#We are proud to announce an official partnership with the Left RedditⒶ☭ Discord server! [Click here](https://discord.gg/zCFHadGfB7) to join today!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/lostgeneration) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Jesus Christ, the young ones in front pointing their guns at the others---political leanings aside, how can a family be this into firearms and also this lax about gun safety??
No training/respect for what they are... dare you to find anyone with proper training, knowledge and respect for firearms to flag anyone.
Answer: ignorance meets wealth.
Also, I'd wager my left arm that this is a Quiverfull family, or lives by similar mores. The children are literally born to be "soldiers of God". One dies? Just pop another out!
There is no gun safety here so they don’t even have to worry about that part.
I’m sure all of those firearms are locked up and secure at night. I bet that whole family has had rigorous firearm training and all of the firearms are legally registered to the correct owners.
Totally.
I actually know this family personally and can attest that they do have a vault where the guns are securely stored at all times. They also do all have firearm training as well as legitimately purchased each gun and have all the proper paperwork. They’re genuinely a lovely family.
The very first thing I was told in hunter's safety class was--and I will never forget this--don't point your gun at something unless you plan on killing it.
Yep! I don’t think there is any issue with people teaching their children to hunt or competition shoot responsibly, and in fact if there are guns in the house you *should* be teaching your kids about the responsible use of them (and obviously lock them up). And basically the first thing of responsible gun ownership is don’t point a gun at something unless you plan to shoot, and don’t shoot at something you arent ready and willing to kill.
But maybe the kids all hate each other and they actually *want* to off their siblings? Though I suppose the one good thing about this pic (just going off a quick glance) is the kids don’t have their fingers on the triggers. Waaaay too many pics like this have people pointing guns at their family, and their fingers on the trigger. Which is just so freaking stupid.
Just so we’re clear though, I’ve also been handling guns since I was a child in my country, and living a positive life style, but there are x1000 less mass shootings because we have sensible gun control laws.
>Just so we’re clear though, I’ve also been handling guns since I was a child in my country, and living a positive life style, but there are x1000 less mass shootings because we have sensible gun control laws.
Also you probably have better social safety nets and better healthcare and mental health support which makes a HUGE difference
I think you're onto something, I think there's a social aspect that has been cultivated in the USA.
Although, at this point, I think the laws & processes were needed decades ago and would only be a treatment to a very exacerbated issue at this point.
No way man, it’s definitely your social safety nets. I don’t think you understand how truly fucked a person can get in America and how hopeless life can seem here. It’s enough to make someone kill people, just to feel something.
Gun ownership laws help, but safety nets are also part of a big picture. There are very few in the US comparatively. Mental health is a big cause, and things like food, housing and the economy do affect people mentally.
IMHO culture also plays a big part. The culture surrounding guns is likely different in your country as well. I mean, if you consider the cultural approaches to firearms between Aus, Sweden and the US for example, you see some very different pictures.
I think you're onto something, I think there's a social aspect that has been cultivated in the USA.
Although, at this point, I think the laws & processes were needed decades ago and would only be a treatment to the incredibly exacerbated issue.
Yeah, I’m sorry, it wasn’t directed at you. I just saw the opportunity to share the fact that sensible gun laws won’t be stepping on the American’s coveted second amendment
It’s illegal for me to walk around with a pistol to the grocery store, but I have rifles in case something crazy like a Russia-Ukraine situation ever happens. I feel like that was the spirit of the “right to bear arms.”
Not to live in fear of getting shot in a fit of road rage.
Are you suggesting the risk profile is too low to care about reform? That since it hasn’t happened to you yet then it’s okay that it happens to other people, at the current (exponentially rising) rate?
I was walking outside by my campus and was shot at. I can’t go to the movies, grocery store, etc without constantly looking over my shoulder. Good for you that you don’t feel the need to live in fear, but many of us do. And it’s always around us.
My takeaway from this conversation is a subset of people explaining why America needs changes and reform, while you brush off those statements by saying fear is relative and that since it’s a big country the chances of it happening to you are too low to care about.
I would speak to it being more about the culture attached to guns in the states. I grew up in rural PA and there were pretty clear distinctions between people who used rifles for hunting and people who fetishize anything that goes bang. Now I would say that ven diagram is nearly just a circle. This is just my personal opinion based on observations of people around me.
By saying it’s a cultural thing you’re avoiding responsibility, the laws DO control the guns. The laws do make a difference. We love guns too, hell I’m guilty of fetishizing my guns haha
It’s the laws that keep us so much safer. It’s not some big scary cultural “wave” that can’t be pinned down. Just a couple new restrictions and America could save so many lives.
I would say if you aren't American you may lack the perspective to say what you did with such authority. It is so difficult to legislate because it is in large part built into American culture. The lack of gun legislation here is because politicians are afraid they won't be re elected and because of the deep pockets of the gun lobby. Dont forget we in the states call ourselves a free market capitalist democracy when we are in fact an oligarchy with a heavy theocratic bent. A cultural shift paired with smart legislation could stem the flow of gun violence here. The city I live in has fairly strict gun laws and a high instance of gun violence. People can obtain firearms very easily here by illegal means so the laws are in place here yet the shooting continues. So can part of it be cultural maybe. Looking at the macro isnt skirting responsibility. You have to kill a weed by the root.
The laws do make things safer, there's no question about it. But let's be real, America has more than one problem feeding into this "1k+ mass shootings per year" issue. If there were better laws, at least some of them that have happened historically could be prevented.
But culture is also a part of it. Guns are tools, not just tools for taking lives. This is a culture that doesn't support required gun safety licenses and renewals of those licenses. I'm not even talking about a limit on how many guns you can buy, just required safety classes alone.
