Farmers, guns, and the "old days"

[oldrooster]

My parents where both farm kids that had moved to the city and soon after they married while living about fifteen blocks from a big ten university my father looked out the kitchen window and saw a rabbit eating his green beans in their small garden plot. He looked at my mother and simply told her if someone asked yes she did hear a car backfire and he grabbed his rifle and shot what became that day's lunch. can't do that today cars don't backfire like they used to in the 70's....

 

[Capvin]

To JenellYB I guess I will have to say that I agree and like just about everything you said!! And you said it quite well. As I have previously said, I am a gun owner who regularly carries a revolver and always has a rifle handy. As for the person who was distressed because they do not think that kids are taught about guns, that was not the case in my house and for most of the people that I know in this area, I do see that they also teach their kids about guns.

 

[JenellYB]

Btw, my own situation involving restrictions on keeping firearms connected to foster children...I am not a 'primary' care0giver, but approved secondary.

My daughter chose to take on the particular children, long term, even permanently. A little girl, whose mother readily reqlinquished parental claim, is now adopted, no longer under court supervision. the other two, however, out of an extreme abuse situation, she got at ages 2 1/2 and 1 1/2, remain under court supervision..the mother has released, the father that has never even tried to see them since infancy still fighting to keep it out of court...we're in the 4th yr of that legal battle, for no aparant reason that to continue avoiding any financial responsiblity for them that would be surely ordered in court. These boys are 8 and 10 now. We ARE their family, they ARE our family. They ARE my grand children. All 3 of these children are actually from 2 mothers that my daughter had previously been involved with as kids in foster care themselves....my daughter had become involved in working with teens either approaching 'age-out' or actualy already 'aging out' of the system, helping them get started in life. That's how she knew the mothers, both of whome got off into serious problems withg drugs and abusive relationships/marriages.

I did not accept the firearm restriction in order to take on foster kids...I simply adapted, my daughter took this on, these ARE my grand babies now, and any secondary care-givers in whose homes the children spend time much also be approved and meet certain provisions.I do not feel my 'constitutional rights' are being infrnged upon at all.

 

[JenellYB]

And looking aroud a bit. how well do you think we are teaching our kids about drugs, alcohol, and sex? If that's any example of the effectiveness of how we're teaching our kinds about those things, god help us all if we take up widespread teaching them about guns!

I feel like I have set off a firestorm of sorts here and it was completely not my intention. Years ago the gun was merely a tool in which a farmer or hunter used to kill an animal. In today's world it almost seems like it is taboo to mention guns. The thing that bothers me is that we teach our children about drugs,alcohol and sex but omit guns. Why is that? All are equally deadly but we abstain from the course of guns.

 

[JenellYB]

Actually, I think this is turning out to be a really good threat topic here on BYC, dealing with predators, which of course brings in concerns about guns, is something a lot of people taking up keeping chickens, with or without other spects of 'homestead' or country life, don't have family background and history with. I hope they are getting ideas from a range of perspectives, as it may apply in their own situations.

 

[zstewart123]

I just wonder why we all of a sudden have to hide our guns from kids etc. Back when I was a kids your dad saying don't touch the gun meant you don't touch the gun. I don't know if its kids being more stubborn and defying their parents or parents not being parents to their kids but something changed. I'm voting for the later. Parents need to quit being their kids BFF and be their parents. Last night my 9 year old told me he doesn't like me after I told him something he didn't want to hear. My response, "I'm your father not your friend." Maybe I'm wrong, who knows.

 

[JenellYB]

Well, it really hasn't been 'all of a sudden", these are changes that have been taking place a long time actually. And I don't think the 'blame' can be laid at this point on any one 'source', parents or whatever. Our whole society, culture, has changed. And guns no longer hold the real, practical niche they once did in our society. The attitude toward them now is very different. As I've said, to me and my upbrining, a guns were simply TOOLS. And the used and purposes of those tolls were more clearly and narrowly defined in all our thoughts and minds.. Guns were for hunting, game for food, protection from predators. Sure, cops and soldiers used guns, but there simply wasn't the perception there is now, guns are more thought of now AS something for blowing away another person. There was not this parnoid fear that makes people feel they are in constant danger and need to have a gun ever within reach to be ready to shoot anybody that "messes with them." I am disgusted by a recent trend of arguing in our societ about how LITTLE reason/cause one can get away with to legally shoot and kill an intruder onto property!! Texas' "castle laws" are a disgusting example of this trend...when I was a kid, killing even a burglar by blasting them in the back as they tried to run away was cowardly and murder! Now it's allowed! not only allowed, but several that have done have been lauded by the public, espcially the NRA crowd, as HEROES! It seems a pervasive slide into less and respect for others, even for human life, as a whole social attitude.

I just wonder why we all of a sudden have to hide our guns from kids etc. Back when I was a kids your dad saying don't touch the gun meant you don't touch the gun. I don't know if its kids being more stubborn and defying their parents or parents not being parents to their kids but something changed. I'm voting for the later. Parents need to quit being their kids BFF and be their parents. Last night my 9 year old told me he doesn't like me after I told him something he didn't want to hear. My response, "I'm your father not your friend." Maybe I'm wrong, who knows.

 

[wilbilt]

As others have stated, a firearm is a tool used to accomplish a necessary task. Much as a hammer, shovel, hoe or axe are used to do the tasks for which they are suited.

I am not registered with any party, although my views tend to lean a bit right of center. I believe in responsibility and self sufficiency and having the proper tools is a necessity in pursuing those ideals. I grew up in suburban southern California in the 1960s-1970s and there were shotguns and rifles in pickup gun racks in the high school parking lot. Nobody batted an eye. Now, discharging a BB gun in that city will land you in jail. Sad.

I moved north in 1985 and haven't looked back. The right to keep and bear arms is more than just a right, it is a responsibility.

 

[bnjrob]

Considering that there IS a distinct lack of value for human life, and the large number of home invasions that occur these days where people are seriously injured and killed for no reason, I do think that the Castle Laws have a place. You should be safe in your home. Period. And you should not be convicted of manslaughter or murder and sent to prison or get the death penalty for protecting yourself and your family when threatened in your home. That is what the Castle Laws are for.

Having been home alone, twice, when intruders tried to get into my home, I can tell you that it is pretty darn frightening. Fortunately for me, they were frightened off - the first time because they didn't think anyone was home because it was the middle of the day and they woke me up when they started climbing in my bedroom window. They were as freaked as I was when they saw me.

The next time it happened - in a different state - someone tried to get into my home at night, while my husband was gone. Someone that attempts to get into a home at night, when people are generally home and sleeping, is probably not there just to burglarize the place. By this time we had multiple, large dogs that went on the alert. The dogs nearly busted through the door and and tried to break through a window to get that intruder. Until that guy heard the dogs trying to get at him, he kept trying to get into my house. That was out in the country, in a large county where calling 911 meant 30 minutes or more waiting for help most of the time.

Since then we have moved, out in the country again. For a while when we got here, there was an active meth lab down the county road by our place. I can't begin to count the number of times a bunch of drunk, high meth addicts drove all the way up our driveway in the middle of the night because they mistook our dirt driveway for the dirt road to the meth lab.

Then there is the mother and daughter that were murdered and had their bodies dumped down a county road just a couple of miles from our house. We live in a large county - another place where it may take a half hour for the sheriff or VFD to show up after you call 911 - I know, because I've had to call.

As a kid, my dad taught me that you never point a gun at ANYTHING unless you are going to use it. It's not a toy.

But back then, we didn't have violent video games where you get to kill everyone and they all keep coming back to life. We knew what would happen if we fired a weapon. And we also knew that if we touched Dad's guns - we wouldn't sit down for a very long time. Back then, we were also taught how to behave and what was expected of us. And if we didn't do right, anyone could come up and blister our butts. That doesn't happen anymore. It really is a different time. And there really are people that make some really stupid choices and think it is ok to harm other people for no reason. I don't spend my time fretting or looking over my shoulder. But I am aware of the danger that exists now that I never thought about as a kid.

Do I want to shoot a person? No. Will I defend myself with whatever means I have at hand if my life or my family's life is at stake? You bet!

 

[ChickChickChicky]

I guess how common it is to see guns openly carried or "around" depends on where in the US you are. Here in the KC area it would be uincommon, but not unheard of, to see a gun in a rack in a pickup, or someone openly carrying a firearm. I can assure you that there are ALOT of guns in this town, though, as being outdoors on July 4th or New Year's Eve means taking your life in your hands... even the police take cover at midnight on New Year's..... Go out to the rural areas, though, and you'll see more guns.

At our very remote cabin in Montana, we both ALWAYS carried a gun anytime we left the front porch. People out recreating in the mountains, I believe without exception, carried guns. If someone came up to the cabin it was customary for them to stand out in the "driveway", at least 50 feet from the cabin, and holler "Hello in the house" so as not to startle the residents into coming out with gun drawn.

At my grandpa's farm in rural MO 50 years ago, he always had several guns hanging on the wall (which most any of us kids could easily reach). We were all told to NEVER touch the guns and so none of us did. When my daughter was little I kept a shotgun in the house (loaded), and instructed her from the time she was able to even crawl that she was NEVER to touch it.... just as I told her to NEVER touch anything under the sink, or any glass objects, or anything else I didn't want destroyed.... she had certain toys that she could play with all she wanted but MY stuff was off limits.... never had any incident with any of it. Nowadays people lock up everything they own from their kids, I guess because they are too lazy to TEACH their kids to keep their mitts off certain things. Just like I knew when I was a kid, my daughter knew when she was a kid that she'd get her butt blistered if she got into something she wasn't supposed to. I have made sure to teach my grandson about guns too, a la the "Eddie Eagle" program, and I've also taught him basic gun safety and let him handle my unloaded pistol (after making HIM check to make sure it was unloaded). If people are not willing to TEACH their kids anything, it's no wonder they get into trouble. Just my two cents worth.