The death of our sport

[Swamp Yankee]

This is just an observation on my part. In todays world we just don't have the kids comming up in the shooting sports like years ago. Most kids would rather sit home playing their Game Boys and X-Boxes or I-M-ing their friends on their home computers. When I was growing up [in the sixty] most of us guys loved to shoot and hunt! I used to get home from school grab my gun , a pocket full of shells and me and my dog were out the door in three mins. flat. Today kids don't show much interest in the sport. Case in point This year at our club's Fall Shoot we only had two kids come down and shoot. In years gone by there would be kids of every age at the club. I guess times are changing. I hope things are different where you live but for us in Southern New England its a dieing sport. Without the young people to follow us in the sport and without the numbers to represent us the anti gun people will eventually take over. Point two: look at the general ages of the people who post here on the site, alot are in their fourty's most are in their fifties and sixties. Yeah there are some young shooters here but most are old [Like Me!!!]  With the strong anti gun movement that is well entrenched in congress the sport as we know it could well dissapeer maybe not in our lifetime but surely in our kids. Look at the heavy hitters Schulman, Kennedy [from my home state] and don't forget Hillary Clinton who stands a good shot at running for president in the future..............thats a scarry thought!!!   That being said  what can we do?...... Bring a kid hunting or to the range, teach them about fire arms. Join the NRA........I'm guessing that most people here on the fourm are members just by reading your posts and seeing your love for the sport. Also join your states grass roots shooting organizations ours in Ma. is "GOAL" Gun Owners Action League. We need representation at every level. If you don't hunt buy a hunting licence....numbers count, polititions look at numbers. Don't think it can't happen in your state, it can and it will, unless you as gun owners do something now.  Maybe I sound like an alarmest and maybe I am But I love the shooting sport dearly and would hate to see it disappear as we know it!
This is just my opinion and mabe you feel differently thats ok cause this is "America" and you have that right!!!
With respect, Jim...... aka.  Swamp Yankee

[Mauser]

This is a big concern of mine also.  I have a pre school son and I sometimes wonder if I should get him involved in my shooting and hunting passtime because  I don't want him to suffer the disapointment of losing the right (priviledge?) to hunt or shoot in the future.  It is probably too late as he is already expressing interest in my guns and what I'm doing when I'm hunting.  

Along with the loss of kid's interest in hunting, urban sprawl is going to ultimately kill hunting.  That is probably the biggest threat to our kids and grandkids hunting in the future.

[nomosendero]

Yea, it concerns me as well. I think that we need to introduce a minimum
of 1 kid into shooting/hunting in addition to our own children. Fortunately
my boys (young men now) hunt, though not as seriously as I do yet, too
much female deversions, I think but that is normal. My wife hunts as well, I got her interested while we were dating & she has stayed with it, in fact
she harvested a 6pt. last Sunday morning with her 6.5x55. So, I think we
need to do the following:
1. Get our spouse involved if they will in hunting & shooting. This will increase the odds that your kids will get involved which leads me to point #2.
2. Do all we can to get our kids involved, including girls. In past generations this was not done enough (recruiting girls) but this doubles the pro-gun/hunting votes.
3. Get at least 1 kid involved other than your own. Trust me, the anti's are
working hard to get these kids. I worked with 1 kid, he is in the Guard now
& pro-hunting all the way.
4. Help set-up a local range. Alot of people are getting discouraged because they have no place to shoot.
5. Get involved in an active gun organ., if the NRA doesn't suit you, get
with another, but get involved! I am a life NRA member but looking to
get involved with more groups.
6. Challange local media, newspapers, etc. that may spew false info about
shooters/hunters. But do so with facts & not anger.
7. Work tirelessly to defeat any anti running for political office.
8. NEVER GIVE UP PERIOD!!!!
Just my thoughts

[Will Bison]

I grew up in a small town in N California back in the 50's. At the age of 12 or 13, I thought little about grabbing my rifle and walking through town on my way to the local hills for some target shooting. No one else thought much about it either, it was simply accepted as a normal thing.

Imagine the furor today if a kid tried to go shooting as I used to. Imagine even an adult walking down the street with a rifle.

[379 Peterbilt]

I grew up in a small town in N California back in the 50's. At the age of 12 or 13, I thought little about grabbing my rifle and walking through town on my way to the local hills...

Will, that sure brings back some memories for me.

