All I want for Christmas is a .22

[DLL]

From here.

SIDNEY, Neb., Dec. 5 — For Christmas, 10-year-old Jack Arterburn wants something many parents would never consider giving their child. He wants a gun.

The companies that sell guns for children, and the parents who buy them, realize that much of society doesn’t approve. Some customers have complained about outdoor-goods retailer Orvis Co. showing a photograph in a recent catalog of a child holding a gun — albeit a cap gun. The holiday catalog of Ducks Unlimited, a wetlands conservation group, features a gun-toting child on its cover, but only because the publication goes strictly to hunters and sportsmen. “I’m not sure the general public is that comfortable with guns,” says Tildy LaFarge, a spokeswoman for Ducks Unlimited.

Gun proponents point out, however, that in some high-profile school shootings — such as the one at Columbine High School, where 12 students and a teacher were killed — the kids firing the shots didn’t get their weapons from parents.

To the contrary, they say, children who grow up in hunting families develop a deep respect for guns and their dangers. When such a child receives his own gun, the weapon itself delivers only half the thrill; the other half comes from the trust it conveys. “It’s a deposit of trust: ‘I trust you to carry this deadly weapon and not shoot me, the dog or the neighbor,’ ” says Chris Draffen, a gun salesman in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

[Iceman]

I got my first .22 when i was 6, a single-shot B/A Lithgrow. and i still have it .

I wish i had my scanner hooked up, i could of scaned a pic of me at the age of 5 with a 12ga Pump-action.

Iceman.

[GenoOfTheCrayon]

This sucks. Kids shoot and kill about 30 or 40 people in around one year (on purpose), while adults shoot and kill some 20 people every day (again, on purpose). Kids get pointed at more. And for the kids it's because we are stressed and angry, while adults do it for money and a job. Kids gain nothing, adults do.

[DENSRAW]

All I want for Christmas is a white room, a knife, and a girl with low self-esteem.

[Zundfolge]

“I’m not sure the general public is that comfortable with guns,” says Tildy LaFarge, a spokeswoman for Ducks Unlimited.

/me slaps Tildy upside the back of the head

Look at the poll bitch!

[GNAT]

heh I shot my first 12gauge when I was in first grade, with the butt of the gun against the house! And of course recieved a .22 around the age of 12. I still haven't shot anyone, and my collection only grows larger!

[Iceman]

First gun i fired was a .44 Magnum in a Marlin L/A, when i was 4 years old .

Iceman.

[DeadeyeDan[ToA]]

I started right off with a 410 gauge... come to think of it I think the first time I fired a .22 was after I had been firing rounds as large as .270 winchester.

[yurch]

First gun I ever fired was a .22 wheelgun. Its downstairs at my house right now, and I think theres an aimpoint attached to it.
Which reminds me, my father bought a 1911 while I was at college.
Can't wait to get home on break to try that suckah out.

[Gholam]

Damn you americans... I was 18 and a half the first time I got to shoot a real gun (not a pneumatic), though it was an M16A1, that somewhat compensates

[RAZZ]

I was more into archery and knives when I was a kid.
dident start shooting till I was about 14.

[Snake13]

I'll stick to air-rifles and archery till i turn 16 next year, cause then i'm legal and will be able to drive myself to a range, otherwise i can shoot more often with air rifle cause i can do it in my back yard