Moment of Sadness Today

How sad. I grew up in a small Mississippi town on the Gulf Coast in the 1950's. A neighbor shooting a handgun/rifle would not have aroused our attention; we all had a rifle/shotgun or two and could also shoot, when ever, in our back yard.
 
Sad it is.

In 1959 a neighbor boy and I would put our rifles in the basket on our bikes and ride through town on our way to the dump to shoot rats. No one ever gave us a second look. I bought that rifle from an old man on my paper route for $9. Of course he had to get the O.K. from my dad. I've still got it.
 
He absolutely did the right thing.
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Agreed, because no parent was present. I'd be over there inviting them to a bbq so fast that it'd make a ninny dizzy (sic). It's a very neighborly thing to do and We, the People, have no one but ourselves to depend on, and it's good to make friends and help your fellow man.

I counter your paranoia of she might freak, with how do you know that they aren't at this minute considering getting their first gun for home protection or the poor political climate? Just like aaron takes newbies shooting from his work and watering hole, we all must make an effort to be friendly and helpful and kind (don't forget to smile). Just be cool and make an effort. They're not going to throw you in jail! Oh my Gosh...:rolleyes:

Quit being a scaredy cat and go invite them to dinner. Don't just knock on the door and say hey can I let your kid shoot my gun. Then you might freak them out. Be neighborly about it.
 
I let the neighbor children look at my guns. But the neighbors are all blood relatives. They can just as well go in the kitchen and get something to eat or use the computer. I suspect their mom doesn't appreciate it, but she said it's okay. As long as I have legal consent, I won't deprive the chirren' of a proper and safe education on firearms. Hell. As much as they ask me about guns, they probably know as much as a lot of grown men.
 
I grew up in the late 50s and 60s and if a neighbor had let me handle a firearm my Mom would have been very upset with him. Of course I would have been thrilled and wouldn't have told her about it!:D Of course you did the right thing, especially if you didn't really know the kids well, no matter what decade it is.
This also reminds me of what my buddy told me about when he was a 12 year old kid and him and his friends would stop by a hardware store on a Saturday morning and buy a box of .22s and they would head down the street. All of them would be carrying their trusty .22 rifles, can you imagine if four twelve year old boys did that today? Someone would call 911 and it would make the evening news!
 
I grew up in the late 60s/early 70s. I recall being about 9 or 10 years old. My parents were pretty anti-gun but they at least let me have a BB gun but would never let me around real guns. A neighbor of ours had an old Marlin semi-auto .22. It was broken so he discarded the entire bolt and internals, it was just an empty receiver, barrel and stock, and gave it to me. I showed it to my parents and showed them that is was totally non-functional and they let me keep it to play Army with.

I was the envy of the other kids in the neighborhood but looking back on it, I knew how to treat my BB gun as far as gun safety but it probably wasn't wise to let me run around with a real (non-functioning) .22, having pretend shootouts with my friends who had plastic M16s. Imagine if a cop would have seen me from a distance. Nothing ever happened though, I kept it to our front and backyard, didn't carry it around the neighborhood.
 
Taking the current nanny-state in stride, you might want to go next door and tell the parents about showing the gun to the boys before the kids tell them:

"Hey mom, I saw Mr Dorf in his backyard with a gun and he showed it to me"... then she loses it and calls the police about a madman with an arsenal next door turning her sons into little infidels.

It is sad indeed, but you did the right thing... nothing like ****** off neighbors to make life a living hell.
 
In the FIRST place, there is no way I am going to sit in my yard cleaning a gun in public view. There are just too many Liberal Trained Ninnys who will freak out and too many crooks who would mark me for theft.
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Some of us did it all the time. I live next to the corner, so when I'm on my deck at the table, I can be seen by anyone that passes the neighbor's side. Didn't bother me, they would have to stop and stare for a while to figure out what I was doing. And if anybody freaked out, I really couldn't care less. The NDN's kid would generally see me and come over to watch, but never asked to handle any guns. Now he has kids of his own and probably teaches them about guns. Now though, when I move out of here, I'll have a decent garage in which to do these things.
 
I'm curious if Amsdorf is playing it safe, or perhaps talked to the parents? He hasn't posted back in awhile. This is a good thread, and provides much food for thought for all.

I'm reminded of something that happened about 5 or 6 years ago, where I used to live. Most of my neighbors were stand offish and pretty much kept to themselves. I rolled up in front home from work and seen the two neighbor boys (6-8 yrs old?) having a shoot-out with toy rifles. One was in his yard with a rifle over the fence, sighting in on his brother who was across the street hiding behind a tree with his rifle. I got out of my truck, and my path around the front of my truck and up my driveway took me into the line of fire. I noticed that both boys went to low ready so as not to sweep me with their muzzles, and the closer boy brought his finger alongside the triggerguard (!).

