As I write this the United States has had forty school shootings. From kindergarten to my graduate degree I never heard or thought about a school shooting. I grew up in Southern Illinois where most families probably had a rifle or shotgun in the house for hunting. I was probably seven or eight when Dad let me shoot his 12-gauge double-barrel shotgun which knocked my 40 pound body at least six feet back. Much later I became proficient with a 22 revolver, a 22 rifle, a 410 gauge and 20 gauge shotgun. I could probably come closer to hitting a target by throwing my brother’s WWII Mauser than shooting at it..

            When I was a junior in high school one project in Speech II was to do a demonstration. I chose to disassemble and reassemble my brother’s Mauser blindfolded. The teacher and the principle said it was okay only as long as it wasn’t loaded, kept in the office before and after the class. I bet there isn’t an American school that would allow that to happen today.

            The few gangs in big cities didn’t have many revolvers or automatics when I was in school. They fought with switchblades (I traded for one in the fourth grade.), clubs and zip guns. Zip guns were homemade single shot devices which didn’t always fire.

            So what has changed? The National Rifle Association went from teaching gun safety and looking out for bad weapons to promoting the purchase of pistols. Assault style weapons and video games teach kids to kill with impunity. Too many parents have not done their job in rearing their children to respect others. The most obvious reason is the declining control of ownership in many states and the Supreme Court rulings.