No, I'm not a parent. But I have memories of my own childhood that paint a specific picture of what gun culture in the US is. How close are you to families that are steeped in US gun culture?Johnny Dangerous wrote: ↑Mon Feb 26, 2018 9:12 pmThomas Amundsen wrote: ↑Mon Feb 26, 2018 9:03 pmIt is puritanical, but I think that's the point. I basically agree with JustSit. Sure, people grew up with BB guns, etc. I did, too. But I don't think there's really anything beneficial about that. If anything, it helps indoctrinate one into NRA guns culture. I eventually got HUGE into guns and tanks and stuff around age 13-16. I was bringing home books from school about military weapons, bullets, etc. That's definitely related to growing up with BB guns and toy guns, hunting etc. I don't see anything positive about it now.Johnny Dangerous wrote: ↑Mon Feb 26, 2018 8:38 pm
Lots of people grew up with BB guns, archery, slingshots, and shooting old beer cans without needing AR 15's, bit of a red herring. Whatever the ethical questions of buying one's kid a BB gun (and sure, there are some), I think it's a bit of stretch to connect them to the current crisis. I get the point you are trying to make, but it seems a bit puritanical.
I think it's missing the forest for the trees to get puritanical about that stuff, it also makes me wonder if the people complaining are parents themselves, once you actually have children you realize how complicated dealing with "I want x" is, it isn't as black and white as your decisions about toys and activities producing a predictable outcome.
My dad was a hunter, and all of his best friends and my uncles were hunters and gun enthusiasts. On my 5th or 6th birthday, my uncle gave me a cap gun. I never asked for that. On my 8th or 9th birthday, a different uncle gave me a BB gun. On my 10th, my dad gave me a shotgun. I never asked for any of those guns. They were given to me and I was encouraged to enjoy guns, shooting, hunting, etc. They want their little hunting/gun buddies. It's a culture that children are indoctrinated into from a young age. From age 10 onward, I was really big into guns and would ask for them on my own volition. Young boys look up to their father, his friends, their uncles. If all of them are big into guns, it's pretty much a given that boy is going to think that guns are cool and want to shoot stuff. These children, girls included, grow into people who use assault weapons as a hobby. My sister is building an AR-15 at home right now.
Not all of it is bad. But I honestly don't see any redeeming qualities. That makes it an overall negative in my eyes.Johnny Dangerous wrote: ↑Mon Feb 26, 2018 9:12 pmI also don't equate learning something like archery or target shooting with creating a tendency towards violence itself, which requires a desire to dominate, control, and harm.. and not only an implement.