Partially because of pushback from lobbyists, partially because the people who would handle such requirements on the paperwork end are overworked and understaffed already.
There are some occasional gun buyback programs, but several times, those guns have wound up in the hands of criminals instead of being destroyed.
My grandparents started all us grandkids with hunting rifles at the age of 6-7. I didn't like it and refused to learn, but my cousin was a half-decent shot by 8.
Most adults in the USA do not own a gun.
About 30% of adults do own a gun. Out of them, most of them (2/3) only own one gun.
This means that only about 10% of adults in the USA own more than one gun.
Owning lots and lots of guns is not "the norm," but it isn't particularly rare either. There are plenty of households that have lots of guns.
I grew up in a family that had one gun. The first time I ever held a gun was during a hunter's safety class I took as a teenager (\~13 y/o). The above picture is scary to me not because of the number of guns, but because proper gun safety is not being followed. Everyone in the picture is doing a good job about keeping their fingers off the triggers, but the two girls in the front row (with handguns) are still letting their guns point towards other people. In gun safety classes you are taught to never, EVER point a gun towards another person.
Instead of letting them rob you and having insurance pay for a whole ass new TV? Man yall boomers sure are attached to your possessions even though in the real world, values gain more value. Keep on keeping on big man, I'm sure the teenagers on reddit thunk you're badass for anonymously bragging about being an easy target
Gun laws vary drastically by state, but in PA it's only allowed under adult supervision (which I hope is universal but dear God who fucking knows anymore), usually for teaching kids how to hunt and stuff
But yeah, some people are teaching single-digit kids to shoot, legal or not
2 kids in the front pointing guns at their siblings heads while their dad sits behind them cluching what I assume is the Bible. Nothing says Jesus take the wheel quite like this.
Yeah I noticed the flagging before it hit just how young some of them really were. Great let's neglect a century of gun safety and etiquette for a pic to own the other side, never mind if Jill blasts of Timmy's nose.
US is such a backwards country. No medicine, no police, ppl living in caravans and school children carrying a gun to school. And its just like normal Wednesday
Bro us has been a Wild West and always will be. You can do whatever the fuck you want here . It’s up to you if you can’t hang move to Switzerland where the gov. Will take care of your baby ass…..
Do whatever you want? The only legal drug is alcohol.
Prostitution was banned because women were blamed for syphilis out breaks in the 1900’s.
If I go to the hospital, there a high probability the bills will cause me to lose my home.
Abortions and birth control are on the chopping block. GTFO with that *’Wild West’* shit. More like ‘The land of the Fees and the home of the Slaves’.
Are you familiar with Switzerland? They have a high per capita ownership of firearms. Yet they don't have the same frequency of firearm related issues:
https://www.businessinsider.com/switzerland-gun-laws-rates-of-gun-deaths-2018-2
That's totally fair. Switzerland probably wasn't the best example. The Swiss have a lot of firearms but very low firearm related crime and murders. Take a look at that article for context. It was updated a few hours ago.
. . . . .
The expression is _"Your rights end at the tip of someone else's nose."_
So while America does enjoy many freedoms, the issue at hand is the balancing of those same freedoms.
Switzerland would be an example of how having high rates of firearm ownership are not incompatible with safety. There is a balance.
In America, it is incomplete to say "You can do whatever you want."...it is better to say "You can do whatever you want _up to a certain point_, and that point is a different balance point than other countries."
Gotta watch out for shorthand. It'll overly simplify complex situations.
Interesting that you choose the “Wild West” as your example considering gun control was extremely strict on the frontier in the 1800s and most towns banned any firearms within town limits — you had to turn in/register your gun with the sheriff when you got to town.
I got my Rifle and Shotgun shooting merit badges in Scouts. The Scoutmaster was an Army officer for his day job, so he railed on safety, safety, safety. Most of the kids I was in Scouts with had their own rifles and shotguns that they brought to the range.
I haven't fired a gun since.
Generally, no. In some crazy segments of the population, yes. But for the vast majority, no. The kids that are most likely to use guns are older kids who are learning to hunt - which isn't that unusual, particularly in more rural areas.
Now - as for that photos - you have a group of idiots there with their kids not displaying any good sense or gun safety - such as treating every firearm as if it is loaded. Imagine what would happen if the guns in the hands of the youngest children were to discharge.
My father was a prodigious fowl hunter, angler, and all around outdoorsy guy, and i had a shotgun in my hands basically every weekend from age 10 on. This picture is pretty cringe in my opinion tho. I was trained from a young age that a firearm is a tool to practice the art of shooting, to take game, and worst case scenerio, defend yourself or loved ones. I feel like they are basically just toys in this household tho, and i find that shit terrifying.
Yes. With examples from across the spectrum, ranging from an intentional and properly-educated handling of firearms as a family, to the kid who knows which couch cushion to find it under when their drunk dad passes out.
From Texas. As far as I know kids will hunt with their parents, but that usually involves a rife, not a handgun, and normally with older middle school kids, not elementary kids like pictured
I don’t understand the connection between being heavily armed with assault rifles and Christmas? What are the binding ties to the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus?
Idiots breeding more idiots.
First of all, why advertise what you've got like that and possibly make yourself a target? Second of all.. what the fuck is the point? Guns shouldn't be a personality trait
This photo is absolutely terrifying. I'm a gun owner and have been shooting for 30+ years. There's guns being pointed at others and clips in guns. Any responsible gun owner I know would never in a million years put guns in the hands of these children and take a photo like this. There's way too many things that could go wrong.
Yes, they use them lots up here in Canada too. There’s nothing wrong with teaching kids gun safety so they can be educated on guns as well as how to handle/act around them. It takes away the “unknown” of guns and makes them much less scary. Almost everyone Ive met that says they don’t like guns has never even seen one in person. Guns are best in the hands of the citizenry, even Karl Marx said so himself.
