D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
June 2008
Readers Right on Target
Your answers to Larry's "quiz."
I've been going over the results of the questions I asked you readers in April. Thanks to those who responded! To review the questions, in brief:
1. Would you allow your son or daughter (age 3-10) to play "cowboys and Indians"?
2. Would you allow him/her to play with toy guns and bow and arrow sets?
3. Would you allow a pre-teen child to pursue real shooting sports?
4. Would you allow your child to take a hunter safety education program?
5. If your child passed such a course, would you allow him/her to own a gun and use it for hunting or shooting under adult supervision?
6. Would you allow this child to go hunting, even if you were totally against the idea?
7. Would you permit another hunter-adult to take your child?
8. Even though you might disagree, would you heartily support your child's efforts to hunt and shoot, or would you permit such activities but stay "hands-off"?
9. If your child showed strong interest in pursuing trapping, would you permit and support his/her interests or forbid them?
Okay, 50 percent of respondents said yes to all of the questions; 40 percent said a definite no to trapping. One woman said yes to all but no to trapping, stating, "Trapping is cruelty and there is no excuse for it!"
One person didn't answer any questions, but told me about her grandchildren's activities and then closed with saying I was narrow minded.
Here are the highlights (some edited for length) from others who wrote letters in addition to answering the questions:
"What a great article! I want you to know you are right on! We encouraged our son to become part of the junior rifle program in Ohio. He became part of the team that competed at the National Rifle Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio. This led him to join the Marines, complete his four active years, then join the Marine Corps Reserve Rifle Team. He then not only competed and won many national honors, but became part of the teaching team for the Civilian Marksmanship Program taught by the Marines. BUT it all started with our support of his desire to be part of the junior program. As a parent who watched from the sidelines, I observed how well behaved all of the kids were. They were not only taught gun safety and skill, discipline was utmost to the training. If all kids went through these programs, I really believe we wouldn't have so many gun accidents because they know proper handling of guns. It's too bad more adults don't understand that concept. Thanks again!" (No name)
Mararet Lindsey wrote "yes" to the first four questions and "no" to the rest, including "NEVER!" to #9. She stated, "As long as the law and society say I am responsible, I will try to fulfill that mandate. Until the age of maturity the brain and the controls are not fully developed. A gunshot is hard to undo. I will never condone inflicting unnecessary pain and terror on a sentient being. Target practice, okay, I've done it and it is not killing. Cowboys and Indians, sure, it's a game much like tag. Toy guns, okay; when my mother banned them we used our fingers to point and say 'bang' appropriately. We knew the difference between fiction and reality. Oh, and as to clothing [a debate about which inspired the original column]: I believe in appropriate attire; girls may wear jeans for horseback riding although trousers were once classified as male attire. I have known pre-school boys who have tried fingernail polish, and makeup is fun as face painting and fully masculine as war paint. Please do not judge books or their covers, however young or old, by their temporary covers."
Ardene Rickman wrote, "I am a dyed-in-the-wool liberal who stands on the street corner on Tuesday with a peace sign and march in as many peace demonstrations as I can. I am an active member of the Sierra Club and GRIP. My husband (whom I lived with for 49 years) was a member of the NRA and bought our son his first gun — a .22 rifle — at age five, and taught him to shoot and hunt. We had a gun collection proudly displayed in our home for many years, so I guess my answers to all of the questions would be 'yes.' And to keep the record straight, I am not an unwashed-uneducated hippie; I bathe daily and have three masters degrees. I feel my late husband and I personified the concept of honoring diversity to the max!" I'd add a hearty amen to that!
Maya Nothing wrote, "I grew up in the Pacific Northwest in the 1940s and 1950s on a farm where there were high-powered rifles for hunting and .22s used by my brothers from about the age of 10 on, to shoot groundhogs — they got a nickel a tail. I hated the thought of killing things but as an adult, I had a significant-other-type relationship with a gun collector and I learned to appreciate firearms. At home as a child we had been raised with 'fear of instant death' for disobedience techniques — a single glance from my mother would wither the hardiest soul — so we were told never to touch guns, and that guns were always loaded, so we never did, except for the permission my brothers had to shoot groundhogs. It turns out that I am a crack shot and am great on cans — even obtained an 'expert marksman' rating while teaching at a local prison in the 1980s. I worked for two police departments and strongly support knowing how to use a gun, care for a gun, and that guns are always loaded. So yes, I would answer in the affirmative to all but the last question. No trapping! We are a land of plenty with very little need to go out and kill something — other than to remedy the imbalance we have caused by killing (poisoning) coyotes, who kill mice and rabbits and quail, of which we have a starving abundance in the Columbus area. I've never had 20 mice in my house in my entire 28 years of living in New Mexico, and others say the same thing. I miss the howl of coyotes."
Judging by the answers, I would say that most of these readers are an enlightened bunch who truly exemplify the words "liberal-minded."
By the way, as I stated in last month's column on rabies, I still stand by my statement that trapping is a necessity when trying to control outbreaks of disease! Coming home the other night from the mountains, just before rounding the curve near the Ben Lilly parking area on Hwy. 15, I spotted a fox on the road acting very weird. It ran around as if lost and in circles before finally wandering off of the road. Rabies? I wonder?
As always, keep the sun forever at your back, the wind forever in your face, and may the Forever God bless you .