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Posted: 3/5/2002 7:31:53 AM EDT
How old were you, when you shot your first gun?
Question for you all? I have three nephews (9,5,3). My brother thinks is time for the nine year-old to start handling a firearm. (wants to take him out target shooting, with a BB-gun) On the other hand, my sister in law is freaking out. “No son of hers is going to touch one of those “things” as long as he is living under her roof. Yap, yap yap…..” I know is never too early to educate children about firearms; But, what will be a suitable age for a child to start handling a firearm of any type? |
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My father started me at age 5.
Last March, we started my niece with her own Chipmunk rifle on her 3rd birthday. VERY supervised, she did not actually manipulate the rifle, just pull the trigger and "melt" (her word) the water balloons. She does already practice safe gun handling with her "pop gun." You cannot get her to point it at a human. She has killed a thousand imaginary deer though. [:D] |
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I was 5 years old with a Red Rider BB gun.
7 years old when I got a 20 gauge, single shot, shot gun. It was a hand me down of Grampa's to shoot rabbits with. Drill them over and over about how to be safe. I was drilled over and over and still almost shot my eye out with the bb gun. I shot at a rubber bucket and it flew back and hit me in the cheek. I was lucky. |
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Quoted: I have three nephews (9,5,3). My brother thinks is time for the nine year-old to start handling a firearm. (wants to take him out target shooting, with a BB-gun) On the other hand, my sister in law is freaking out. “No son of hers is going to touch one of those “things” as long as he is living under her roof. Yap, yap yap…..” View Quote BTW, my sister-in-law ran the video camera while my niece (her daughter) shot her little .22 rifle. I could send a copy of it if you think it would help. It was a GREAT time for our family. [:)] |
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Believe I was 6, my twin boys were started at 8.
note : sorry but you can't mention target shooting and BB gun in the same sentence, the BB guns sold (for the most part) nowadays aren't worth squat and generally don't shoot straight. Try a Sheridan pellet rifle, their single shot and will shoot relatively straight. Mike |
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I started at age six. I also bought my older son his first .22 (Marlin 15YN) at six. He is ten now and a very accurate, very safety-conscious shooter.
My younger son is seven, almost eight, and he is still at the initial stages of shooting. I totally "shadow" him whenever we are at the bench, and I have not even begun to teach him offhand shooting techniques. He still has that innocence to him in that he feels invulnerable and I feel he does not have a total grasp of cause and effect. My point is that I really believe every child is ready at a different age, as I have witnessed the incredible difference in my own two sons. |
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I can't remember how old I was when I first shot a BB gun, but when I was 8 I shot my first "real" gun - a .30 carbine. I was just suppose to be watching, but I nagged my Dad to death and he finally let me shoot it.
Tyler |
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Too young to remember exactly. I think I had my own Lil' Scout when I was 7, and was shooting well before that. I used to shoot rats with my uncles .22 around that age as well.
If they are interested, that is the time to start. Curiosity killed more than the cat. |
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My dad had me:
Handling the Carcano (home defense) at 5 Shooting my Daisy 130 by age 7 Shooting my Rem700 3006 at 11 Buying massive amounts of firearms while working at a gun store from 17-19. I'd say that 9 is very safe, HOWEVER, the 3 and 5 year old will have to be taught at the same time, since they will see the 9 year old handling the gun and you know how younger siblings are! If they are not taught, then there will be bigger problems later down the road. I'd also suggest making the BB gun a reward for school work, which means that the gun can be taken away if he is not responsible in school and with the gun. All in all, 9 is not too young, just make sure the other kids are also taught. |
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I started shooting .22 bolt action when I was 5.
My son, I started drilling on general gun safety when he was 2, handling and helping clean them at 4, shooting at 6 (had to fight the ex-wife on that one). I have no problem handing him a loaded gun even if he is not familiar with it - he WILL check the chamber, etc. |
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I think I was about 13... at boy scout camp. I shot a single shot bolt .22... For the rifle shooting merit badge, I was the #6 top score that week of summer camp. First time I shot a shotgun was at camp a year later... 5 rounds at 5 skeet, and I hit the first three. I just wish I could shoot that well now! LOL
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Tough call... I know it was at summer camp and I was in the youngest group at summer camp. Say 7 or 8. Got my first gun at 10.