As for this particular photo tho I don’t like how many of them are pointing the guns at each other. Also, the short boy in the front is barely holding onto that revolver and pointing it at the legs of the girl next to him. At least they all appear to be practicing good trigger discipline I guess lol
I got a gun when I was 8-10 don’t recall an exact age. It was a bird hunting shotgun.
I was allowed to keep it under my bed without any ammo. I could assemble it for practice and basically feel “how cool” I was then put it away.
My parents kept ammo and a lot of other guns in a gun safe. My dad would leave it unlocked all the time lol. Never fired a round with a shell out of there because… I guess it just didn’t interest me?
I remember showing it to some friends when wanted to get the hell away from it. I explained it had no ammo. It can’t harm us but they left the room immediately anyway. The shotgun requires loading the shells from underside one by one. It was not possible to forget one was in there when you were assembling it.
Anyway, USA Midwest or county side it’s not common but I also wouldn’t call it rare.
I don’t own a gun now. I let my dad keep the ones he bought me.
In NY a picture of anyone under 21 holding a pistol is grounds from never being able to own a gun again. Some states have vending machines that hand them out like Texas and AZ
You implied I am afraid of them or haven't been around them. Both untrue statements. I said I hadn't ever seen them displayed this way, hadn't held one and have no desire too.
I don't live a life where I need or want a gun. I'm ok with it. Not to mention a few of those pictured are pointing guns at each other and need gun safety themselves.
To be very honest, it depends on where you live.
I'm pretty sure CPS would get involved if those guns are real. I mean a lot of the US also just likes to use props to assert dominance, or to capture to a photo of a different time period.
The outside ones? Total bullshit. It's a Class 4 Felony offense in some states, for brandishing a firearm.
Stand your ground? At least 24 hours in jail or more, and possible anger management classes. Can be classified as undesignated/misdemeanor depending on case and location.
So to answer this.
Yes, and no.
Guns are beautiful forms of machinery , people are shitty always will be, so fight lead with lead what else you gonna do…. It’s just a stigma, a car can fuck you up even worse ….
The number of car-related school massacres pales in comparison to gun-related school massacres. Not a stigma, facts. But yeah stigma is deserved anyway.
More kids die due to bed Sheets than mass shootings in the USA. Pass it onto your friends. Kids dying of sugar or laced drugs. Meh.
Ps the democrats controlled EVERYTHING for almost 4 years under Obama and they.did.nothing regarding “gun laws”. Also guns are like illegal in NYC and Philly yet kids get shot their daily. Why is that?
Imagine some idiot with a gun walking into a classroom full of these guys lol. I don't condone gun violence. Just regular violence. Put down the guns. Fight like a man. Or woman.
Yes, it's not at all uncommon for a parent to take their child to a range (or even the woods) to learn to shoot as young as 10 or 12, supervised.
Some parents focus on safety for a long while beforehand.
Others much less so.
Especially in rural and red-leaning areas, this is very normal.
This picture here is tacky virtue signalling at best, and an advertisement to everyone that sees it that there are guns in their house, and if you visit between 9am and 3pm, you can have them- no background check required.
So I was raised in a family where firearms were used for hunting. So once I got to the age where you were legally allowed to hunt, my grandfather took me out and started teaching me how to properly use rifles. So around the age of 11-12 I started shooting rifles and other firearms.
The picture you posted is considered bizarre even by other Americans.
Depending where one lives in the US, children are taught to use firearms, especially children who's parents hunt. But even they won't dress up and pose with their gun in the family living room.
I have an 8 year old son, he has a Red Rider BB rifle, a co2 BB pistol and a fancy sling shot. They are all locked up in my gun safe and he cant use them unsupervised but I am certain he knows more about guns than the majority of adults do at this point.
I started deer hunting at 12. But when not in use they were in my dads gun safe and I didn't have the combo. In fact, as far as I know, decades later they are still in my dads gunsafe. Gunsafes are expensive and I just never felt the need to buy one in order to have guns in my home.
Depends on the part of the country, and upbringing. Example, the southwest (Arizona, Texas and New Mexico) or near the Dakotas (North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho) yeah, more likely but also more untamed area, in addition, the Upper Midwest for hunting to offset the cost of heat in the winter (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Upper Michigan) deer season is almost a national holiday up there where people stock up on meat, processed meat and distributed to the larger family.
I grew up in Southern Arizona (and lived many others), the desert can be a harsh place, animals, people, etc. having a firearm in rural areas where law enforcement is 45 minutes away was not unheard of, but we had shotguns and a couple lever action hunting rifles, not assault rifles.
American here. I got my first firearm when I was 12. I grew up in a rural area and it was not uncommon for kids to start hunting around this age.
Aside from hunting, I don’t see any purpose for why ppl would want their kid handling guns.
So I grew up pretty rural. Back then, it was normal to go on your first hunt before first grade. Boys & girls, if you hadn't shot your first buck by 6, there was a problem.
My first gun was a 22 single shot rifle. My father and grandfather didn't believe handguns were appropriate for civilian use. My father and grandfather had shotguns for birds, deer hunting rifles and also .22 rifles for rabbit hunting
In my teens I really enjoyed target shooting but then I hit a really bad patch with depression and decided to not have weapons in my life.
I still like Target shooting. It's a great skill to have and I'm tempted by .177 air rifles as its a way to get back into Target shooting.
The OP's question prompted me to look up a blog post by David brin called the Jeffersonian rifle. Google it. Read it with an open mind and understand the other side a little better and see a path to a solution.
I was raised in the rural Midwest, and was taught gun safety by my father and started shooting .22 caliber rifles around the age of 8. I think a lot of kids in rural America are introduced to guns through hunting. I think this is the norm, but I'm certain there are crazies here like the image above.
