I never pulled my rifle, but if I had encountered a pack of threatening dogs or a rabid fox...I would have.
If I had encountered a drunk idiot who threatened my brother or a friend, I would have drawn it. And probably fired it, if needed.
If I had seen an innocent person being attacked, I would have damn sure drawn it.
I know it was a different time, but we were conditioned to accept some adult responsibilities.
I knew when to use my rifle...and when not to.
Kids nowadays are quite a bit different, but training can change that.
All that said, society today would not accept a process in which kids were given responsibility.
Rooster, I understand both your advocacy and the points you touched on here. I agree with what you said there.
I will say that I was never instructed concerning lethal force.
As a kid I could walk down the street and have absolutely no fear of a drive by, being kidnapped, or being sexually exploited. While some of those could have taken place back then, the incidents of them were very few.
Kids were taught to respect their elders. My grand-parents told me, if you get a spanking at school, you get one guess what you get when you get home.
There was a right from wrong. There was a Golden Rule.
I had access to our 22s back on the farm. I loved that old Remington pump “model early 1900s”. I’m going to purchase one, one of these days. I miss it. We had a single shot 22 there also. I now have a picture of my father with it at age 10.
So I could walk around on the farm using our 22. I never fired that thing in the direction of neighbors homes. Our farm was 120 acres. We had some breathing room, but I never took chances.
As you related, we live in different times.
I simply can’t iamgine your world. It seems as alien to how I grew up as the Laura Ingalls Wilder stories. 9 years old. On a hose with a rifle. I like it, I just can’t imagine it.
That’s a great post and all true!