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My dad bought me a Savage24V .222/20GA when I was 2, it sat in the cabinet until I was 5 and started shooting it off the bench. He used to have to load it for me because I couldn't work the lever to break it open. When I was 7 I started shooting his 6MM Rem 40X off the bench. I wanted to start shooting offhand so he got me a Marlin "Little Buckaroo" .22...
When I was 8 I wanted to try smallbore so he got me a Anchutz 1403, and I shot smallbore with that until I outgrew it and built a Win52B ... the rest is history[8D] [url=http://home.epix.net/~angrytek/24V2.JPG]I still have the 24V[/url] |
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Another Boy Scouter here. First shot was a .22 rifle at about age 12 or 13. My three daughters, OTOH, fired their first shot at about age two. Obviously, that's more of a trick than any serious education. They all were shooting .22 rifles and handguns under close supervision at age eight & up. Only one has shown any real liking for shooting. She's presently going throught the CMP program for 50 feet .22 rifle shooting & showing the boys how. The other two are still interested in the occasional trip to the range for some tin can shooting, etc.
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Well………. I was 14, it was a Smith & Wesson. I wass completely inexperienced, held it to close to my face, and with the recoil, I almost knocked myself out. I sported a bruise above my eye for about four days… [B)]
Hey, No shame on my game!!!! [:I] |
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I shot the BB gun at 5, the .22 at 7 or 8, the 30-30 a year or two later, and had my first gun (a 12 Gauge single) at 10. I was first allowed to shoot unsupervised around 11 or 12.
My 3 year old can already tell you what to do when you pick up a firearm, "Check no cartridges". (His words) Actually applying that to be certain the gun is empty will take a few more years. I keep testing him with empties in the gun and he runs about 50% actually determining if there are cartridges in the gun. I'm trying to take the mystery out of guns by allowing him to inspect guns, with my close supervision of course, any time he wants, within reason. Fortunately, Mrs. Canoe is very gun, hunting, and outdoor oriented so she's cool with it. |
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I got my first .22 when I was 7, Dad felt "real gun" was better to learn with.
I got a 12 gauge breech when I was 10. |
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I believe when I was 4 years (my brother was 5) old when my father showed us his rifle (.22 LR Mossberg Tack-Driver). He spent HOURS drilling safety into our heads, then let us handle it, and cycle the bolt (all while empty of course).
After he thought we were competent enough with his rifle to go to a relative's farm & shoot it, he bought a 100 round box of ammo & we went out for a couple hours in the country side. I couldn't hold up the forarm/barrel for shit at the ripe old age of 4 years, so I had to use an old wood fence as a rest as we shot at some pop cans, gallon jugs of water, quarters nailed to a tree, and a used spray-paint can near an old private garbage dump that wasn't used since the 1960's. He would load only 1 round into the magazine, because having it used as single shot was better for him to keep track of the muzzle & # shots left. It was a great time, and is still one of my favorite memories of one of the times my father didn't have too much work & still had time to do something fun with my brother & I (he missed a lot of our childhood while at work as an engineer). It meant a lot to my brother & me. Later that year a few months later he had an ingenious idea of cutting a semi-circle out of a saw horse & padding it with some old rags, then we had a good collapsable "bipod" for me to use that rifle (which is to be inherited by my brother). Shortly after, we both recieved pump air rifles to continue practicing safety, and for fun plinking in the minnesota river bottoms. When I got a little older a year or more later, he bought a single-shot YOUTH model Marlin .22. This way it would last me until I was a teenager. My brother was stronger, and grew affectionately attached to the Mossberg, and after digging through crap & storage boxes, we later found a FACTORY Mossberg scope (3x or 4x I think?) and mounted it. It needed little sighting in to be accurate. As a police officer, he's really into handguns & bolt-action centerfire rifles, and I'm into AR15s. Last summer we invited my mother to go shooting with us, because she finally saw it's not dangerous at all if precautions are followed. It's no longer something "The Guys" do, it's family bonding. Turns out she's a better handgun shooter than my father (and she loves to joke about her pinshooting). -iNuhBaDNayburhood. |
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I didn't get my first gun 'till I was 11...Until then, I was too busy with model cars...
