[kenij]

I have no links, but I can tell you what I heard from my grandfather. Basically, yes, they took guns to school. Everyone did. It wasn't considered abnormal at all. They never had any problems with school shootings either. I guess if everyone has a gun, you'd end up dead pretty fast if you tried to start anything. After school, they'd go hunting and try to shoot something for dinner that night. If they couldn't get anything, their family might go without dinner that night.

I believe he lived in a fairly rural area though. I assume things were different in the cities.

[waterlesscloud]

My high school in the suburban south in the 1980s, people had gunracks in their trucks, often with guns on them. They couldn't come inside the building, but the guns in trucks were considered culturally untouchable at the time.

[slay2k]

Thanks to all three of you for the insights.

It's amazing how strange something can appear when interpreted in a different social or cultural context.

[Andrewski]

I for one find your (former) ignorance of the widespread nature of gunplay in America strange. Were you raised in a bubble?