| What a strange take. I grew up in a small hunting town (I'm in my early 30s), where most high school boys (most girls didn't hunt, but some did) had a rifle and/or shotgun in their truck, mounted against the inside back of the cab where you could see it plain view. We had 0 homicides from guns in the 19 years I lived there, there was 1 suicide by gun that I know of. Many of us grew up hunting to feed our family. This is in Colorado. I shot my first pistol around the age of 5. I accidentally went to 7th grade with ammo in my pocket because we were hunting that morning. I went to the principal, he told me just to put the ammo in my locker. With that being said, you'd be hard pressed to find a group of townspeople more respectful of guns. It's not a gun problem, it's a culture problem. Not saying that there's not "insecure men" out there that are the victim of marketing, etc, but a lot of us grew up with guns and see them as a tool. |
Every family still had a rifle, getting license isn't that hard when you could answer questions about your intentions.
No handguns though, not very useful for self-defense or wildlife. I believe mom made and shot her first arbalest around 6-7 yo though.
Similar cultures, but one of them allows for outsiders to screen potential gun owners, and the other doesn't. Which, I believe, is the point – there always will be mentally unwell or ill-intentioned people. There should be a way for a small town to revoke the trust of allowing weapons in their hands.