I did the worst/awesomest thing for my Nephew...

[Mahnarch]

My nephew had his big 11th B-day last saturday and he's growing into a stout young chap.
At the ripe old age of 11 I decided that it was time he grew up for REAL - so I bought him a...*duht-duh-duuuuuhhhh* gun.

A pistol.
Un pistola.
Das pishtolen.
Der boom-boom.

*that last one is in 'Swedish Chef'*

Now, the problem is, you see, even though my family is hard core, live off the land, nuts and berries, can kill a yak with a butter knife tribe, my sister has raised her kids with kiddie gloves wrapped in NERF - to my family's dismay.

He gets a cough,,,HE'S GOT ASTHMA!
She gets a cut...SHE'S GOT TETNUS!
He falls from a 30ft high tree branch....HE'S GOT A BROKEN LEG!....bah! (Not that she'd let him go near a tree..)

Pfffttt, Man up!

So, for his big 11, I bought him a P30, complete with holster (oh, yeah! If you're going to do something, do it right.)

I had a hard time bypassing "present inspection" but I made it *I kept it tucked under my shirt for personal delivery* and, when I pulled it out, his eyes lit up like a kid seeing Mickey Mouse at Disney Planet...or whatever.

Julie saw it and crossed her arms, saying "Nuh-uh".
I looked her straight in the face and told her that "He's got to grow up, sometime. Deal with it."

She started toward Brandon when my dad steps up.
Dad: "I was going to get him a Swinger BB rifle. But, I think I'm going to start him off with a .22 next spring. Doug just beat me to it."
My mother stood shoulder to shoulder, cross-armed, with my dad as additional blockage.
Julie looks around the crowded room of friends and family, "Guys....."

I put my hand on Julie's shoulder, "Don't you remember shooting the rifles at the property? The bows and arrows? Splitting wood for grandpa? Riding 4-wheelers?"

She was speechless, finally giving in with a small tear.
It was like a mini-intervention for her. I'm glad to have been the fuel that started it.
She was unknowingly raising a sissy who didn't even have a pretend gun when he was younger.
She'd drawn away from our 'regular' family ways after she had Brandon.
I guess it's a 'first born' thing.

Sure, she'd come over and be around our 'stuff' but, never participated. And she kept all of this away from both Brandon and Zoey (aged 8,,,,,not ready for a gun, yet, due to her upbringing....but, soon. I'll get her a nice Bowie knife for her b-day..)

Of course, I told Julie to hold onto the bullets but, let Brandon play with the gun, itself. Let him handle it. Dissassemble it. Carry it around the house - get the 'shock value out' and only allow it to be loaded when she or Rob are around in the wooded back yard.

I was granted the honor of giving Brandon the ceremonial speech that was given to me when I first received a firearm (a .410 single shot breech) at the age of 8 (brought up right) - "It looks like a toy but, it's not....A gun WILL do a lot of damage that you can't UNDO.....If you plan to kill it, aim for the head.....Man up.......don't shoot your sister.....A single bullet can mean the difference between life and death.....It's not a toy....DON'T..SHOOT..YOUR..SISTER....etc."

It was quite the 'ceremony'.
I kneeled before him and dressed his holster - hecks, yeah. I made a whole ordeal out of it because, to me, and the rest of my family, it WAS a big ordeal - not only breaking the chains of a repressive mother but, claiming the rightful place in your bloodline as a Mahn.

That's what's important. Family and Tradition...
And not growing up to be an anti-gun advocate simply because you've never held one or seen one in real life.

Rob was all for it, too.
He's wanted to do something similar but, was too afraid of Julie to do anything.
I'm a hardnosed dick. I don't care.

By the way, Rob is the new (less than a year) boyfriend of Julie's.
The father is a no good drug abuser 'bad boy' that she fell 'in love with' when she was younger. He's now in jail for said drugs.
Girls always go for the 'Bad Boys'......but you never bring them home........cuz they're in jail....HA!!

[Phil]

Yeah. on your last point the real sweet hotties like ignorant dickheads and that was true even when I was in high school.

Onto the main body of the thread
wow. wow and wow.

I don't mind guns you already know that. I admit it was gutsy to by pass his mother getting him 1. My son has an airsoft gun. A far cry from what you got your nephew. My wife didn't want him to have it at 1st but I convinced her otherwise.

And there have been no problems and there will not be.

I agree I think there has been a watering down of things that each generation sees a way to become more soft.

I have a policy that if kids are playing roller hockey in my driveway they have to wear a helmet. I will not back off on that. But some parents want them to play with some stupid nerfy rubberball.

I let them play with a street hockey puck or a mylec hockye ball [plastic]
The helmets are to avoid concussions and accidental sticks to the head. But the ball has to be a real game ball to have there be any integrity to hockey.

I played league roller hockey for over 20 years I just stopped a few months ago and I might go back to it.

