I’ve been thinking about my previous post and how the world is changing. Clearly Idaho’s gun laws as related to minors were written for a past era, a time when kids went hunting on the back 40 acres of the family farm. Like most people I find it appalling that young men are walking around Post Falls armed, and (most especially) that their parents think this is okay. Personally I consider guns dangerous and I’m not against gun control (just not exactly for it either). One can imagine many dangerous scenarios and bad consequences to the actions of these young men. However my guess is that not much will come of this except a certain amount of agitation between groups that advocate or oppose gun control. It’s also possible that the consequence of the boy’s actions will have the opposite effect of what they advocate – citizens may very well campaign to change Idaho’s gun laws now that they are aware of them – something that I would probably support. However, my feelings are also influenced by personal experience. Having grown up in North Idaho and Eastern Montana during a time when it was common and normal for households to own and use firearms I have some sympathy for the boy’s worldview (just not their actions).
Most of my childhood friends knew how to handle guns at a young age. I remember target shooting when I was eight or nine years old. Everybody took hunter’s safety courses after school and I did too even though I’ve never hunted. I think the biggest difference between attitudes about guns at that time compared to current times is respect. My childhood friends and I would never have dreamed of playing with guns because they are dangerous. In fact toy guns were strictly forbidden from my household, no squirt guns, or cap guns allowed, we weren’t even supposed to point our finger at someone and say bang. Guns were never treated as toys. I think this attitude made it relatively safe to own and use fire arms.
Which (finally!) brings me to the point of this post. We all agree that guns are dangerous. Free speech can also be dangerous. So isn’t the best answer to socially complicated and dangerous issues like free speech and the right to bear arms education? Living in a free world is dangerous. If we want to be free we have to accept the responsibility of teaching each other how to act with integrity and personal accountability. We need to educate our children about the dangers and teach them how to keep themselves safe. I’m considering presenting an internet course at the library for young people about how to keep themselves safe when accessing the web. Any suggestions?