Dad was a cop, so he was more than happy to get me into guns, and started with a scoped Crossman 760 pump pellet gun... When my brothers and I were teenagers, he took us to the police station one Saturday, and let us shoot a MAC10/9mm submachinegun... I now have 4 kids of my own, all girls...11, 6, 2, & 1 The older two, shot for the first time a year ago and loved it. The oldest shot 28 rounds of the 30 round mag...The 6 year old said she had enough after shooting the last two rounds... The 11 yr old is very petite and dainty, the 6 yr old is a true "tomboy"... Their range experience was completely opposite from what I expected... Just my 2 cents... |
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I was 5 and shot a .22 browning semi-auto. I wa 6 when my Dad let me shoot his first AR-15 from a bench. It was a A1 model. Unfortunately for my bank account, I have been hooked ever since.
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I was 7 or 8 when I was allowed to shoot my dad's BB gun with supervision.
I was not allowed to own my own gun until I was 18 and got my own FOID card. I plan on starting my kids between 8 and 10, and the same rule will apply to them: can't own your own gun until 18. If they want one, fine, but I store it with my guns and I keep it locked in the safe. If they want to shoot it, they do so with my supervision. Av. |
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Age 18; M16A1 service rifle at boot camp. This was the first time I ever shot a 'real' weapon. Growing up in NYC made it almost impossible to shoot real guns. I owned a BB gun since age 9 and I was a good shot with it. I believe that my younger years spent shooting various BB guns, laid the foundation which resulted in great sucess when firing the M16A1/M16A2 service rifle during my time in the service.
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6 years old. My dad bought me a Marlin Model 60, made me read the manual before I could even touch it, I think...then he quizzed me on the book. We then went out and shot at a target against a hillside... I remember several of those trips. By the time I was 9, I was trusted to go wherever I wanted in the woods with it, and a box or two of cartridges.
I lost my dad several years ago (1996) to Heart Disease. The memories of he and I shooting are some of the fondest I have of him. Tell your brother about that. No matter what the wife thinks, the time he spends with his children will be FOREVER appreciated by them. Make sure there's only one gun there when he takes all three out... |
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I was 7, if a Crossman pump-action BB gun counts. I was around 12 for a double barrel shoot gun.
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My father started me out on a shotgun when I was 11, then he succumbed to soccer mom's wishes to keep the marriage, later her concern over rifles diminished somewhat when both her sons joined the military...when I returned home from the Navy I found both rifles and shotgun had been sold by soccer mom because she didnt want any guns in the house. Many years later she still has not been forgiven for that deed.
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I think I was about 8. My dad took me pheasant and rabbit hunting on one of the farms he grew up on. Used an old (even then) 410 double barrel.
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I had my own shotgun when I was 9 and was hunting by myself when I was 11 or 12.
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When I was about 8 years old I shot a bb gun at the Adventureland shooting gallery in Disneyland.
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About 5 or 6, Dad and my older sisters popping tin cans in the back yard with a Mossberg 22. After Dad died, the guns got 'put away' intil i was about 14 or so. I really started shooting about 1982 or 83, at age 30. Boy am i sorry i missed thse years.
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Quoted: Well………. I was 14, it was a Smith & Wesson. I wass completely inexperienced, held it to close to my face, and with the recoil, I almost knocked myself out. I sported a bruise above my eye for about four days… [B)] Hey, No shame on my game!!!! [:I] View Quote Who in the hell let you shoot like that? Tyler |
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I was 5 and it was a 20 gauge shotgun and bruised my shoulder for a week and I can still remember it.(46 now) My mom just gave me some old memorabilia stuff she had and in it was an old children's diary she kept and in it was a list of sixth birthday wishes and one of them was for a rifle. My wife saw that and was ROTFLHAO she say's, "some things never change, forty years later and your birthday list is still the same"!!
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Originally Posted By TylerDurden Who in the hell let you shoot like that? View Quote Hmmmm......my step dad, he thought it was funny……. That bastard.. [pissed] |
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Young enough that I don't remember.
