't that everyone knew me (few
did) and had no fear of me shooting them, it was that kids did not shoot at
people. Period. No exceptions. There were no problems like that back
then.
We lived within the city limits of a
major city, but on the very last street of that city. Within a five minute walk was a large
woods. Therefore, most of the guys
in the neighborhood had guns and it was rather common to see them carried
around.
There were two rules for us kids that
were not often violated: No loaded
guns within the city limits. And,
point it at someone and you loose it.
The last rule was important because, back then, any adult could smack
any kid upside the head and take their gun away for inappropriate use. It happened sometimes, too.
Lots of guns were around that
neighborhood, but no person ever shot at anyone. Not even once.
Yet, in high school, many of us were
chided relentlessly by our "peers." That's part of growing up. I certainly got my share, because there
was much about me to kid about.
Four eyes and fumble fingers come to mind. Lanky and dumb Pollock were part of it,
too.
But even with that, there were unstated
rules among us kids. Say something
nasty about someone's family or religion and there will be a fight. Ditto for not fighting
"fair" by ganging up on someone or picking on someone smaller.
That's how it was back when Elvis was
starting to become "king" and Fats Domino was selling records by the
many millions. We knew that people
were all different and that we did not have to like everyone. But we also were taught that we were not
to bother people, that we were to respect their freedom and
leave them alone — as long as they did the same for us.
There also came a time that summer when
a group of us were stopped by a police officer while walking down my street at
11:30 p.m. We had shotguns, 22s and
there were even a couple revolvers in the group.
The officer asked normal police officer
questions: Where do you live? Where are you going? Why are you out this late? Do your parents know you are out this
late? However, there was not one
question about the guns. We were
sent home. We were going home
anyway, so simply replied "yes sir," and continued on our way.
No identification was necessary. We didn't have any, anyway. No one did, back then, unless they drove
a car. Nor did the officer bother
to write down our names. We lived
in the neighborhood, he didn't. Still,
we were required to do as we were told, with no back-talk. Else, the nice officer would have
delivered us to our parents and we would have been punished.
The rule was, if a "bad"
adult tells you to do something you knew was wrong, you were to get out of his
presence immediately. But still, no
back-talk was allowed.
And that is the key, the missing
attribute today: We had rules. Lots of rules. And we obeyed them correctly. Usually, anyway.
"Society has rules," our old social studies teacher liked to say in
his booming voice. "Your
responsibility is to obey those rules." All of our parents said pretty much the
same thing. Continuously.
There were consequences, too. Parents would whip your butt for sassing
them or any other adult. Other kids
would kick your butt if you went too far with them. Steal, rob or assault and you got the
police. Justice was swift from all
sectors of society back then. As
kids, we couldn't get away with much of anything.
All of my old crowd still have
guns. Many of us are also legally
armed citizens in public. Yet, no
one out of the whole crowd has ever been accused of using a gun
inappropriately. And, as I add that
up, we are talking about over 500 years (combined) of well armed citizens.
But, as kids, we had supervision, we
learned rules, and we were taught to respect the rights of others. Also, we were not desensitized by a
constant diet of murder, mayhem and people bleeding as entertainment and
nightly news on television.
In short, the problem is not the guns
— since before Billy the Kid, guns were always
easily available to youngsters. The
problem is the parents, and the liberal "feel good" atmosphere in the
public schools. Children are not
adults; they are in training to become adults. Children need strong direction. Rules, in other words. Lots of very clear
rules. Providing a
permissive atmosphere for children does nothing but allow anarchy in society.
Now, capitalizing on the tragedy at
Littleton, Colorado, comes the babbling of vulgar liberal minds. Liberals refuse to admit that the
actions of those young demented killers are but outward symptoms of the moral
decline brought about by their liberal social policy. Instead, they wish to punish all of
society by depriving honest Americans of their Constitutional right to keep and
bear arms.
Nothing will be said of the millions of
armed American citizens who use their guns correctly. That will never be factored into the
equation of freedom. The socialists
of the world want tighter controls over the American people and they fear
attempting to exert too much control while so many of us are armed and skilled
with our arms. For that, they have
the Clinton administration.
I, for one, will practice my birthright
and remain as always, an armed American citizen. So should you.
© April 1999
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