[Blastgirl]

I saw your YouTube video where you shot a gun from inside the house out the window.

I don't know that I'd want my Sons to have a gun at eleven years old but I am not against guns at all.

[Demona]

Wow! I think it took balls overriding your sister on that. These days kids are being brought up to be panty waists. You know how it is with traditional playground equipment being condemned as unsafe for being made of wood and metal, and even teachers in school can't use red ink on grades because it'll OMG...UPSET THE KIDS! Really, what's happened to childhood?

Being born in the mid eighties I remember things starting to go that direction but not crazy until now. My mom was the one who'd worry about dumb things like cuts and scrapes and my dad was only concerned about the medical bill when a trip to the doctor was in order.

11 may be a bit young for a real gun, starting off with a pellet gun or something to ease into it might be a good idea, but as long as it's kept locked unless he's watched by a parent or relative, it should be fine.

I've used a bow and arrow for the first time when I was 20 and it's fun. The archery attendant at the school would tell us when we could pick up our arrows and shoot them though, for safety reasons.

You can't just keep someone hidden forever from things.

[Mahnarch]

I had a whole, awesome messege going on and then my computer screwed up.

I cited everyone and such, and now it's gone.

All I'm going to recap is:

If your life was on the line and your 20 year old son took up a gun to protect you, would you rather him have 2 years experience with a gun, or 10?

Remember the first time you got ahold of that TV remote when you were 4? You were King/Queen of the world!

Now that 'shock value' is gone and you can flip through the channels in the dark without a second thought.

Same with guns.
11 years is the best.

I'd like my son to be able to dissassemble and reassemble and fire that gun in the dark without even thinking about it.

***

Phil:

Awesome on the 'realness'.
If a NERF puck only glides 4 inches after a kid hits it with all his might, then what's the point?

Bravo on the helmets, too. Kids can get rambuncious when at play.

It's 7am. Time for bed.
Ta.

[Hatson]

I have had guns all my life.
I can shoot well but usually only shoot targets. I have hunted but I don't too much anymore.
My friends and I do a a caribou hunt about every other year near the Hudson Bay.

I do the fishing cabin in the summer a lot too.

I'm not a killer by any means I respect guns and what they can do.
But if you put a bottle on the roof of your car I can shatter the bottle from 200 feet away and not scratch the paint on your car.

[Jersey]

My dad began teaching us how to shoot cans and targets with a rifle looking pellet gun. This is the exact model we have.



Lots of fun. It was old and needs the sights adjusted, but I got pretty good at it. Like riding a bike, I'll never forget how to use it.

Where I live, I can't be shooting a real pistol out in the backyard. It's too populated and not wooded enough. I'm probably set to inherit an old Smith and Wesson 9mm. My dad has had that for a long time.

[Jason O'Lewa]

my little brother bit me once when I would not let him play with my airsoft gun but he is too small for that.

[Classicblast]

Not really on the subject exactly but I was in a gun shop a few months ago kind of killing time.
My team was on a road trip and it was about 3 hours before time to be at the park and I looked at guns. Not to buy but to fill time.

I see the new guns are not as heavy or as sturdy as the guns my father had/has 2 old school Smith And Wessons.

I have not shot a gun since I lived with my family so we're talking 11 or more years but the new pieces are plastic or they are even metal a lot of times but they're so light I doubt they'll last.

My dads old sidearms are very old and they'll last forever.

[Mahnarch]

Smith & Wesson sold out to Law Enforcement years ago.
They support registration and restriction to almost unconstitutional levels.
I'm not a big fan, anymore.

It's like: If McDonald's decided to support Hilary I'd abandon the dollar menu (though, I'd miss it).

They do have some really good tools, though.

I'm more of a Glock and Ruger fan, myself.
You can drop those in a mud puddle, pick them up and fire them.
S&W, you'd only have a wall ornimant.

***

Classic:

The plastics they use these days hold up extremly well.
My '98 Glock M22 .40cal's 'handle' weighs less than a pound and has lasted over 500 rounds.
The key ingredients lie in the barrel and chamber - outside of that realm, you could have silly putty and it won't matter.

I do agree that the old cast iron and oak stocks are awesome (and they do dampen the recoil factor very well) but, they get really, really heavy after a few hours of carrying in the woods/bronx/hood/mall.

I upgraded my G22 to a 13lb trigger when I was on the force back in '99.
It's still as tight as the day I watched Dan *my Field Officer/Department Armorer* install it.

***

I can shoot the tab off (or, severly mangle) a pop/beer can without knocking the can off a stump from 25 yards.
I can dot the 'i' in 'Pepsi' with a .22 from 45 yards through a scope, given low winds.
I have hit an auto reset/swinging target from 200 yards with a .410 sans scope.
I can put an arrow through an Ace of Spades with a compound bow from a mock up tree stand 25ft in the air at 35 yards.
I took knive/axe throwing classes from Ken Gibben, and can nearly nail a card to a board: 1 out of 4: with a small, balanced knife........hence, why I OWN small, balanced throwing knives [see my youtube vid for reference].

