I am starting to wonder if its me that isn't wired right....

The mind boggles at the mentality of some Americans towards fire arms
But why the hell would you let a NINE. Year old near one??

 

Tragic as it is, he's a prime candidate for the Darwin Awards.

 

I've long given up on worrying about what the yanks do with their guns. They have a document that they treasure that was written by their colonial forefathers, in the wake of war against their own government, over 200 years ago. It says they have a right bear arms. Apparently that's all we need to know, according to too many.

 

Bet the bears are really pee'd off about that.

 

Well put. Of course their constitution doesn't say that, per se, but the Many interpret it as that. My understand was that "the right to bear arms" is in their constitution in order to sort out the government of the day if they get wayward ... not to go Bear Hunting ... the wording is "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed" but the Supreme Court has ruled that it "is an individual and incorporated right, 'completely independent of any service in any militia' " ... pity ...

I heard the owner of the shooting range interviewed. He said that 8 was the minimum age on his range for a fully automatic weapon, and regular low power rifles (.22 was mentioned) was 5 ...

I have a .22 rifle for vermin destruction, my kids (eldest now heading for 21) have never been anywhere near it, not even for target practice or awareness training, even though they have both had rifle and firearms training as part of CCF at school.

 

Can you imagine what is going through that poor girls head right now?

I was using an air rifle by that age, but only with my Grampy around. I would have been about 10 or 11 before I first popped off his twelve bore and he supported me against the recoil (I was rather proud of the bruise that it left!), and probably about 13 before I was using the .22 for live kills.

Why?

Mine too.

CCF?

 

Combined Cadet Force - Army/Navy/Airforce (and in my day Police Force) "playing at soldiers" (aged 13 and upwards)

 

Bizarre bunch really. In some states they can wander into a store, buy a lethal weapon and ammo, walk out with it concealed about their person yet they want to effectively ban "headers" in football....................

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-28961233

 

My approach was let them - they only do it once and learn a valuable life lesson. Mine had the need to check the halogen hob to see how quickly it cooled down - a burnt finger soon cured this need and instilled a cautious approach to heat sources!

 

My first thought was that , that child will need therapy for the rest of her life. The poor little girl will never get over that. I was raised around guns but was taught carefully and well how to respect and use them. This child's life and that of the instructor's family has been terribly altered in ways that need never have happened.

 

I was trained to shoot by someone that had be shot, it was drumed into us that these things KILL and you respect anything that kills even cars,people,animals and mechiney
Edit
How many times has it been said on GC about teaching young childen about poisonous plants and not to eat them

 

The trouble is mate that we are churning out generation after generation of morons. They can quote any formula back, recite the periodic table and pluck facts etc out of their memory just like that. But they struggle to apply any knowledge because we have taken common sense out of the learning process. I really feel for our kids as it's not their fault.