Were Ralphie's parents irresponsible?

No, not for the era. Nowadays we let everyone else tell us what to do in our lives. We call that progress.

No, not for the era.

Click to expand...

Serious question, was gun safety not a considered thing decades ago? In that era, guns had been around for nearly 500 years.

I do think we underestimate just how much the TV and movies skew people on the perception of guns. Fence sitters, who have never been around guns, only know what they see on TV or at the movies.

Yes, the cute Christmas movie showed them guns are dangerous. Even kiddie guns. In the action movies, all the bad guys shoot fully auto weapons with thousands of bullets flying at the good guys without reloading. Good guys making pistol shots at 50 yards and knocking the bad guys off their feet. You know, the real side of guns! They can switch the channel and watch a hunting show and cry when the hunter drops Bambi with a single shot. They cover their kid's eyes and tell them to go get a treat.

So, Mr and Mrs Double Latte realize that guns are dangerous and ony bad guys and cops carry them because they represent evil. Guns can kill every person in a PTA meeting in seconds if someone has one on his belt. Guns have no place in their cul-de-sac because all you need to do is call the police and they will be there to catch the bad guy in seconds. You can't blame the brain-washed public for their perceptions of guns because the only time they see one, it's either being used by a bad guy or the good cop.

So, yes, I believe that TV and movies don't accurately show that good guys can carry guns without them going off and shooting innocent people because that's what they do. If someone would make up a reality show that shows actual recreations of everyday people who used firearms to defend themselves and their families I'd bet it would be a huge success. Until then, all TV and the movies do is push more fence sitters to the bad side.

SleazyRider said:

... but it seems to me the parents were somewhat remiss in educating their son about firearms safety when they handed him a rifle and a box of ammo and sent him outside, unsupervised, to take pot shots.

Click to expand...

Hmmmmm. I recall coming home from school one day as a kid and finding a new box with a pump-action BB rifle inside. It was a present from my father, and neither he or my mother gave me any special warnings or instruction about it.
I also knew pretty certainly if I shot a neighbor's pet or a window or pulled some other fool stunt I would be in for a LOT of parent-induced trouble .....

There was a day when coffee cups didn't have to have "Caution! Contents HOT, may cause burns!" printed on them....

My dad wasn't against firearms but my mom was, she just never really felt comfortable around them since her step-dad shot out his eye with buckshot (which he was shooting at cinder-blocks and it ricocheted off) and had to get a glass eye.

So she started my brother off with like a nerf gun and our first rule was to of course never aim it at someone (this was a test for a BB gun of course) and he failed miserably, shot me multiple times with it (I'm 3 years younger than him) so at the time I was about 5 and he was 8 so she took the nerf gun and down both of our hopes went.

Well he lost interest and fell more into cars and guitars than outdoor sports, me being like my father fell into fishing and anything else outdoors. I always loved guns and its all I ever talked about and my dad being a ex Police Officer and now Fire Marshall he carried guns for work and used to hunt but stopped when my older brother was born. Well after all my gun talk my dad (as in the movie) snuck a Daisy BB gun in one Christmas.

Mom wasn't happy after her failed experiment but let it happen. My dad taught me everything about gun safety and we'd having shooting competitions in the back yard like "Who could shoot the top of the soda bottle off first" and until I got my first .22 (Ruger 10/22) I'd be outside all day shooting.

If we went fishing I'd bring it with me and shoot off the side of the boat. I was in love. So enough ranting I loved the 10/22 and the day I turned 18 I bought my 870 as per my moms rule she'd never buy a gun I'd have to do it myself (the .22 was another sneaky dad gift) but there is nothing wrong with it as long as the kids are mature enough to follow the rules of gun safety.

Its weird cause my mom is pro-gun rights but she just never was comfortable with us kids having them, my dad had a few from his hunting days and for self defense but he hasn't bought a new gun for himself in at least 20 years. But if my dad wouldn't of given my that BB gun I probably never would have gotten into firearms until I was this age now. So there is my story. So I can attest to that "You'll shoot your eye out!" story and went really parallel with A Christmas Story except I didn't put my targets on a metal pole...

about 1955 (10 years old) my parents finally let me have a bb gun, daisy i think. I loaded it up, having shot a friends before, and headed out into the woods across the street looking for big game. Couldn't find any so I decided to shoo at a tree about 30' away. BAMB! right in the left cheek, from a BB ricochet. about 1.5 inches from my eye! Never told a soul until now. but was a lot more careful in what I shot at.

