>I get a little fired up about this subject... so I apologize for sounding brash before.
>
>I guess I come from a different background from most people. I played with toy guns, and then moved up to a BB gun when I was 8. I was in hunter's safety class as soon as I could, and was hunting by myself at 12. I have always had respect for guns and the sportsmanship of what they were meant to be used for.
>
>And I have done a lot of stupid things in my childhood/teenage years, but none of them ever involved anything more than paintball guns because of this respect. I guess I also shot a golf ball with my BB gun once and had it richochet back at my leg...
>
>My children will be raised the same way.
>
>Now, on the other hand, if my dad had a bunch of hunting guns laying around (which he did) and I was never involved with them, I would probably have been a lot more curious and probably would have handled them when nobody was around.

My impression is that you live out in the country where there might be a few more legitimate uses for a gun (or, actually, a rifle). In this case, we're talking about a safe suburban neighborhood with houses on either side.

I don't know how the kid in question was raised with respect to guns, but I do know that he was considered a good kid, involved in lots of activities and on no one's radar for suicide. I think if there'd been no guns in his house, he'd likely be alive today.

Tamar