For the children

Guns Magazine, Nov, 2004 by John Taffin

We are in a veritable cultural war in this country. Bill O'Reilly has risen to the top of newscasters/journalists by continuing to highlight this fact. What the network alphabet channels ignore, The O'Reilly Factor spotlights. There was a time, way back in my young life, when the movies, schools, the churches, and the home worked together in many ways to pass certain accepted and cherished values on to the kids. That has pretty much changed in our "enlightened" society.

The public schools used to teach moral values and patriotism as every holiday was a celebration of what this country was all about. We spent weeks with lessons around such days as Thanksgiving and Christmas, and even Columbus Day, Washington's and Lincoln's Birthdays were times of great activity. I learned hymns not in church, but in school. Today the public schools for the most part not only do not reinforce home values, in many cases they seek to replace them. Even many of the churches have strayed from their original path and the sign over the door does not necessarily represent the ideas and values of the not so distant past.

Movies? It's a long way from the heroes of The Three Godfathers to the anti-heroes of The Unforgiven. A huge chasm exists between It's A Wonderful Life and American Pie. I do not take my grandkids to any movie until I have checked it out for myself, however I insisted all of my grandkids see the lessons taught in The Patriot which had a most unnecessary R rating, and I especially wanted them to view the fact a promise made is a promise kept no matter what the obstacles, which was brought forth dramatically in Tom Selleck's Crossfire Trail. Today so-called network sitcoms teach values I don't want my grandkids to acquire. It was so much simpler when my kids were young and they watched pro grams that always 'taught a valuable lesson. Family Affair, My Three Sons, even The Brady Bunch were all positive teaching vehicles.

If we no longer receive much help from movies, television, most public schools, and all too many churches, that leaves only one factor--us. If we want the younger generation to hold dear the same values we do, there is no other way; it is up to us. This is especially true when it comes to shooting activities. Schools now have a brainless No Tolerance policy when it comes to guns. Not only guns themselves but even the thought police are at work as images of guns are also forbidden. The child who plays on the playground at recess and points a gun-like finger can expect to be suspended. Pity the poor child who makes any kind of a drawing that has anything to do with firearms. I would've been suspended from school in the fourth grade never to be seen again!

Thankfully, my youngest grandson's school is an exception. I took a copy of American Handgunner with his picture in it to the principal to see if he could bring it to show his classmates. She not only OK'd it she also asked to read the article herself. When he went hack to pick up the magazine he told me she said, "Cool!" You also read in this magazine in "Guns in the Classroom'?" of another principal who welcomed us in with guns to show the kids as we talked about buffalo and Indians. In both cases these courageous principals were women.

Movies use many firearms, however they are predominantly used the wrong way and certainly very unsafely. Many of the same actors and directors who owe their huge salaries to the use of firearms in movies are hypocritical in being rabidly anti-gun. Many churches are anti-2nd Amendment, and even the AARP which supposes to represent senior citizens is anti-gun and anti-2nd Amendment even though the very people they represent are the ones that are most vulnerable when it comes to self defense.

Organized shooting groups can do many things to pass along our values when it comes to firearms. Perhaps your local school is as open-minded and fair as the two examples I have pointed out. It's worth investigating. Cowboy Action Shooting is a great example of what can be done to bond families and also to teach the younger generation not only how to shoot but also how Io do it safely and also to instill in them the importance of our past history and our 2nd Amendment rights.

Our local club, the Oregon Trail Rough Riders, has become proactive by including both women and children in our activities. Women already comprise approximately one-fourth of our active shooters, however we wanted to do more. The answer has been to sponsor special shoots for both women and kids. Some women would like to shoot but feel somewhat intimidated when shooting with the men. I don't know why as many of them are not only better shooters they also take instruction much easier. The answer has been a Women of the West Shoot. Other clubs have done this and some ruined the whole concept as well as looking incredibly stupid and silly by allowing some men to dress up as women and participate. That is not what the Women of the West Shoot should be. For us the answer has been having our established women shooters invite other women to come out and shoot while the men's job is to put on the shoot. This has been very successful introducing more women to shooting.