You may have hit the nail on the head. My husband and I grew up in the city and are not comfortable around guns. We now live in a very rural area where virtually everyone hunts and no one gives a second thought to guns. My teens want to learn how to use a gun and hunt. We need to decide what to do on that cause that Katrina stuff has got me thinking a lot more seriously about it. In our area, some construction sites shut down and attendance at the public schools is down on the opening day of hunting season. And this is central NY.
By all means, teach them.
Back in the late 60s/early 70s, the prison system wasn't the "touchy feely" mess it is now and guards made enemies who later were released.
The family of guards were always in danger of retribution, especially if a guard had testified at the trial of a prisoner who'd broke further laws while in jail.
My mom is a city gal and wouldn't pick up a gun if her life depended on it.
Every night my dad would leave for his second-shift guard job and instruct me to 'take care of your mother' and I took it to heart.
One night, some strange man showed up beating on the front door like a maniac and true to form, my mom just squealed and cried and tried to call the police.
I stood with the .22 leveled at where the guy's heart would be if he got through the door.
He must've seen that through the window because he gave up and left.
She managed to get through to my Dad who got home 30 minutes later which would've been 30 minutes too late.
The same scenario played out a few years after that when a former family friend smoked a little too much PCP and went berserk.
He was definitely going to come through the door so I took it a step further and let him see me pulling back the hammer.
Somewhere in his drug-fogged brain, 2 sane synapses must've bumped together because his eyes got wide and he took off, screaming obscenities as he careened down the road.
I was taught to -never- point a gun at anything I wasn't prepared to kill.
Thankfully, I didn't have to pull the trigger that night.
So yes, teach your children how to protect themselves and *you*, if need be.
The world isn't 'Ozzie & Harriet' anymore.
We have seen lately how thin the veneer of civilization really is. You have improved your odds of survival by relocating to a rural area. Your teenager's friends' hunting and shooting mentors could be valuable resources in enhancing your family's self-reliance.
With deer season approaching there will be 'Hunter/Gun Safety' courses given in your area. Check your local papers, Fish and Game folks or C of C and they will give you the info. Sign the kids up! Heck, take the courses with them.
I lived in NYC for more than 55yrs. and although I had many opportunities to hunt, didn't go. Too many NYer in the woods with guns. I now live in a rural area as do you. I look forward to deer season every year. I don't go for the 'lore of the hunt' so much as I go 'grocery shopping'. It keeps my freezer full of venison which I truely enjoy.
Now, I'm an old batchelor, so child rearing is not my strong point, but I'll bet that you probably moved to that area to give your kids a healthy environment to gow up in. Let them partake of that environment.
With deer season approaching there will be 'Hunter/Gun Safety' courses given in your area. Check your local papers, Fish and Game folks or C of C and they will give you the info. Sign the kids up! Heck, take the courses with them.
I lived in NYC for more than 55yrs. and although I had many opportunities to hunt, didn't go. Too many NYer in the woods with guns. I now live in a rural area as do you. I look forward to deer season every year. I don't go for the 'lore of the hunt' so much as I go 'grocery shopping'. It keeps my freezer full of venison which I truely enjoy.
Now, I'm an old batchelor, so child rearing is not my strong point, but I'll bet that you probably moved to that area to give your kids a healthy environment to gow up in. Let them partake of that environment.