I immediately felt the rush of pride that a dad feels when his kids do it the right way. I had taught my kids to not point toy guns at non-combatants, and recognized that this is exactly what was going on with these two. The next day I seen their dad outside and just had to go over and shake the mans hand and give him kudos for his kids courteousness, and let him know that they're doing it right. When I said I'd like to talk to him about his kids, he got that worried look on his face, like they did something wrong.

I told him that I just had to shake his hand and say good job with the kids for teaching them the right things, and recounted what happened. Then his face turned to that thoughtful pride look and he cracked a smile. It turned out that dad was a Deputy Sheriff and pretty concerned as to whether he should even let the kids play with toy guns because of (the nanny state). We all went shooting together once, and had a blast. I let the kids shoot my Bearcat and 10/22. Just being neighborly.

The point is that we all need to reach out to others. The nanny state is trying to make gun owners go into the closet like the homosexuals used to be. Resist that! Gun owners are usually good people and as long as we are squeeky clean in our actions and words on the subject, there is no harm in extending friendly invites and conversation to our neighbors and fellow countrymen. More and more people are becoming new gun owners because of the political climate, and it is very important for us to lift these people up a little bit, with friendship, advice, and neighborliness. This strengthens the people and sets the nanny state back. There is minimal risk involved in this if you think about it. All of you fence sitters who have one leg in the closet and are ready to hide are hurting our cause for little reason other than paranoia. Please re-think your position and stand up for yourselves and our country.
 
The point is that we all need to reach out to others. The nanny state is trying to make gun owners go into the closet like the homosexuals used to be. Resist that! Gun owners are usually good people and as long as we are squeeky clean in our actions and words on the subject, there is no harm in extending friendly invites and conversation to our neighbors and fellow countrymen. More and more people are becoming new gun owners because of the political climate, and it is very important for us to lift these people up a little bit, with friendship, advice, and neighborliness. This strengthens the people and sets the nanny state back. There is minimal risk involved in this if you think about it. All of you fence sitters who have one leg in the closet and are ready to hide are hurting our cause for little reason other than paranoia. Please re-think your position and stand up for yourselves and our country.
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I'll reach out to other gun owners and non-gun owners when the political persecution stops. In the meantime, I keep to myself about guns or only converse with fellow gun owners in person that I know aren't rabid Right Wingers trying to label me an anti-gun commie. it's a sad state of affairs when gun owners of all political stripes can't even come together
 
Nah, I'm a bleeding heart liberal who just wants to ban all guns, and am using my interest in firearms and the fact that I have a huge stock of them at home as deep cover in order to infiltrate the OPFOR and wreak havoc among them, winning hearts and minds to our side.

:rolleyes:
 
These type of threads always have the "when I was a boy, we could...". Those days are gone and they're not coming back.

We have to live in the world we're in. It could be as simple as the kid dropping a heavy Garand, smashing his toe and howling to mom who then flips out.

Regardless, the OP did the right thing.
 
I hear ya. Sadly, it goes well beyond firearms attitude and reaches into just about every facet of our declining society. I see it everyday in the G. We call it the "marshmallow blanket of societal correctness". But....I rant. Bottom line, good on ya for wanting to share and help -- some just can;t be helped. R // Jim
 
I don't think the country is doomed, at least for any reason mentioned in this thread. I grew up in a house with no guns until we moved to the country. I lived there all of six months before leaving for good. The only gun in the house then was a .32-40 single-shot rifle. It was a log house.

I went in the army myself for three years, artillery training.

My son never so much as touched a gun until about six months before joining the army. Oddly enough, the gun was an old German MP-40 and it was at an armed forces display on the mall in Washington, DC. What the army is still using an MP-40 is something I don't know. But in any event, he became a tank crewman for three years and a few months, half of that time in Iraq. He still has no interest in guns. Tanks, yes.
 
What most threatens our society and our way of life is self-righteous people on all sides who think that their's is the only way, and anyone who sees things differently is wrong. Just my humble opinion of course...:p
 
K Mac, I'm glad there were some people around in the 1940s who felt their way was the only right way and destroyed those who felt their's was the only right way. I'm referring to ridding the world of the filth of Nazi Germany and Imperialistic Japan.
 
K Mac, I'm glad there were some people around in the 1940s who felt their way was the only right way and destroyed those who felt their's was the only right way. I'm referring to ridding the world of the filth of Nazi Germany and Imperialistic Japan.
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unfortunately, there are those that still cling to old prejudices from these wars and condemn citizens from those countries.

but K_Mac was referring to politics in the US, and I agree. Everyone seems to hate each other and until that changes this country will continue on a path of decline
 
I did not condemn citizens, today, from those countries. I simply said that the notion that the "problem" is that some people think they are right and others are wrong is an absurd notion.

Of course some people are right and others are wrong.
 
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