Time Machines are real. I own a bunch of them, and if you are a MadOgre.com reader, you probably own a few yourself. No other object we have connects people through time as a Firearm.
When you pick up an old heirloom gun… it connects you to your Father, or your Grand Father, or his Father… you feel what they felt, you remember them and think about their lives and times that they had with that gun. The scratches on the stock, the mark on the bluing… and you remember their stories about hunting that deer or bear. If you are lucky, you remember them taking you out when your were a kid and teaching you how to shoot it.
I remember when my father took me shooting. Each time. What I don’t remember is when he took me to Disney Land or Six Flags… I know I went, but I don’t remember anything of it… but I remember him taking me shooting.
I don’t think you can get that time machine effect from a Rolling Pin… remembering making a batch of biscuits.
My dad and I would spend hours at the range. My favorite part of range trips was the 3 to 4 hours spent cleaning the weapons we used and the coversations. Each year, as close to the anniversery of his death as I can, I try to get to the range with at least one of his weapons.
Yep. My uncle has 2 side by sides my Granpa “liberated” from Germany. Granpa didn’t talk about much that he did there, his records show 3 bronze stars as a medic, but he did talk about the house he “found” them in. Granpa was a country boy and recognized a good rabbit gun when he saw it.
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Roger
It’s trust-respect-responsibility. The kid is shown, by the adult, that they are a responsible individual ,trusted with a deadly weapon. Kids don’t need to be trusted, or earn respect, to play with a ball, or some other toy. A firearm is a symbol of responsibility and earned trust. When somebody you look up too as a kid, shows that trust in you, it sticks.