My dad owned guns. NEITHER OF US HUNTED! We are liberals, after all (southern ones, but still). I have no problem with people who need to hunt to feed their families. But I don't think I could ever do it. Neither could my dad.
We lived in Ronda, NC, where on weekends we went to the river bottom, or under the "Bugaboo Creek Bridge", and blew the hell out of tin cans.
My dad taught physics. How can you teach physics, and not be interested in guns? INTERESTED IN, not necessarily a gun owner. Dad used an air rifle and an air pistol in class to teach students how to measure velocity. He was about a helluva lot more than that!
If you'd grown up in the south, you'd realize that guns are a part of southern culture. They're NOT a part of my daily life. Had I not inherited guns, I wouldn't own one. But they're family heirlooms, owned by people I loved.
On another subject, Savannah is SUCH a beautiful city. As is Atlanta. And Charleston. People from the rest of the country read history. In the south, we live it, and are surrounded by it...aren't we? Around here (northwest NC) we're also surrounded by natural beauty. If there's a more beautiful place than the mountains of NC, VA, TN, WVA, then I don't think I could take it!
Welcome to the south. Just don't marry any of our women (KIDDING!) Speaking of which, Lewis Grizzard had another great saying..."I don't hate Yankees. In fact, I love 'em. Some of them are great people. Now my dad hated Yankees. In fact, he used to read the obituaries in the New York Times...for fun!" His southern color didn't end there, however. He had another observation that perhaps you've noticed about the south "Iced tea, is the house wine of the south".
Now I don't have children, so what I say is obviously ill-informed...except that I WAS a child once. I can think of an excellent reason to teach children about gun safety, even if there are no guns in the house. There are guns IN THE WORLD. There are no helicopters in you house, either I assume...but children probably shouldn't grow up terrified of them. Again...a helicopter has more potential to kill or injure than do most guns. Did you take shop in school? If used carefully, ots of the tools you used were as dangerous, or more so than a small gun. Were you terrified of them?
My point is that "gun culture" isn't a part of my life. I'm just not interested. But neither do I feel threatened by those who are.
Great chatting about some of my favorite subjects.