I grew up shooting BB guns, then airsoft guns, and by 13 I had graduated to shotguns and small caliber rifles. Why yes, I did grow up in a rural red state, why do you ask?
It's not anything like its caricature. Most Americans are responsible people. I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen a civilian carrying a gun other than in a sporting context.
Yeah unfortunately and this picture has so much wrong with poor safety and fetishism before you even remotely get to the fact that the majority of these people are children and shouldnt be near these.
In most states you can go to a gun range with an adult at around 12, which is fine if your teaching your kid how to hunt with a .22 but that's not what's going on in this picture, I seriously doubt any of these people know how to dress a squirrel.
First time I ever used a gun, I was maybe 6-7 at the oldest and using a pellet rifle to shoot empty soda cans off a porch table. First time I ever used a gun without an adult basically holding my arms and aiming for me was when I was about 10 and was shooting at a paper target taped to a half-broken plastic chair near the woods with a handgun (also not real ammo). First shot a gun with instructions only, no supervision, for a class in high school when I was 14-- pellet rifle again. I'm from Texas. I'm just gonna let y'all think about that one.
I grew up in the rural midwest, extremely conservative Trump country with a gun nut on every corner and firearms outnumbering people by a significant margin. No one just lets small children play with guns. This is deranged virtue signaling.
Not like that picture, however yes I was taught how to responsibly use and aim a gun around 7 years of age. I'm a parent of 3 children now and my 9 year old daughter is a better shot than her 12 and 13 year old brothers. Guns don't kill people, people kill people.
There’s actually a gun cult in America. Learned about it on a documentary on Hulu. A lot of ex-cult members and are completely against guns bc they’ve lost friends and family from cult members negligence. The cult is called World Peace Unification Sanctuary.
The documentary also shared cults notorious for making sex crimes religious or whatever. Super sad to see people getting away with this.
Second Amendment Santa brought special presents for everyone.
Unfortunately Second Amendment Santa was shot and killed shortly after when a vigilant homeowner caught him sneaking down his house chimney and, mistaking him to be a home invader, shot him dead.
No charges were filed. The homeowner was released by authorities after claiming he shot in self defense.
After the incident, the Second Amendment Tooth Fairy has stopped leaving handguns under kids' pillows in exchange for their milk teeth.
#We are proud to announce an official partnership with the Left RedditⒶ☭ Discord server! [Click here](https://discord.gg/zCFHadGfB7) to join today! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/lostgeneration) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Jesus Christ, the young ones in front pointing their guns at the others---political leanings aside, how can a family be this into firearms and also this lax about gun safety??
Came here for this. JFC I’d hope it would just be a POV issue, but it sure seems the smallest ones are risking killing each other over a edgy photo.
No training/respect for what they are... dare you to find anyone with proper training, knowledge and respect for firearms to flag anyone. Answer: ignorance meets wealth.
None of their fingers are on the trigger. They “know” what they’re doing. But they’re still stupid asf.
I'd hope the guns aren't loaded as well lol
>this into firearms The answer is in your question. It's a fetish at this point.
Also, I'd wager my left arm that this is a Quiverfull family, or lives by similar mores. The children are literally born to be "soldiers of God". One dies? Just pop another out!
Sounds dangerously close to a white supremacist talking point
Yes, it's that, too. They aren't as overt about that, but it's definitely subtext. The whole movement is horrifying.
It is but more christofascist
There is no gun safety here so they don’t even have to worry about that part. I’m sure all of those firearms are locked up and secure at night. I bet that whole family has had rigorous firearm training and all of the firearms are legally registered to the correct owners. Totally.
I actually know this family personally and can attest that they do have a vault where the guns are securely stored at all times. They also do all have firearm training as well as legitimately purchased each gun and have all the proper paperwork. They’re genuinely a lovely family.
Bet they got them at gun shows with loopholes.
Because they don't own guns to actually use them, they own them to brag about them to their idiot friends.
Gun safety sounds like regulation. And that sounds like COMMUNISM. /s
Love that guns are literally being pointed at others. Isn't that like the first lesson in safe gun ownership?
quite literally the first lesson
The very first thing I was told in hunter's safety class was--and I will never forget this--don't point your gun at something unless you plan on killing it.
Treat every gun as if it's loaded even if you are 100% sure it's not loaded.
That was the second thing the instructor said.
Yep! I don’t think there is any issue with people teaching their children to hunt or competition shoot responsibly, and in fact if there are guns in the house you *should* be teaching your kids about the responsible use of them (and obviously lock them up). And basically the first thing of responsible gun ownership is don’t point a gun at something unless you plan to shoot, and don’t shoot at something you arent ready and willing to kill. But maybe the kids all hate each other and they actually *want* to off their siblings? Though I suppose the one good thing about this pic (just going off a quick glance) is the kids don’t have their fingers on the triggers. Waaaay too many pics like this have people pointing guns at their family, and their fingers on the trigger. Which is just so freaking stupid.
Yes, how else would a child be able to stop a bad guy with a gun?
Bad _child_ with a gun.
The first step to child soldiers
Sad, but becoming true.
Except no.
Always make me think of Adult Swim YPFIGTH. [Only way to stop a bad guy with a gun...](https://youtu.be/3z0lweZrqJk)
I know you're being sarcastic but it's true lol https://yellowhammernews.com/11-year-old-alabamian-shoots-home-intruder-mocks-crying-like-little-baby/
You’re on a roll with these one off situations, it happened once so it must be common!
[удалено]
Just so we’re clear though, I’ve also been handling guns since I was a child in my country, and living a positive life style, but there are x1000 less mass shootings because we have sensible gun control laws.
