[SmithL]

In "A Christmas Story," the only thing on 10-year-old Ralphie Parker's Christmas list is a Daisy "Red Ryder" -- the carbine-action, 200-shot lightning loader, range-model air rifle with a shock-proof, high-adventure combination trail compass and sundial built into the stock. It's the "the Holy Grail of Christmas gifts."

[GATOR NAVY]

I had one of these babies in the early '70s. Wish I still had it to pass on to my kids. They have a BB gun my father gave them, but it's not as nice as this one was.

[FTJM]

OF COURSE.

[DuncanWaring]

This story brings up a good question: Should young kids -- say, under age 16 -- have BB guns?

I got a BB gun for my ninth birthday, a single-shot bolt .22 rimfire for my eleventh and a .303 Lee-Enfield #5 Jungle Carbine when I was 13.