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We always thought we were just being kids. Now mind you...we surely weren't 16 years of age either...We were 8 thru 13 yrs old..more than likely. I've almost said..."But for the grace of God, there go I". But...we live in way different times. And I don't think anyone would have pulled a gun on us..and shot us then.

We were being kids. In a day and age where murder and mayhem were not splattered all over the TV screen, when high schools shooting made reference to the team's standings in rifle competition, before car alarms, and when you (or your dad) could order a rifle or pistol by sending a check to Herter's and filling out the form and get it in the mail, provided you were old enough.

As you said, we live in way different times. It is to the great benefit of politicians and industry alike to keep the people frightened and then produce the 'solutions' to the prooblems, which commonly they themselves create.

Columbine massacres, babies in dumpsters, widespread hard drug use, even street gangs were alien concepts to most of America until the Media brought all the bloody ills of the world into your living room. As we perceive ourselves, we will be. The pollsters best understand the self-fulfilling nature of their prophesies, by morphing the debate farther and farther away from what used to be regarded as traditional values.

Simply enough, the Press can't stand absolutes such as "abortion is murder" or homosexuality is an abombination to God", so they attack the core Judeo-Christian values which used to apply, at the very least in appearance, and continue to present aberrations of humanity as normal, everyday events instead of the horrorshows they are. Peoples' expectations change as well. The ability to shock someone over mothers dumping babies in trash cans wrapped in plastic has faded, so they need some more abberant headline, and our culture's perception of itself slides down thee scale another notch.

In reality, there are a lot of decent folks out there, doing their best, and the 'if it bleeds-it leads' headline fodder is the exception, not the rule. But some people do not realize this and will view the world around them with what has become a culturally acceptable level of paranoia, as others will play into that, drawn by the revenues to be made from 'protecting' the masses, or the empowerment of intimidation and lure of easy lucre.

I detected clear undertones of anti-gun sentiment in the tone of article, a media favorite because an unarmed populace is easily intimidated.

One of the things the media have changed (for the worse) is the perception that each generation is somehow a new wave of aliens, rather than our offspring, or our offspring's offspring. Beyond the trimmings, people are people, as they have always been, and human nature applies. Kids push the envelope, try outrageous modes of dress, tatoos, piercings (used to be just ears), different buzzwords and ways to talk, fast cars, a beer, cigarettes, etc. Welcome to Growing Up and Figuring Out Your Place in the World (and the local pecking order) 101. Hopefully, you will survive. Sorry, forget the Leave-it-to-Beaver reruns, the rules have changed....

Sorry about the rant, I just needed to say that.

If us ol' geezers want to push that pendulum back, it is time to start befriending and mentoring the younger generation, not viewing them with unwarranted derision and suspicion.