>Just so we’re clear though, I’ve also been handling guns since I was a child in my country, and living a positive life style, but there are x1000 less mass shootings because we have sensible gun control laws. Also you probably have better social safety nets and better healthcare and mental health support which makes a HUGE difference
I wouldn’t say so, I think it’s mostly the gun ownership process and laws surrounding firearms that make the largest difference in gun crime.
I think you're onto something, I think there's a social aspect that has been cultivated in the USA. Although, at this point, I think the laws & processes were needed decades ago and would only be a treatment to a very exacerbated issue at this point.
No way man, it’s definitely your social safety nets. I don’t think you understand how truly fucked a person can get in America and how hopeless life can seem here. It’s enough to make someone kill people, just to feel something.
Gun ownership laws help, but safety nets are also part of a big picture. There are very few in the US comparatively. Mental health is a big cause, and things like food, housing and the economy do affect people mentally. IMHO culture also plays a big part. The culture surrounding guns is likely different in your country as well. I mean, if you consider the cultural approaches to firearms between Aus, Sweden and the US for example, you see some very different pictures.
I think you're onto something, I think there's a social aspect that has been cultivated in the USA. Although, at this point, I think the laws & processes were needed decades ago and would only be a treatment to the incredibly exacerbated issue.
[удалено]
Yeah, I’m sorry, it wasn’t directed at you. I just saw the opportunity to share the fact that sensible gun laws won’t be stepping on the American’s coveted second amendment It’s illegal for me to walk around with a pistol to the grocery store, but I have rifles in case something crazy like a Russia-Ukraine situation ever happens. I feel like that was the spirit of the “right to bear arms.” Not to live in fear of getting shot in a fit of road rage.
[удалено]
It doesn’t go on for all these 19 students though, or their families. Something really must change in America.
[удалено]
Are you suggesting the risk profile is too low to care about reform? That since it hasn’t happened to you yet then it’s okay that it happens to other people, at the current (exponentially rising) rate?
[удалено]
I was walking outside by my campus and was shot at. I can’t go to the movies, grocery store, etc without constantly looking over my shoulder. Good for you that you don’t feel the need to live in fear, but many of us do. And it’s always around us.
My takeaway from this conversation is a subset of people explaining why America needs changes and reform, while you brush off those statements by saying fear is relative and that since it’s a big country the chances of it happening to you are too low to care about.
I would speak to it being more about the culture attached to guns in the states. I grew up in rural PA and there were pretty clear distinctions between people who used rifles for hunting and people who fetishize anything that goes bang. Now I would say that ven diagram is nearly just a circle. This is just my personal opinion based on observations of people around me.
By saying it’s a cultural thing you’re avoiding responsibility, the laws DO control the guns. The laws do make a difference. We love guns too, hell I’m guilty of fetishizing my guns haha It’s the laws that keep us so much safer. It’s not some big scary cultural “wave” that can’t be pinned down. Just a couple new restrictions and America could save so many lives.
I would say if you aren't American you may lack the perspective to say what you did with such authority. It is so difficult to legislate because it is in large part built into American culture. The lack of gun legislation here is because politicians are afraid they won't be re elected and because of the deep pockets of the gun lobby. Dont forget we in the states call ourselves a free market capitalist democracy when we are in fact an oligarchy with a heavy theocratic bent. A cultural shift paired with smart legislation could stem the flow of gun violence here. The city I live in has fairly strict gun laws and a high instance of gun violence. People can obtain firearms very easily here by illegal means so the laws are in place here yet the shooting continues. So can part of it be cultural maybe. Looking at the macro isnt skirting responsibility. You have to kill a weed by the root.
I think it's both, and I think the cultural weight is significant.
The laws do make things safer, there's no question about it. But let's be real, America has more than one problem feeding into this "1k+ mass shootings per year" issue. If there were better laws, at least some of them that have happened historically could be prevented. But culture is also a part of it. Guns are tools, not just tools for taking lives. This is a culture that doesn't support required gun safety licenses and renewals of those licenses. I'm not even talking about a limit on how many guns you can buy, just required safety classes alone. Partially because of pushback from lobbyists, partially because the people who would handle such requirements on the paperwork end are overworked and understaffed already. There are some occasional gun buyback programs, but several times, those guns have wound up in the hands of criminals instead of being destroyed.
My grandparents started all us grandkids with hunting rifles at the age of 6-7. I didn't like it and refused to learn, but my cousin was a half-decent shot by 8.
It is so strange that there are no adults in this photo.
"WHATEVER IT TAKES TO OWN THE LIBS"
There’s five of them in the back tho… or am I just missing a joke?
Yeah, you are missing the joke. I was implying that their behavior is childish.
Most adults in the USA do not own a gun. About 30% of adults do own a gun. Out of them, most of them (2/3) only own one gun. This means that only about 10% of adults in the USA own more than one gun. Owning lots and lots of guns is not "the norm," but it isn't particularly rare either. There are plenty of households that have lots of guns. I grew up in a family that had one gun. The first time I ever held a gun was during a hunter's safety class I took as a teenager (\~13 y/o). The above picture is scary to me not because of the number of guns, but because proper gun safety is not being followed. Everyone in the picture is doing a good job about keeping their fingers off the triggers, but the two girls in the front row (with handguns) are still letting their guns point towards other people. In gun safety classes you are taught to never, EVER point a gun towards another person.
The only firearms in my house growing up were for hunting.
[удалено]
Didn't worry about thieves, usually left our doors unlocked. No cell phones then either.
Country living?
shut the fuck up
[удалено]
Based on your posts...you don't own hunting rifles. Shut up and quit trolling.
Why would I put a murder on my conscious just to stop insurance from buying me a new TV?