I can remember back in about 1981 as an 8th grader, I took my 30-30 Marlin deer rifle to school with me. It was part of hunters ed which was held after school. Many other kids also brought their guns to class as well. I think the reason the instructors asked us the bring them was for a show and tell kind of thing. Try that today !!! :-D

Anyway, back to the topic here-- Swamp Yankee, I do conccur. I think there is alot of truth to what you say.

I hate to say it, but things just aint like they were when we were all kids. I shutter to think what rights my kids will be posting 30 years from now about the things they take for granted today, that will be unheard of when they are middle age adults. And it will happen, we all know it.

I guess we can thank the leftist democrats and maybe some of the lawyers for this.

I just will never understand why a 13 year old kid cannot take a deer rifle to school today for hunter ed class, as I did as a 13 year old.

Yes, you read that right....

[jh45gun]

You can thank a lot of liberal lefty anti gunners for that! Zero Tolerance because the liberals made laws that said  parents or teachers  could not punish kids for their actions. Which of course resulted in a bunch of kids who went out of control and the result was shooting up a bunch of schools. Ya know the libs want to blame violence on TV and movies  which is a bunch of horse pucky. Kids of the 50's and early 60's grew up watching violent but funny cartoons and shoot em up westerns and cop shows and we never shot up no schools never would have dreamt of it. So what changed. Lack of parental and teacher control of kids.

[Brett]

Not sure what the percentage of single parent (female head) households is today, I'm guessing between 60 and 65%.  With the majority of our youngsters being raised by women, who generally are non-hunters and non-shooters, it is no wonder there are fewer and fewer youth getting into shooting and hunting.  I taught my sister-in-laws three kids how to shoot (2 girls and a boy) as well as take a single mom's youngster from my church to hunter education classes. Surprisingly it was the single mom from my church who approached me and asked if I would be willing to take her son to the hunter ed. courses.  It's up to us to support and do what we can to keep the sport alive.  Besides it can be very rewarding. I will never forget the grin on that boys face when the instructor handed him his certificate upon completing the hunter education course.

[45454]

Like our good bud from California,If I were to walk around with my gunbelt strapped on, I'd be put in jail.
The morons in this PRK, are so insanely fearful of guns.The state A.G. is anti-gun. Our "Governator", is showing his yellow backside. He's anti-gun, no matter what HE says.
Our rep's are anti-gun and hunting.
Most of the BS are taught in public schools.
Then you wonder "why" I want out of this "Fool's Golden State".
Back in grade school,late 50's,early 60's, a teacher had convinced me that communism, was better than the American system.
My Aunt put a stop on me with wanting to go communist.
To think about it now, I wonder how many she got "converted".
Now, this same system that is taking away your freedom. Little by little.
Used to be, that the government minded it's own business. Now, they HAVE to know every little thing about you. These credit reporting agencies
are a part of the problem. I mean, many are insane with wanting to get every single scrap of info they can. And see if they can nail you to the wall.
Police acting like the military. And on it goes.
Now, schools are making your kids like little robots;guns kill people and animals. the colleges and universities aren't much different.Too many Marxists,socialists and communists in this sad state.
Can credit Klinton with "We have too much freedom.".
PETA and The Humane Society are insanely anti-hunting. ELF was getting active in Elk Grove (just south of Sacramento),burning several new homes going in, that at one time, was grazing fields.And ELF or similar, was involved with burning/torching of an animal research lab in Davis.
This was a very few years ago.
Political correctness running rampant.
Just watch, in a few years,this country is heading for a big downfall.
We are seeing a small part of it.
Retirement can't come quick enough.Will never be able to move out fast enough.
I better quit.

[Sourdough]

I've seen it coming since the 60s, when I had teachers that were anti-gun in school then.  Every year I see less and less kids coming in to learn about the shooting sports.  I lay the blame on their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents.  You can trace it back to the 50s when this nation started getting too busy to do outdoor things.  At that time people moved from the country to the suburbs.  They lived so close togeather that they could not anylonger hunt behind the house.  It was too crowded for little johnny to have a .22 to shoot rabbits, or squrils.  The man of the house was too busy making a living to take his kids hunting or fishing.  The deer and turkeys had been overhunted anyway, there just weren't many left.  I remember being told in the 50s by my neighbors dads, "Nobody hunts anymore, don't need to, you can go to the store and buy anything you want.  And you don't have to skin it."  Those kids grew up non-hunters, did not care either way.  Their kids are anti-hunters, and their kids are anti-gun people.  Main problem is they are beginning to outnumber us.  When they do, it will be all over for hunting.  We'll be vegitarians in our old age, wheather we want to or not.  No one will kill an animal, at least not for food.