the other night i watched a program on cspan which held a discussion on gun-control.  on one side was a well-spoken man who made a very well constructed argument for the complete ban of all handguns to citizens. his argument went something like, para: "people die from handguns, we don't want people to die, so we must get rid of the handguns." while we all agree that we would like to reduce handgun violence, we know he's a little out there.  at any rate, before the nra rep came on to talk, he answered questions from the audience, made up mostly of teens.  i was very happy to see many of these teens ask the same questions we would, i.e.; what about knives, clubs, cars? etc... in other words, "how in the sam-hell can you possibly make this argument?" they impressed me, they were'nt the mtv, pepsi generation teens who scare us on t.v.  your thoughts?

The best one I ever saw was a post Columbine "school interview." You remember where teens are encouraged to speak out against gun violence. One teen asked the following question to the panel. "England is regarded as generally being more civilized than the US. Given that their crime rate increased after a firearm ban, what would we expect here?" It was one of those rare wonderful moments when a teen stumped a panel of experts. Extreme tap dancing followed.

I wish the media would come to my son's gun safety training class and see how great these kids are.  I was amazed and glad to see that there were 27 girls in the class out of the 84 students.  There maybe hope still when I see this type of split in the class.  It would be great to see some of these kids comments on a nightly news program.

Funny how it's the MTV type's that are the one's causing the problem's! The Gansta' wannabee's, the same one's that believe that these Hip-Hop clowns are God's.

Once you get out of the New York, Los Angeles, Miami, etc.....area's, where children are raised and taught right from wrong. You see a much better youth, common sense, moral values, christian beliefs.

My son just earned his "Eagle Scout" award and enter's Boot-camp this summer. He and his friends have done alot of good for their community! [:D]

what's wrong with you AR308: don't you know my city (new york) is a target enriched environment.[sniper]

I'll give you a kid point of view.  When I was about 14-16 I watched X-Files, I watched Lethal Weapon and everytime I saw programs like that I wished I had a gun so I could have the power, the prestige, the adoration of my fellow man.  Of course, I didn't get the attention that I craved in normal life as my Mother, God bless her, was on drugs, not the prescribed kind.  So naturally when I went to school I was obsessed (sp?) with firearms.  I always thought that I would be the hero of the masses if I had a shiny beretta or a nice .45.  At least, that's what the TV told me.  This singled me out in school as a gun nut, pyscho boy, freak and although these things bothered me when my Mother was around she always told me wise things and I learned to deal with these things in a more constructive manner.  After Columbine I was singled out by a Antigun, Green, Vegan teacher and forced out of school because of the fact I liked guns and could pose a threat to the school.  That kind of snapped me out of this worship of the guns thing and I quickly realized a gun isn't power, it's responsibilty.  I believe the day I had my first gun was the day I truly was a citizen.  And I take my duties very serious.  

Interesting perspective, NSFJojo.....

That sound like a terrible school.  When I graduated from high school last year, it was the total opposite attitude.  Everyone hunted, almost everyone owned a rifle of some sort and a teacher like that would have been eaten alive by political critisim.  Rural Missouri, Gotta love it!

its funny you mention your experience (funny as in ironic)  in highschool and the way people perceived you. i was having a conversation with a friend about highschool and how if we did the things now that we did back then, it would be immediate expulsion or worse.  and i have been out of highschool only about 8 years now!  but we used to draw cartoons of superheroes killing the gossiping girls and stuff that, at the time was a joke to everyone, even instructors. now it would be very serious. it seems in that short time, so much has changed because of the current school violence. such a shame.

You know......when I was in high school...a lot of folks brought various part of guns into school to rework them......not to mention all the gunracks in pickups.....LOL

I took my AR bolt into public speaking class last month.

Gun control starts by teaching your kids to shoot and be safe around guns. My 4 year old has his own pellet gun and shoots it when I help him.