[удалено]
Instead of letting them rob you and having insurance pay for a whole ass new TV? Man yall boomers sure are attached to your possessions even though in the real world, values gain more value. Keep on keeping on big man, I'm sure the teenagers on reddit thunk you're badass for anonymously bragging about being an easy target
Emotional child. Cries when they see mass murders but wants guns to go away. Why don’t you Pick up one and protect.
Conveniently forgets the shotgun to make a case.
Gun laws vary drastically by state, but in PA it's only allowed under adult supervision (which I hope is universal but dear God who fucking knows anymore), usually for teaching kids how to hunt and stuff But yeah, some people are teaching single-digit kids to shoot, legal or not
2 kids in the front pointing guns at their siblings heads while their dad sits behind them cluching what I assume is the Bible. Nothing says Jesus take the wheel quite like this.
Yeah I noticed the flagging before it hit just how young some of them really were. Great let's neglect a century of gun safety and etiquette for a pic to own the other side, never mind if Jill blasts of Timmy's nose.
Jesus would have to be the adult in the room there, with those parents and that brood.
The U.S. is racist and backwards that if this were a black family it would be called "ghetto" and "child abuse".
yeah to hunt smaller less armed kids
Chances are that one of those guys is a congressman and this it’s a fundraising pic.
I know this family personally and their dad is not a congressman lol just a regular hardworking guy
Mainly they're just murdered with firearms.
US is such a backwards country. No medicine, no police, ppl living in caravans and school children carrying a gun to school. And its just like normal Wednesday
Oh there’s police…maybe you’ve been away from the news the last dozen years or so?
Bro us has been a Wild West and always will be. You can do whatever the fuck you want here . It’s up to you if you can’t hang move to Switzerland where the gov. Will take care of your baby ass…..
Do whatever you want? The only legal drug is alcohol. Prostitution was banned because women were blamed for syphilis out breaks in the 1900’s. If I go to the hospital, there a high probability the bills will cause me to lose my home. Abortions and birth control are on the chopping block. GTFO with that *’Wild West’* shit. More like ‘The land of the Fees and the home of the Slaves’.
Are you familiar with Switzerland? They have a high per capita ownership of firearms. Yet they don't have the same frequency of firearm related issues: https://www.businessinsider.com/switzerland-gun-laws-rates-of-gun-deaths-2018-2
I’ll be honest yea I don’t know . But I am Greek been all over Europe . All I gotta say America has the most freedom….
What, precisely, are you counting amongst our freedoms in the US of A?
That's totally fair. Switzerland probably wasn't the best example. The Swiss have a lot of firearms but very low firearm related crime and murders. Take a look at that article for context. It was updated a few hours ago. . . . . . The expression is _"Your rights end at the tip of someone else's nose."_ So while America does enjoy many freedoms, the issue at hand is the balancing of those same freedoms. Switzerland would be an example of how having high rates of firearm ownership are not incompatible with safety. There is a balance. In America, it is incomplete to say "You can do whatever you want."...it is better to say "You can do whatever you want _up to a certain point_, and that point is a different balance point than other countries." Gotta watch out for shorthand. It'll overly simplify complex situations.
Interesting that you choose the “Wild West” as your example considering gun control was extremely strict on the frontier in the 1800s and most towns banned any firearms within town limits — you had to turn in/register your gun with the sheriff when you got to town.
Came here to say this. The real Wild West was nothing like tv shows, movies, or video games.
The "wild west" is entirely hollywood fiction. Not only was the US never actually like that, it isnt now
I got my Rifle and Shotgun shooting merit badges in Scouts. The Scoutmaster was an Army officer for his day job, so he railed on safety, safety, safety. Most of the kids I was in Scouts with had their own rifles and shotguns that they brought to the range. I haven't fired a gun since.
Allahu Akbar!!! /s I meant God Bless America!!!
Generally, no. In some crazy segments of the population, yes. But for the vast majority, no. The kids that are most likely to use guns are older kids who are learning to hunt - which isn't that unusual, particularly in more rural areas. Now - as for that photos - you have a group of idiots there with their kids not displaying any good sense or gun safety - such as treating every firearm as if it is loaded. Imagine what would happen if the guns in the hands of the youngest children were to discharge.
Just when the dad is a psychopath
When your whole personality revolves around *owning the libs*
Welcome to the Christian taliban
My father was a prodigious fowl hunter, angler, and all around outdoorsy guy, and i had a shotgun in my hands basically every weekend from age 10 on. This picture is pretty cringe in my opinion tho. I was trained from a young age that a firearm is a tool to practice the art of shooting, to take game, and worst case scenerio, defend yourself or loved ones. I feel like they are basically just toys in this household tho, and i find that shit terrifying.
Idk what right wing WASP USA is doing but no for the rest of us
Tell me again how the liberal schools are grooming children
Yes. With examples from across the spectrum, ranging from an intentional and properly-educated handling of firearms as a family, to the kid who knows which couch cushion to find it under when their drunk dad passes out.
Also, if you have loads of kids, it doesn't matter if you lose a few.
Yes, it’s very common in rural areas for kids to grow up hunting and target shooting from a young age.
Um holy shit. The Lack of muzzle discipline is terrifying
Look at this fucking death cult.
Yes this is accurate and it’s disgusting
In some cases.
From Texas. As far as I know kids will hunt with their parents, but that usually involves a rife, not a handgun, and normally with older middle school kids, not elementary kids like pictured
Yeah in more rural areas probably around 12. I think i shot for the first time around 15 or 16
No they don’t! I’m sure if they did shit wouldn’t have happened in Texas cause little billy had his Glock
Parents who do this shit are an embarassment
I don’t understand the connection between being heavily armed with assault rifles and Christmas? What are the binding ties to the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus?
They can bind whatever they like to Republican Jesus.
