Yes, those were the good old days for firearms. My dad owned over 200 firearms at that time, all easily available in the home and you know what? With the exception of when we went out hunting or to the range or to clean them, I knew if I ever put my hands on one, they would stay on them...no joke, I just knew better.
The rest of the 50’s were pretty calm to, once the Korean War was over. Schools were places to learn, not day care centers. I went to a local church grade school taught by mostly nuns. We were praised when we did well, and if we did something wrong, well, I always felt the principal nun was hiding out from Nuremberg for having run a concentration camp. Frightening woman. I don’t recall the police ever coming to school except to hand out the safety patrol badges and gather them up at the end of the school year. A big night out was when the family went to the movies. One TV, a few channels and no filth on it. My parents decided what was on and when we went to bed. Yes, “go outside and play” was a daily thing, no hanging about the house playing video games and the like. Touch football ran from october to March and baseball from April to October, either at the park or in the street. Water ballon fights and tag games....a wonderful time to be a kid.
Meanwhile, we had chores to accomplish too. Mostly helping out but nonetheless we were involved. Minor plumbing, painting, car maintenance, cleaning game both fish and foul. We were taught how to do things besides checking Angie’s list.
“A guy brought his shotgun to Massapequa HS and killed some other guy over a girl”
Bingo - first correct answer.
Almost every home back then with kids had a Mom AND a Dad. Mom was kind but strict, and Dad had a large leather belt. And there was order and politeness in society, from the home, to the neighborhood, to schools. But as the liberals will tell you, those were ‘terrible times that restricted children’s growth and development.’ Never mind that those kids went on to build the largest free market economy on earth and STILL pay a huge percentage of the takes.
Since then we have been taught that there must be ‘freedom’ and ‘understanding’. That under no circumstances should a parent ever strike a child. And that all of the bedrock American beliefs are wrong and must be torn down.
Working out really well, isn’t it?