What's everyone else's record?

Guns and knives, to me, are nothing more than spoons and napkins to anyone else.
I don't worry about lawn mower blades or snow blower augers.
I don't shy away from battery acid, steak knives or live grenades.

When others are running from the fire, I'm running toward it.
NYFD, you're in my heart.
NYPD. You can kiss my A**(*)




***

(*)On Sept 11, 2001 over 350 Firemen lost their lives trying to save innocent people.
On Sept 11, 2001 less than 30 police officers lost their lives redirecting traffic.....

And the PD is trying to claim as much fame, if not more, than the FD.

[Classicblast]

I'm sure they're durable they just don't seem that way to hold them up and look them over.

[Nitro God]

I am sorry I can't believe what I am reading. You let your sister raise her son the way she wants. Why on Earth would you buy him a gun, since when is that sensible. What other purpose is a gun other to hurt or kill someone. I aint no faggort, am near 6 foot and a strong guy and I didn't need to gun to toughen me up and I won't ever need one. You don't what your nephew to be a normal citizen, you want him to grow up to be Rambo or are you thinking more of the characters of Gears Of War?

[tractakid]

A GUN AT 11? Flipping heck. You arent joking?

Phlip. That is really really not good. Guns should only be owned by armies. End of story. I know absolutely no-one that owns a gun. Another way in which the UK/USA are vastly different. Police officers dont even routinely carry a gun. Schumy.

[Blastgirl]

I'm just curious. Without the argument element how do you feel about guns Nitro?

I have mixed feelings about them. When there's a shooting and a person runs amok just shooting I tend to have worries. I also realize that guns are designed for survival in hunting, it's a constitutional right, and they do provide some ability to protect yourself.

So I guess I can see both sides of this one.

[Nitro God]

Survival in hunting..... have a rethink about that one. Hunting is wrong in the first place really. You can't say a gun is good because when I go out to kill some birds a gun will protect me from a lion.

[Blastgirl]

I didn't mean that exactly.

If you do not believe in eating animal meat then you probably see no use for hunting. But being that the United States is a newer country than most of the mainstream World Nations there was a time when most of our West was not settled and it took our settlers to pioneer a Westward movement. There were hostile confrontations. Not unlike those when the Pilgrims first arrived on what is now American ground. If those people had not been sufficiently armed there's a chance none of that settlement would have been possible.

[Demona]

viper said:

Survival in hunting..... have a rethink about that one. Hunting is wrong in the first place really. You can't say a gun is good because when I go out to kill some birds a gun will protect me from a lion.

The point Mahnarch is making is about how he grew up and it did no harm to him or his family, so why is his sister so overprotective? With supervised use I'm sure it's alright.

Guns are not for the sole purpose of killing someone. They're used in hunting as well as some sports involving target practice, which is harmless.

I'm not a hunter, but I'm by no means against it. I eat meat, I don't feel sorry for whatever died so I can eat.

How is hunting wrong? It's been done for centuries for food by humans and other animals. It's nature! Besides, there are different seasons for different animals and it controls their population.

Deer would breed like crazy without hunting season since civilization has grown and their natural animal predators became less.

[Nitro God]

rammsteindragon said:

viper said:

Survival in hunting..... have a rethink about that one. Hunting is wrong in the first place really. You can't say a gun is good because when I go out to kill some birds a gun will protect me from a lion.

The point Mahnarch is making is about how he grew up and it did no harm to him or his family, so why is his sister so overprotective? With supervised use I'm sure it's alright.

Guns are not for the sole purpose of killing someone. They're used in hunting as well as some sports involving target practice, which is harmless.

I'm not a hunter, but I'm by no means against it. I eat meat, I don't feel sorry for whatever died so I can eat.

How is hunting wrong? It's been done for centuries for food by humans and other animals. It's nature! Besides, there are different seasons for different animals and it controls their population.

Deer would breed like crazy without hunting season since civilization has grown and their natural animal predators became less.

Hunting is done now almost for sport and quite a lot of the time it is and I think thats sick. I'll have you know I know a lot of Irish people because I have a lot of family there and families breed quite fast ( NOT INBRED) but does that mean we should kill maybe my auntie, my uncle, my cousin, or maybe I should be killed so the Irish nation dosen't spread and Americans can keep control. Were the most advanced specie and no way should that mean we stop any other specie (am not dead sure am spelling that right but you know what I mean but after if Slayer dosen't understand I will send him a nice private message explaining what I mean )

Hunting is acceptable but its overdone and done for sport and I find that hard to get to terms with. I find it harder that you all know that and don't see the wrong in that.