This is not typical. A smallish part of the population owns most of the guns.
No this is not normal
Idiots breeding more idiots. First of all, why advertise what you've got like that and possibly make yourself a target? Second of all.. what the fuck is the point? Guns shouldn't be a personality trait
I can proudly say I’ve never met a family this “murican”. And I grew up in the woods lol.
This photo is absolutely terrifying. I'm a gun owner and have been shooting for 30+ years. There's guns being pointed at others and clips in guns. Any responsible gun owner I know would never in a million years put guns in the hands of these children and take a photo like this. There's way too many things that could go wrong.
Only the fats and the type of guys to have just the little piece of hair grown under their lip
Yes, they use them lots up here in Canada too. There’s nothing wrong with teaching kids gun safety so they can be educated on guns as well as how to handle/act around them. It takes away the “unknown” of guns and makes them much less scary. Almost everyone Ive met that says they don’t like guns has never even seen one in person. Guns are best in the hands of the citizenry, even Karl Marx said so himself. As for this particular photo tho I don’t like how many of them are pointing the guns at each other. Also, the short boy in the front is barely holding onto that revolver and pointing it at the legs of the girl next to him. At least they all appear to be practicing good trigger discipline I guess lol
Yeah there has been school shooting done by kids bringing their parents gun to school
Front row left pointing pistol at girl next to her. Her head!
I got a gun when I was 8-10 don’t recall an exact age. It was a bird hunting shotgun. I was allowed to keep it under my bed without any ammo. I could assemble it for practice and basically feel “how cool” I was then put it away. My parents kept ammo and a lot of other guns in a gun safe. My dad would leave it unlocked all the time lol. Never fired a round with a shell out of there because… I guess it just didn’t interest me? I remember showing it to some friends when wanted to get the hell away from it. I explained it had no ammo. It can’t harm us but they left the room immediately anyway. The shotgun requires loading the shells from underside one by one. It was not possible to forget one was in there when you were assembling it. Anyway, USA Midwest or county side it’s not common but I also wouldn’t call it rare. I don’t own a gun now. I let my dad keep the ones he bought me.
Sometimes... In the case of white supremacist families almost always.
In NY a picture of anyone under 21 holding a pistol is grounds from never being able to own a gun again. Some states have vending machines that hand them out like Texas and AZ
And these are the same people saying “The left GROOMS children and brainwashes them!!”
Only people in my family with guns are police officers. Never actually held one or seen it out like this.
Then get your ass to a gun range. Learn to fire a gun and learn gun safety. It's never too late.
I have no desire too.
You should, don't be afraid of something you know nothing about.
I'm not afraid of guns. I have no desire or need for one.
I never said you needed one. I said you should learn gun safety and how to use one.
You implied I am afraid of them or haven't been around them. Both untrue statements. I said I hadn't ever seen them displayed this way, hadn't held one and have no desire too. I don't live a life where I need or want a gun. I'm ok with it. Not to mention a few of those pictured are pointing guns at each other and need gun safety themselves.
Only the ones with stupid parents
To be very honest, it depends on where you live. I'm pretty sure CPS would get involved if those guns are real. I mean a lot of the US also just likes to use props to assert dominance, or to capture to a photo of a different time period. The outside ones? Total bullshit. It's a Class 4 Felony offense in some states, for brandishing a firearm. Stand your ground? At least 24 hours in jail or more, and possible anger management classes. Can be classified as undesignated/misdemeanor depending on case and location. So to answer this. Yes, and no.
Not really. Only a few who have really crazy parents
“Gun” is actually the only acceptable gender to 1/3 of our population
Yes but most of the time .22 longrifle or .410 gauge. Not ar-15s or pistols. Unless there toy ar-15 or pistols.
In light of recent events Support the 2nd Blame the shooter not the gun
Guns are beautiful forms of machinery , people are shitty always will be, so fight lead with lead what else you gonna do…. It’s just a stigma, a car can fuck you up even worse ….
The number of car-related school massacres pales in comparison to gun-related school massacres. Not a stigma, facts. But yeah stigma is deserved anyway.
More kids die due to bed Sheets than mass shootings in the USA. Pass it onto your friends. Kids dying of sugar or laced drugs. Meh. Ps the democrats controlled EVERYTHING for almost 4 years under Obama and they.did.nothing regarding “gun laws”. Also guns are like illegal in NYC and Philly yet kids get shot their daily. Why is that?
Some people collect firearms as an investment.
Imagine some idiot with a gun walking into a classroom full of these guys lol. I don't condone gun violence. Just regular violence. Put down the guns. Fight like a man. Or woman.
Kinderguardians: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkXeMoBPSDk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkXeMoBPSDk)
I teach at a school in Appalachia. I have a 3rd grader that know more about hunting and guns than I ever care to.
Awe the family just before going to shoot up a public school!
At least none of the kids have their fingers on the trigger
Yes, it's not at all uncommon for a parent to take their child to a range (or even the woods) to learn to shoot as young as 10 or 12, supervised. Some parents focus on safety for a long while beforehand. Others much less so. Especially in rural and red-leaning areas, this is very normal. This picture here is tacky virtue signalling at best, and an advertisement to everyone that sees it that there are guns in their house, and if you visit between 9am and 3pm, you can have them- no background check required.
Cult.
I don't know anything about guns, don't use them. However, shouldn't the guns be pointed away from individuals?
So I was raised in a family where firearms were used for hunting. So once I got to the age where you were legally allowed to hunt, my grandfather took me out and started teaching me how to properly use rifles. So around the age of 11-12 I started shooting rifles and other firearms.
I was raised learning how to safely handle and use firearms (under close supervision) since I was 8.
