Originally Posted by
Bob Gutermuth
I grew up watching horse operas, cop shows and WWII shows like Combat on the boob tube. As a kid I used to play army or cops and robbers quite a bit, and in those days we had an arsenal of firearms(toy)to use in rubbing out the bad guys. Even the cartoons were full of fantasy violence(ever watch Elmer Fudd go hunting?). I think my parents spent a small fortune buying me paper caps to keep shooting in various games we played. But the group of kids I hung out with(I was born in 1951) and I knew that this was all make believe, none of my pals ever got arrested for shooting up a bank or anything even remotely serious. My dad began teaching me to shoot a real rifle at 5 and I have hunted all my life. The difference was and is that my parents and most others, made sure we knew the difference between watching Roy Rodgers shoot a crook on TV and the real world.