BF2S Forums An interesting point (Guns & youth)

I think in a way these sorts of things happening are ironically tied to the "anti-violence / anti-gun " parenting style which is all the rage these days

Because of gang warfare in the 90s, there are a LOT of parents that dont want to let their kids play violent video games, handle toy guns, or even learn anything abut guns.

It's a far cry from when a lot of these people grew up (like me).

When I was 10 I lived in the NWT and I was shooting a 22 calibre rifle with a 18 round magazine at targets. I also got a pellet gun to go around hunting grouse and ptarmigan. Then when I moved back to BC when I was 14 I got another pellet gun.

Part of getting and having access to the guns was demonstrating that I knew about gun safety. Learning to never point the gun at anyone even if it wasn't loaded, learning that it wasn't a toy and that it was a weapon that could seriously hurt people.

Learning to respect the device.

Many kids these days wont get that sort of education from their parents because their parents refuse to discuss these matters with them. Schools won't touch it with a 10 foot pole (In the NWT there was actually a grade 10 hunting class trip - shooting caribou with a .308 and guarding the campsite from grizzlies and black bears on fire picket!).

So the result is now we have kids that when they get their hands on guns, have no idea what to do with them think it's funny to go shooting them at people and houses and cars, paintball or pellet guns or airsoft guns. I also have a distaste for calling it a "paintball marker" because its really a gun- it launches a projectile and that just waters down how dangerous the device could be if used improperly.

Anything that resembles a firearm should be treated like one, that's the way I was taught. All kids, even if they dont ever get a paintball or pellet or real gun, should be taught gun safety.