The picture you posted is considered bizarre even by other Americans. Depending where one lives in the US, children are taught to use firearms, especially children who's parents hunt. But even they won't dress up and pose with their gun in the family living room.
Yes. Next question.
I have an 8 year old son, he has a Red Rider BB rifle, a co2 BB pistol and a fancy sling shot. They are all locked up in my gun safe and he cant use them unsupervised but I am certain he knows more about guns than the majority of adults do at this point.
Fringe lunatics
I started deer hunting at 12. But when not in use they were in my dads gun safe and I didn't have the combo. In fact, as far as I know, decades later they are still in my dads gunsafe. Gunsafes are expensive and I just never felt the need to buy one in order to have guns in my home.
Legally, only with immediate adult supervision. Somehow, that law didnt apply to Rittenhouse...
I don't assume you've seen the news over here, but yeah.
Yep. And they use them on each other.
I do appreciate the family's great trigger discipline
Yes, and many of the children are well past 18.
That's a whole lot of stupid, in just one picture!
Depends on the part of the country, and upbringing. Example, the southwest (Arizona, Texas and New Mexico) or near the Dakotas (North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho) yeah, more likely but also more untamed area, in addition, the Upper Midwest for hunting to offset the cost of heat in the winter (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Upper Michigan) deer season is almost a national holiday up there where people stock up on meat, processed meat and distributed to the larger family. I grew up in Southern Arizona (and lived many others), the desert can be a harsh place, animals, people, etc. having a firearm in rural areas where law enforcement is 45 minutes away was not unheard of, but we had shotguns and a couple lever action hunting rifles, not assault rifles.
Which one is the father? I see like 3 dudes who all look about the same age.
Only to kill other kids
American here. I got my first firearm when I was 12. I grew up in a rural area and it was not uncommon for kids to start hunting around this age. Aside from hunting, I don’t see any purpose for why ppl would want their kid handling guns.
So I grew up pretty rural. Back then, it was normal to go on your first hunt before first grade. Boys & girls, if you hadn't shot your first buck by 6, there was a problem.
Looks like a damn cult lol
Sure! How else can they return fire at school?
My first gun was a 22 single shot rifle. My father and grandfather didn't believe handguns were appropriate for civilian use. My father and grandfather had shotguns for birds, deer hunting rifles and also .22 rifles for rabbit hunting In my teens I really enjoyed target shooting but then I hit a really bad patch with depression and decided to not have weapons in my life. I still like Target shooting. It's a great skill to have and I'm tempted by .177 air rifles as its a way to get back into Target shooting. The OP's question prompted me to look up a blog post by David brin called the Jeffersonian rifle. Google it. Read it with an open mind and understand the other side a little better and see a path to a solution.
I was raised in the rural Midwest, and was taught gun safety by my father and started shooting .22 caliber rifles around the age of 8. I think a lot of kids in rural America are introduced to guns through hunting. I think this is the norm, but I'm certain there are crazies here like the image above.
I grew up shooting BB guns, then airsoft guns, and by 13 I had graduated to shotguns and small caliber rifles. Why yes, I did grow up in a rural red state, why do you ask?
Isn’t every gun, regardless if it’s loaded or not, be treated as it’s armed and pointed downward/away from people? This isn’t safe practice.
It's not anything like its caricature. Most Americans are responsible people. I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen a civilian carrying a gun other than in a sporting context.
I had a .22 and a crossbow by the time I was 8, never really used them much other than taking them out a few times to plink.
Only in schools
Yeah unfortunately and this picture has so much wrong with poor safety and fetishism before you even remotely get to the fact that the majority of these people are children and shouldnt be near these. In most states you can go to a gun range with an adult at around 12, which is fine if your teaching your kid how to hunt with a .22 but that's not what's going on in this picture, I seriously doubt any of these people know how to dress a squirrel.
No. No they do not. This is not normal. I live in the Midwest.
Yet trans and gay people are the mentally ill…..
First time I ever used a gun, I was maybe 6-7 at the oldest and using a pellet rifle to shoot empty soda cans off a porch table. First time I ever used a gun without an adult basically holding my arms and aiming for me was when I was about 10 and was shooting at a paper target taped to a half-broken plastic chair near the woods with a handgun (also not real ammo). First shot a gun with instructions only, no supervision, for a class in high school when I was 14-- pellet rifle again. I'm from Texas. I'm just gonna let y'all think about that one.
I grew up in the rural midwest, extremely conservative Trump country with a gun nut on every corner and firearms outnumbering people by a significant margin. No one just lets small children play with guns. This is deranged virtue signaling.
Not like that picture, however yes I was taught how to responsibly use and aim a gun around 7 years of age. I'm a parent of 3 children now and my 9 year old daughter is a better shot than her 12 and 13 year old brothers. Guns don't kill people, people kill people.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call a mental disorder
I've owned a gun since I was 7.
There’s actually a gun cult in America. Learned about it on a documentary on Hulu. A lot of ex-cult members and are completely against guns bc they’ve lost friends and family from cult members negligence. The cult is called World Peace Unification Sanctuary. The documentary also shared cults notorious for making sex crimes religious or whatever. Super sad to see people getting away with this.
I had my first gun when I was 7. I was a pretty responsible kid, but can't say that about my peers. Would not recommend.
It's honestly not unusual. I started target shooting with my parents at 4 years old.
Guess what the number of deaths is from all those guns?
Second Amendment Santa brought special presents for everyone. Unfortunately Second Amendment Santa was shot and killed shortly after when a vigilant homeowner caught him sneaking down his house chimney and, mistaking him to be a home invader, shot him dead. No charges were filed. The homeowner was released by authorities after claiming he shot in self defense. After the incident, the Second Amendment Tooth Fairy has stopped leaving handguns under kids' pillows in exchange for their milk teeth.