I do remember when I was about 13/14 and the old man let me shoot his .270. I asked him if it kicked much and he said no. I knew about shotgun recoil but.... Was wondering why he had such a shit eating grin until I fired the thing. LOL |
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age 4 at Grandpa's, with Mom & Dad looking on. Remington Mdl. 510 targetmaster. I have this rifle to this day. I have a 1 year old grandson, I bought his Cricket the week after he was born. Can't wait for him to get big enough to hold it!!!!
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Well, my mother has a picture of me at 5 years old (in the ugliest red plaid overalls you ever saw) leaning WAY back to hold up Grampa's H&R666 'cause it's so heavy. I don't know when the first time was, but it was way before then with a single shot bolt action Mossberg .22 rifle.
P. S. I own that Mossberg myself now and it is the first rifle my daughter ever shot. Own Grampa's H&R too... tiny little thing just disappears in my hand. Ah, memories! |
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I was about 7 when my dad let me shoot his Ward's Western Field bolt-action .22. I put all 7 rounds into a pepsi can at about 5-10 yards. He was proud of me. [^]
Got a Daisy BB gun at about 9. At 13, I shot my first shotgun. Single-shot 20-gauge, and it hurt like hell after 3 rounds. Got a Ruger Single-Six 22 revolver that Christmas, and also shot my dad's S&W .357 magnum around that time too. We never really had anywhere to shoot, so I didn't shoot much (other than the BB gun) until I got older. Got my first AR-15 at 23. [:D] |
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Single shot air gun under intense supervision about age 6.
First firearm at 10 after intensive safety instruction from my stepfather, who had taught basic rifle and other topics in the Navy. He put the fear in me. I didn't own any of my own firearms until my mid-20s. I had lived in a series of situations in which it wouldn't have been allowed or appropriate to have a firearm around. |
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First BB gun at 8. First shotgun (16 ga.) at 11. First rifle (30-06)at age 16.
Bob B [moon] |
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Probably about 5 or so with a BB gun. At around 7, I shot a .22 Short revolver and a .22LR Bolt Action. At about 9, a .357 loaded with .38's.
Tell your sister-in-law that she's a moron. |
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Quoted: age 4 at Grandpa's, with Mom & Dad looking on. Remington Mdl. 510 targetmaster. I have this rifle to this day. I have a 1 year old grandson, I bought his Cricket the week after he was born. Can't wait for him to get big enough to hold it!!!! View Quote Good God! We may be related. LOL My first rifle that I "owned" was an old Mdl. 510 that my father bought from a guy he worked with for $20.00 when I was 12. It is, to this day, the gift I cherish most, and, of course, I still have it. I bought a Chipmunk or Cricket (can't remember which, they're the same gun) for my only niece and gave it to her on her second b-day. We took her out to shoot it, as recounted above, on her third b-day. Ah, memories! |
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Sometime in the summer of my fourth year my dad and I were out fishing at our cabin. While we were there the fishing sucked so he brought out a beat to hell Ruger 10/22 that one of his hunting partners kept kept in the Cabin (it is owned by four guys) and a Colt Woodsman. That was the first time I shot a gun. Two years later I got a Marlin/Genfield Mod. 60 (ironically I didn't get a BB gun until a year later), at eleven I got a Winchester Mod. 1912 20 ga., at sixteen I built a AR-15, and for graduation I got a Colt 1991A1 Commander from my dad.
That is not all of them, but there is the highlights. Kyle |
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young, probably under 9
I'm almost positive I shot a bb gun before being 9, and probably 80% sure I shot my dad's ruger mark2 .22 on a fairly regular basis before turning 9 |
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The first Real Gun I shot was a .44 magnum. I was 7 years old, and had been shooting, supervised, a .22 cal Benjamin air rifle for about a year. I was allowed unsepervised access to that rifle at about age 9 and graduated to a 20 gauge pump at 11. Been shooting ever since. It all depends on the child, and their grasp of cause and effect.
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My father started me and my two brothers out shooting at the age of six. By ten we were shooting his .45. 12 ga. shotgun and .308 at 12. AR-15 at....36! Finally!
