Idle Observations From This Afternoon:

Call me a stuck up New England Yankee if you will, but this post should have been titled, “You might be a Redneck if…” I just don’t get children handling guns, even if you’re teaching them how to handle it safely. The world would be a better place without them, period. You have a beautiful daughter, btw.

You’re entitled to your opinion, Mamapajama. I don’t begrudge it one bit, as long as it is an <>informed<> opinion. Plus, you have proven yourself a reasonably astute person with at least <>one<> valid opinion: you too think my daughter is cute. *grin*

But ultimately, it is your <>opinion<>, and one that is not valid.

Might I suggest that you form such an opinion out of fear and ignorance, and that if you were less ignorant of guns, you’d be much less fearful of them?

I’d imagine primitive tribesmen considered automobiles to be tools of the devil the first time the saw them, but no modern city dweller considers cars to be inherently evil, now do they?

What’s the difference between the ignorant tribesman and the city dweller? Two things:

<>Education and exposure<>.

When it comes to guns, you have neither.

That’s not meant as an insult, by the way. Just an observation.

Mamapajama, I ask that you please tell the Australians that the gun ban was one of the best things that ever happened in their country. Why, you ask? Let’s take a look at the simple facts.

Australia banned gun ownership in 1996. In 2004, the results of this great triumph were as follows:

Homicides increased 3.2%

Assaults increased 8.6%

Armed robberies increased near 45%

In Victoria, gun homicides increased by 300% (that’s THREE HUNDRED, not a typo).

There was a dramatic increase in home burglaries and assaults against the elderly.

And the best part is … For 25 years BEFORE the gun ban, crime in the country had been DROPPING steadily.

And that’s in Australia. If that happened elsewhere, can you imagine what would happen here in America, with the way that our culture is, and what our crime rates already are? Like it or not, guns are here. Since we already have them, we simply CANNOT ban them.

Mamapajama, I ask that you please tell the Australians that the gun ban was one of the best things that ever happened in their country. Why, you ask? Let’s take a look at the simple facts.Australia banned gun ownership in 1996. In 2004, the results of this great triumph were as follows:Homicides increased 3.2%Assaults increased 8.6%Armed robberies increased near 45%In Victoria, gun homicides increased by 300% (that’s THREE HUNDRED, not a typo).There was a dramatic increase in home burglaries and assaults against the elderly.And the best part is … For 25 years BEFORE the gun ban, crime in the country had been DROPPING steadily.And that’s in Australia. If that happened elsewhere, can you imagine what would happen here in America, with the way that our culture is, and what our crime rates already are? Like it or not, guns are here. Since we already have them, we simply CANNOT ban them.

I’m jealous. I never had a pink rifle when I was a kid. I was also jealous of the girl in the neighborhood who had the pink Huffy Thunder Road bike. Jealousy is not green in my house, it’s pink.

Mamapajama,

With all respect — NOT teaching your kids how to safely handle firearms is probably the more dangerous path.

EVERY SINGLE ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING WITH INJURY I have seen that involved a minor with a gun involved a kid who didn’t know anything about guns, but came across one anyway. Such as my schoolmate who found a pistol IN THE GUTTER (nice suburban neighborhood NOT near a ghetto warzone) and shot another classmate with it by accident.

Before this goes on to a rant of “Well, if we banned all guns but from government agents!”

It was a stolen police pistol.

Also, structured shooting has been clinically shown to have POSITIVE effects on “at risk” children, helping them distill discipline in their lives. (Wildly uncontrolled impulsiveness doesn’t tend to encourage good shooting performance.)

Mamapajama,With all respect — NOT teaching your kids how to safely handle firearms is probably the more dangerous path.EVERY SINGLE ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING WITH INJURY I have seen that involved a minor with a gun involved a kid who didn’t know anything about guns, but came across one anyway. Such as my schoolmate who found a pistol IN THE GUTTER (nice suburban neighborhood NOT near a ghetto warzone) and shot another classmate with it by accident.Before this goes on to a rant of “Well, if we banned all guns but from government agents!”It was a stolen police pistol.Also, structured shooting has been clinically shown to have POSITIVE effects on “at risk” children, helping them distill discipline in their lives. (Wildly uncontrolled impulsiveness doesn’t tend to encourage good shooting performance.)

Mamapajama,

The world would be a better place if it was entirely peaceful, but until that day comes dealing with guns & other weapons is a fact of life.

Kids are always drawn to what's forbidden. Teaching your kids to handle them responsibly demystifies them and is the responsible choice when guns are in the house.

I think you're confusing gun usage with glamorizing violence. One does not equal the other.

AD, you’re raisin’ your little one right. My hat is off to you, sir.

<>Call me a stuck up New England Yankee if you will<>Ok, but I’ll make it a bit more accurate. You’re a stuck up, delusional and self-righteous New England Yankee. Which of course would be just dandy if your kind didn’t vote or procreate.

My baby girl is just 8 months so there’s a few years before she’ll be shooting. But I think I’m going to have to start looking for a little pink rifle like that for her first.

Everyone be nice now. You can disagree with her without getting rude.

