What have we become....

[JohnUSCG]

So I just purchased a nice lot of old 'American Rifleman' magazines. Some from the 20's, 30's, 60's, 80's and some recent ones around 2004/2005. It is amazing reading the old ads and some of the articles. Just imagining how things 'used' to be with firearms and their perception in this country. Some things I didn't know; The old tried and true Hoppes solvent was invented and produced right here in PA (Philadelphia to be exact!); There are more defunct indoor shooting ranges in the basement of High Schools in this country than there are ACTIVE private indoor shooting ranges. (amazing, isn't it!) There used to be HUGE and very successful GUN SHOPS in New York City!! How interesting.
In the 30's and into the late 50's EVERY high school had a shooting team. There are pages upon pages of lisings for shooting matches across the whole country....High Schoolers, YMCA teams, local rod and gun clubs....everyone wanted to be proficient with a firearm and it was across all types of disciplines. (Pistol, small bore, revolver, etc!)
One of the more striking ads was one for a sportsman club in upstate NY who was selling stickers that you could put on your outgoing mail that read to the effect of: "The Second Ammendment rights are everyones...suppport Second Ammendment Candidates!"
It just makes me ponder how we have changed as a society and also as gun owners/enthusiasts. Many ranges are struggling financially because of a lack of shooters. There are several shooting leagues that simply do not exist anymore because no one was attending. If you happen to even mention the word 'gun' in a school, the SWAT team is called and you are looking at a full body cavity search!
It is almost like we (gun owners/enthusiasts) apologize for our love of marksmanship and the artistry of a firearm these days. I am not sure how we change all of this. Much of it deals directly with perception. The public at large 'perceives' that guns are bad and that is that.
How do we start a 'grass-roots' effort to win back the hearts and minds?

[PisnNapalm]

Back in the mid 80's I shot on my high school rifle team for 3 years. They still have an active team. Plum Senior High School. I checked the website, they shoot a match against Trinity High today. Go PLUM!

[shefearsnothing]

Oh you mean when they had shooting teams in HS they didn't have all these shootings in schools? IMAGINE THAT! What would Bryan Miller say?

[talldean]

Insurance costs and high maintenance for increasing lead cleanup are largely what closed the high school ranges, from my understanding.

Lack of exposure and *massive* exposure to video games have moved the under 30 folks mostly towards games instead of guns.

Which teaches all of the violence, but little of the responsibility.

[LM4300]

I know this isn't directly related, but I thought the same thing when I was watching the Burle Ives "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" episode from 1964. The Yukon Cornelius character had a revolver under his belt the whole time. The character is a "good guy" and the gun is never mentioned or used in the show. I don't believe for one second that we will ever see a kid show character that carries a gun ever again, regardless of their good guy status or not. It's just not "PC".

[Mabuz]

Man, that got me thinking on how quickly things have changed.

I'm only 26, and this article just made me remember that in 5th grade I was allowed to bring my Red Rider in to show the class about it, and gun safety...don't exactly remember, but it might have been something like a "show and tell" day or sharing what your hobbies were. Anyways, I grew up in a small town, and of course my dad had to come in with me in the morning so the principal could check it to be sure it was unloaded. After that, I was even allowed to take it to my classroom before class began and put it on the shelf in the back where we all hung our coats as long as I promised to keep it cased.

To think, people actually trusted you for being responsible and keeping your word only 15 or so years ago...try that now.

[bloomautomatic]

I know this isn't directly related, but I thought the same thing when I was watching the Burle Ives "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" episode from 1964. The Yukon Cornelius character had a revolver under his belt the whole time.

That's the first thing I noticed about it as well. When he was battling the abdominal (sic) snowman, I'm thinking, "use your gun cornelius!"

taking the thread even further off course , go to youtube and search for full metal jacket elves. funny as hell. I'd give a direct link, but I can't access yinztube at work.

vince

[shefearsnothing]

Pfft! They don't have HAVE show and tell anymore at the school my kids attend. I was told "we don't have time". In k-4 and k-5 they are too busy with reading and math.

[LorDiego01]

The public at large 'perceives' that guns are bad and that is that.
How do we start a 'grass-roots' effort to win back the hearts and minds?

Make it a point to take new people shooting. Teach them its safe, and how it can be an invaluable tool to save your life.

Nothing else any of us could do would help the sport more than introducing new people to it.

[Annie Oakley]

I think the best thing to do is get the young involved. Teach them about respect for firearms, safety and good handling. Shawn and I take our son shooting very often and have even taken one of his friends with us.

A little off of the subject, I think it is interesting how much firearms advertising has changed also. While doing research for a school project I came across alot of advertising from the early 1900's that featured children. From as far as I can tell that's not really done anymore today. I thought that the followings ads that aren't all that old were cute: