In so doing, I am probably going to say some very controversial things that will most likely get me a mailbox full of angry e-mails; but, here goes.

First I would like to state that I do not like guns; and, I do not like the concept of hunting as it is practiced in today's modern American society. There was a time when hunting was necessary to help feed oneself and family; but, that is seldom the reason why people hunt today.

Now they hunt for "sport."

I see nothing sporting about a situation where one side has the guns and the other does not. I know from personal experience that it is possible to enjoy and be a part of nature without killing anything. In fact, I believe that an artificial device such as a gun removes us from nature and makes us no better than an executioner; and, that is the crux of the matter!

Hunting is no more than killing and killing for the fun of it!

That is wrong! That is sick!

It may be true that most hunters never go beyond simply killing animals. They know they can't get away with killing people. Well, most of the time, they don't get away with it! It might even be true that hunting provides an outlet for violence just like some video games may provide a similar outlet; but, the whole thing, as far as I am concerned, is sick.

Anytime, you have to kill anything, for any reason, you should feel a little sick inside. Certainly you should never feel pleasure!

But can we blame guns for today's epidemic of violence among the young?

I don't think so!

The facts are that guns used to be even more accessible to young people than they are today.

There was a time when most Americans grew up with guns. Their father's used them to help supplement the often meager family diet; and, for protection since any kind of help was generally pretty far away.

Children, especially the boys, were taught to use guns from an early age; and, by the time they reached their teenage years many of them were as proficient with a gun as their fathers.

So what has changed?

Certainly not the children. They are still the amoral little creatures they always were.

It is popular nowadays to romanticize children as little angels come to earth who can teach us so much if only we would listen.

I believe the truth is closer to the fact that they are wild little animals who need to be tamed! Don't get me wrong. I love wild little animals; but, I also know that if I am to live with one, it must somehow be tamed and domesticated.

Fortunately human children have a tremendous capacity to learn if only we will teach them!

Unfortunately most human beings are lousy teachers.

We say it; but, we still fail to appreciate that our species is wired to learn by both doing and watching others do. What we actually say has little impact; and, if a lesson is to be truly learned it must be repeated many times.

In one way or another the lesson will be repeated several times and the lesson will be learned from whoever the child chooses as a role model.

There was a time when that role model was usually a parent or family member.

All too often nowadays, the role model is someone the child does not even know but which he has seen on television or in the movies and has judged "cool." Character is never a requirement for being "cool" because "cool" is just a fantasy and does not exist in the real world; but, children have not enough experience of the real world to understand this.

There was a time when mothers did not have to work and could spend more time explaining the real world to their children. There was a time when most children had a father living in the home helping the mother, if not with housework, at least in teaching the children about the world and how it really works.

There was a time when most American families lived a rural farm life when both the father and mother were with the children most of the day; sometimes the grandparents and maybe some other family members as well. In the days before rural electrification, they would often get up before daylight and sit around the a fire talking and waiting until daylight came. Then the father along with the boys would rush out to do the morning chores while the mother and the girls readied breakfast. Some of you might have a little trouble with the chauvinistic division of labor; but, it was all a great bonding experience for parent and child.

It made the children want to listen to their parents and choose them as role models.

I know these these because I have always listened to my elders. It doesn't mean I always agreed with them or did what they said, but I did listen.

Today most often both parents work 8 hours a day which often translates out to 9 hours at the workplace, plus maybe an hour a day going to and from work, maybe more. They have to sleep, eat, do other chores, how much time does that leave for the children? In my opinion, next to none. A lot of you might say, "Well you have to make time." but there is always a limit to human endurance and only 24 hours in a day!

A lot of children are on their own a good part of the day. The lucky ones might have some sort of daycare or after school program; but, there are some things that only a parent can teach in those quiet moments before the day starts or in companionship while completing a task; but, as the world is today, that all too often just does not happen and the child is left alone with the often dark fantasies of television, video games and music with no one to help him understand what is a fantasy and what is not!

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