Given that I’m pretty much a redneck living in New England, I find mamapajama’s attitude to be a little odd, since I’ve not run into anybody yet who seems to think being a redneck is a bad thing. I’m also a little curious as to why exactly she seems to think being a redneck is in fact a bad thing.

Chad

Great picture !!! Oh what wonderful memories you two are making together.

I used to spend lots of time with my Dad when I was young in his workshop. He taught me firearm safety, how to shoot and how to improve my aiming skills. At the time, he was loading his own ammo and I was fascinated by the process, melting down the lead to cast the bullets, greasing the bullets, getting the shells ready. I could do it all and once I was old enough to be trusted, I even got to measure out the gun powder!! I’m sure my mother was holding her breath with that … but oh, what fond memories this blog brings to mind from my childhood. I think I was the only girl in my class who could shoot! On the other hand, one of my best friends had her dad set her up with a small rowboat, lobster traps and her own lobstering license and she was out there earning her own $$$ by lobstering. The boys in our class were fit to be tied that a Girl was out there lobstering!

Great thing about my Dad … I was his only kid and never once did he ever say to me that “girls don’t need to know (whatever)…” and dismiss me to go off and play with my dolls. I learned how to handle guns. I helped him with carpentry stuff around the house, know which screwdriver is for what project, know how to use saws, etc. I helped him put cedar shingles on the barn – loved the symmetry of it all. I knew how to check my oil in the car and all those things, too. Just because I was female didn’t mean I couldn’t do these things.

Teach her well to know all these things and not become a helpless woman when she grows up. Target practicing and going fishing are a great start!!

Mamapajama,

I think the best argument against you was in the original post. It’s a great excercise, it helps arm strength and hone fine motor skill, and the little girl had a great time doing it. It was *fun* and not just training.

Shooting is a great hobby, it brings people of different ages together with a mutual interest, it fosters responsibility and maturity. It helps concentration, and aids in developing motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and it helps develop skills to focus at the task at hand.

I’m from a country with very strict gunlaws, but I remember being a kid and every child in a family where there was a gun got serious training in handling firearms, starting with bb guns when they were very young.
Guns at that time were usually kept loaded behind the door, or sometimes hung on the wall in the living room, never ever locked up. But I never ever heard of any kid touching one, they knew what it was, and that they were not to touch it.

Woooo!

AD,
I had to look at the pic at least 4 times to get past the cute, but I finally noticed it.
She is apparantly not on the firing line, so, so why is her bolt closed?
Was this an informal range,( local shooting spot), or a posed picture just to show off the cute?
Dennis (the librarian shusher)

Dennis, it was both an informal range, and posed to show off the cute.

I can’t bring Katy to regular gun ranges – far too noisy for her, even with multiple layers of expensive hearing protection.

The Cricket has to be manually cocked, BTW. Hers was uncocked, with the bolt closed on an empty chamber.

For a tiny smidgen of a second, while reading that, AD, I almost wanted a kid of my own, to teach these things. Luckily, the feeling went away quickly.

My first thought, seeing that picture, was “Who will soil themselves upon receiving it?”; several elected officials came to mind. But then I read MamaPajama’s comment, and that impish thought went away. If you weren’t on the other side of the continent, MP, I’d take you to the range. Once I too was afraid of guns, but I got over it. I wish I’d had someone to go to, who knew what they were doing.

MP, if you are still reading, take a Firearms Safety course. At the very least, as an adult, you should know how to check a gun, and know how to make one safe. You are under no obligation to change your views on them, but if you ate going to hate them, do it from a position of knowledge.

Antibubba

Nice, good fun and good PT at the same time.
MPJ, please don’t insult New England Yankees; some of us in the hills and even a few on the coast! actually don’t belong to the liberal establishment and never will. Just because we are outvoted doesn’t mean we don’t vote.

Ross beat me to the Aguila powderless, true CB (conical bullet,)recommendation. If you can find it (I have not seen any for several years,) try the standard Colibri rather than the Super Colibri. Colibri is cataloged as yielding 375fps to Super Colibri's 500fps and is air gun quiet in my Ruger 77/22. Both come with warnings against use in rifles for fear that the primer will not get the bullet all the way out of the barrel, but I have used both in my Ruger's 19 inch barrel and my honorary nephew's Savage MkII with it's 20.75 inch barrel without cause for concern.

While smaller hands can manage the Ruger MkII, I would look hard at the Ruger Bearcat and S&W Model 63.

Oh, and BTW, too cute by half.h

Be careful when you say “air gun quiet”. Not all pellet guns are quiet. My break pellet gun is louder than my .22 long rifle.

Word verification: actingun
Really?

Great Job using “exploding” targets. That will always develop a love for the sport. Good looking young shooter.

Hey bro:

Have to make a slight modification (taking care of ti this weekend). Monday, there will be a bipod that matches her rifle on the way…

You’re still at the same addy you sent me, right?

Yep, still the same addy.

Thanks, Strings!

well speaking from my experience with cp affecting my handds thats gotta be more fun than being handed a screw with a nut on it and told to undo and redo repeatedly.