Quote Originally Posted by painm8ker View Post
Is it just me or are about half of these pictures of children with TOY guns? That seems a little deceptive to mix them in like that. It would be like putting pictures of little girls with realistic looking dolls in an article about teen pregnancy. The talk about child soldiers like its a new concept is also deceptive, children have been fighting wars since they were invented. Its sucks, but all war sucks for everyone who is involved. Argue to end wars all together, not to make them more civilized or more tolerable by putting in "rules". The more horrible and terrible a war is and the more people who know about it the less likely we are to do it again.

That being said I will put out there that I think private gun ownership in the US should be illegal. There is just no reason for it. You are far more likely to kill yourself or a loved one then to defend your home. The argument about the constitution is just silly, its says "the right to bear arms" which does not mean the right to own any weapon I want and carry it when ever I want. I am an engineer and know how to make chemical weapons but I don't think anyone is comfortable with that. As for letting the kids use the guns I don't let my kids use the table saw and its a lot less dangerous then the 12 Gauge.

The developing world is another story, people there live by a set of rules so different then what we know in the US. Having to kill an animal so it doesn't eat your children is a reality in some parts of the world. Pirates, kidnappers, thieves, rapists, and murders who work with or sometimes for the police are real concepts in the developing world. Teaching a child to shoot in that world makes sense. Us judging those people for doing that and casting a disgusted look at the father teaching his kid to shoot in that world seems a little pompous and arrogant to me. That's why people in those countries hate Americans. We judge them and look down on them and don't understand them or their lives at all.
You know what? You make a terribly good point here. If a child needs to use a weapon in Darfur to keep keep herself or family members safe from "cleansed" or sexually assaulted, I would say go for it. But you run up against raiders who are many with better and more guns. But I do see what you mean here. I just wants kids to be able to be kids without having to deal adult realities. That's just what I feel.

There's plenty of time for gun play when you're an adult; Uncle Sam (and some mercenary companies) are giving people the chance to take the lives of other people with guns if they want it. So why not wait a few years?