On 2/22/2018 1:26 PM, Bill wrote:
wrote:
On Thu, 22 Feb 2018 07:25:20 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

Here's a weird one. In Massachusetts, one of the most liberal states, a
15 year old can legally purchase and own a long gun with his/her
parent's permission.

If the parents are OK with it, can't a kid have any gun they want at
any age? Who is going to stop them?
I had my first shotgun at 14-15 when I started to hunt but I had a .22
for years before that. I suppose technically it was my dad's, handed
down from my grandfather but I had free access to it and they sold
ammo at the 7-11.


I did not own / buy a firearm until I was married. Why buy, when dad had
any I wanted to use. As a kid, we would go to the government range in the
hills around the range master was a friend of my dad, and just use dad’s
guns. I was under 16, so my brother drove.


I never wanted a firearm while we were raising kids in the house. Never
wanted one, even after our home was broken into one day and items
stolen. I was never interested in hunting (still am not). I suppose if
we had lived in an area of the country where rifles and guns were a part
of life it may have been different.

I got a permit when I opened the guitar shop at the suggestion of my
lawyer friend because I often carried large amounts of cash on me and
the shop was often visited by people unknown to me and sometimes acting
strangely. I remember the day the lawyer made his recommendation. He
happened to be in the shop when it was visited by a couple of guys. One
stayed in the parking lot in their car with the engine running. The
other came in, sorta scoped out the place but left when several other
"regulars" showed up.

After I received the permit I joined a club with a shooting range and
went often. Bought several various revolvers, pistols and rifles but
after a while I got tired of shooting holes in paper targets. Still
have a .22 Ruger rifle, a shotgun, a revolver and three pistols but I'll
probably get rid of all but the revolver and one pistol soon. Rarely
carry and I just don't have much interest in them.