We had a SWEET shooting Benjamin Franklin pellet pistol (pump action) that was one hole accurate at fifty feet. We literally wore it out beyond any possibility of refurbishment. In its day, though, at 25 pumps it would slam that pellet into a steel trashcan lid so hard that the pellet disintegrated, and blew a nice hole in the lid. I never chrono'ed it, but I wouldn't be surprised to see that it could deliver in excess of 800 FPS, judging by the results. I'd have to say that's the gadget that made me a pretty good pistol shooter, that little pellet gun. I'd REALLY like to get another of those pistols! CJ |
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I would guess I shot a .22 at around 8 at Boy Scout camp, probably as a cub scout. What great guys the fathers were to take the one week they probably got off a summer to sleep in army tents that they had thought they had seen the last off and try and drill little kids like marines
At 10 I think we would go hunting and checking trap lines with a .22. That'd probably get you turned in for child neglect now. At 17 I gave a buddy a ride to shoot at a range in Syracuse. Over the summer before he had shot this rifle called an M1 Garand at somewhere called Camp Perry. I was almost speechless with joy when I got my hands on one of those. I couldn't believe the beauty and solid feel of that gun and the quality that let you hit something so far away so accurately. That was almost two decades ago and I remember what it was like it was yesterday. It's sad so many kids will never have those experiences, wasting their youth away playing videogames and watching cable TV. |
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I got my first Daisy at 5. My dad had to help me hold up his Winchester 290 so I could aim it when I was 6. I taught my son with that same 290.
Thanks Dad. I'd say firearm awareness should start the same time as 'crossing the street' and 'don't go with strangers'. Hands-on training should start as soon as junior (or missy) is big enough to hold up a Daisy one-pump and responsible enough to not shoot the neighbor kid (even if he deserves it). |
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I was 5 when my dad started my brother(3)and I with his S&W .22 Jet. We of course started with .22lr and cylinder inserts. I still remember his helping hands wrapped around mine and that gorgeous Smith.
My sons started at 3(my oldest, now 7), and my youngest(2), last Sunday. They have started with the same .22lr Savage 73Y single shot that my dad gave to my brother and I for Christmas when I was 6. My oldest son shot the Colt woodsman for the first time this summer at our cabin. He did great! We had a spinner out at about 25yds for him. He consistently had "CLANGS". It was a real treat. I of course sat behind him with my hands on his forearms to help steady his grip and make sure the muzzle never went in the wrong direction. |
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God do you remember the anticipation when it was time to go hunting. Going through life playing every day. Then one day, "Boys we are going hunting next sunday for a couple of days.", great the next seven days were spent in agony. First you would get all your stuff ready to go, only 6.5 days left until you actually went. And then from there on out through the actual hunting trip is was playing like you were already there camping in your room. Beds were promptly discarded. "Yep, sleepin on the floor, were roughing it". Playing with your camping gear. Shooting imaginary quail, pheasant, deer and anything else that seemed like it would be fun. Reading your hunting books so that you could make sure that your could properly identify the tracks and droppings. And studying your foliage, just in case you got stranded(which would be even more fun). It just went on and on. Then actually getting to go hunting, not sleeping most of the night, Crawling out of bed at 4:30 am and getting dressed and hitting the road. Sleeping all the way there after you had grown tired of listening to your dad and his brother tell stories and lies to one another and basically cutting up. (Brothers are the best things in the world by the way; you are lucky if you got one). Getting there and setting up camp, which in this case was a trialer that was used for hunting camp. Running into the bedroom you sleep in just to make sure the gun rack and old taped up double barrel 12 gauge are on the wall with the intricate scroll worked Colt revolver. Yep all is in order. God why do we have to grow up?? What a frickin shame. But owe how beautiful that world is. My God.
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I had a BB gun before I was in Kindergarten, not sure how long before. Probably 4...got my first 22 for my sixth birthday, I've probably run 25000 rounds through that little savage lever action, one load at a time...moved onto a browning BLR22 when I was 8, ditto on the round count on it...shows some signs of use, but still in good shape and still have both in my safe. The savage is a wee bit small for me to shoot now, with it's shortened stock, but my daughter will be ready for it soon. She's 9. First shotgun was a 20 gauge winchester pump when I was 11, first centerfire a 3030 model 94 at 12, but I had been carrying a .357 carbine for deer for about a year before that.
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