In reference to Elsa Oberg’s statement in the article “Violent video games put parental judgment to the test” (Page A1, Jan. 8), in which she states that she is antigun but allows her 15-year-old son to play a violent video game, I’d like to quote Mark Twain: “Supposing is good, but finding out is better.”
As a teacher, Oberg should know that first-hand knowledge is best. To that end, as a fellow Framingham resident, I’d like to invite her and her son to come to the range and learn about firearm safety. Perhaps she’ll still be antigun, but, at least, much of the mystery will be removed.
Comments
That's what the Lanza kid did in Newtown, went to the range and learned.
Okay, so it is your contention that we should take all of our children to the range to teach them to shoot at the silouettes of people? At what age, 7, 8? Remember that children do not have the developmental capacity to understand the nuances of your "gun safety" program. If you take a child to a range or give them a video game that encourages shooting at people, dogs, people shaped outlines, you are providing them with an example that it is acceptable to do so. The rationale of don't touch, only in an emergency, etc. is lost on a young child. Lest you write this comment off immediately as anti-gun, I was taught at 8 to hunt deer. We shot at a deer, we killed a deer, we ate the deer and I wore deerskin mittens. I was never confused about how real, how bloody, and how unforgiving a shotgun could be. We loaded bullets individually into the gun and there was no thrill, no shooting spree mentality,just the knowledge that because we were good at it we could eat in the winter. And we NEVER left a deer in the woods to go shoot another for fun. The shotgun was stored in a gun locker, the bullets in the basement in a different lock box. We wore red coats so hunters would not shoot us. Hunters never need automatic weapons they ruin the meat. Hunters, real hunters, don't need the weapons "gun enthusiats" want and they don't give children handguns to practice with at a gun range.