[Noise] was Re: Giving 6 year old kids Uzi's

[David Sternlight]

At 5:31 AM -0700 7/20/96, Brad Dolan wrote:

>My twelve-year-old daughter asked for and received a .22 for her birthday.
>Her four and six year old siblings enjoy shooting it, under close
>supervision.
>
>Rural America has a very different culture than urban America and urban
>America's recent attempts to impose its values (like hoplophobia) on us
>really chafes.

Though it is well known that I am in favor of gun control regulations, I
have to support Brad Dolan here. There is a huge and traditional gun
culture in rural American, particularly in the midwest. The way most Jewish
kids get Bar Mitzvahed at 13 as a rite of passage into adulthood, or the
way most kids get their learner's permit to drive as such a symbol is the
way many midwestern kids get their first gun.

David