Mr. H, I own firearms, both cartridge and black powder. When I was twelve, my mother *insisted* that I learn to shoot (also my brothers and sister). She sent me, and the rest, to a local rifle range where we were instructed in safety. We had a total of nine hours of safety lectures before we were even given rudimentary instruction in sighting in, trigger control, and so forth. And safety was drilled into us whenever and whereever we were on the range (yes, even in the bathrooms, and I don't mean signs that read "Please aim").

This was more safety instruction than I received in the Army.

Moreover, what was drilled into us was a sense of responsibility: we, and no one else, not society, not our ancestors, not our descendants, we and we alone were responsible for our actions with a gun.

My firearms are stored seperate from any ammunition, with trigger locks. And they are stored in a place where it would be difficult to get them. I take them out only to shoot them; when I finish I clean them and return them to storage.

Anything less would be irresponsible.

What shooting I do is limited to either a range or, in the past, to hunting. While I have a permit to carry a concealed deadly weapon (which includes brass knuckles, switchblade knives, throwing stars, and other such non-firearm weapons), I don't. I got it because I wanted to refresh myself on the applicable laws, safety, and so forth -- and I spent twelve classroom hours and four hours on the range; six weeks later I received my certificate, and six weeks after that the permit was mailed to the local sheriff's office, where I had to sign for it when I picked it up (and show identification and the notice I received that it was in).

If some fool fires off a gun to celebrate anything, s/he should be taken up for, at least, reckless endangerment.

No, I never experienced this when I was growing up. Perhaps it was because the Depression lingered on there, and we used guns to supply meat for the table, just as we used whatever fish we caught.

I'll say no more about this, as I don't want to get involved in a debate on gun control, the Second Amendment, or anything else of that sort, and I'll post nothing further to this thread for the same reason.