That was me

I grew up in the 1950's and EVERY kid wanted a BB gun,and even though I lived in new yor city [ past tense ] I got one just like all the other kids.

and hell yes,we shot at each other and it hurt like hell,lesson learned !.

NEVER saw or heard of anyone "shooting out their eye" ,or anyone else's eye for that matter.

I vote for the old days and they were safer and a GREAT deal more fun for kids = period.

btw,I watch that movie for 24 hours [ well its on all that time ] and its one of THE best I have ever seen.

In my list of 1000 movies men MUST own.

The patients I have had come into E.R. to have a BB removed after being shot will have a strong opinion about how dangerous BB guns are.

No, they weren't. Thank God Darwin was alive and well back in the day.

This thread has made me think of the things I got to do as a child that are illegal for my daughter to do (and/or would have my in front of a judge), the things my dad did as a kid that I had to wait to do as an adult, and the things my grandfather did that I will never get to do.

Yep, that's progress....

If you'll recall, he was at least wearing safety glasses . I wonder if many anti/or merely hostile parents would take more kindly to a mere offer from yourself to teach the kid firearm safety alone (heck, offer to teach the parents while you're at it), or pay for a class if the one-on-one time is impractical.

If the parents never learned handling/safety (or have no recent familiarity with guns), the offer of a gun for the kid must come off like you offering to buy a broad sword for junior to run around with and inevitably impale himself on

"The patients I have had come into E.R. to have a BB removed after being shot will have a strong opinion about how dangerous BB guns are."
Bingo. The first injury I ever had to treat myself ('cuz Dad woulda killed me if he found out ) was BB gun related (a dart, not a BB )

TCB

The only thing I would have done differently as a parent, was supervise Ralphie when he was shooting. But still would have bought the BB gun.

Well...I think all depends on how much firearm training Ralphie had before getting his BB gun. I think that Ralphi's dad would have been irresponsible for giving Ralphie a gun without having gone over the rules beforehand.

SharpDressedMan said:

No, not for the era. Nowadays we let everyone else tell us what to do in our lives. We call that progress

Click to expand...

Agreed.

Ralphie's parents weren't irresponsible, they were doing what people used to do, letting their kids be kids. Those days seem to be long gone.

Ralphie's parent's were irresponsible but I don't think that the overall gun message from the movie (if there was an intentional message) was negative. Ralphie wants the Red Ryder, everybody tells him "you'll shoot your eyes out, kid," but he persists and his dad relents. It's one of my favorite flicks.

It's far from the only film in which people inadvertently behave irresponsibly with firearms. I noted a big goof when watching a movie the other day

SPOILER ALERT: if you have not seen the film The Negotiator, stop reading. In the ending scene, the corrupt police captain realizes that his facade is over and that he is going to jail, so he tries to kill himself. Another officer stops him from doing so by shooting him in the shoulder. When the shooter fires, both the Kevin Spacey and the Samuel L. Jackson characters are standing directly behind the corrupt captain and well within the line of fire. No responsible person would intentionally endanger multiple innocent people to stop a murderer from committing suicide.

It's Hollywood, so I'll give them licenses.

Serious question, was gun safety not a considered thing decades ago?

Click to expand...

NO, it wasn't.
At least to the extent it is today.

My parents bought me my first BB gun for Xmas in 1949.
When I was 5 years old.
I had to brace the stock under my leg to cock it.

And I found out early on you don't want the lever to slip out of your hand while it is in close proximity to your 'man parts' down there!!

Dad told me not to shoot it at anything I didn't want to kill.
And for damn sure, not to shoot it at the livestock, house, trucks, or farm machinery.
And mom told me to listen to my dad.

So I did listen, and I didn't shoot it at anything I wasn't supposed to shoot.

But I grew up on a farm, and knew exactly what death and killing and guns were all about by then.

By the time I was six or so, my little dog and I went 'hunting' all by ourselves in the back 40 with an abundance of 'targets of opportunity' including voles, field mice, small birds, snakes, and an occasional rabbit.

I never shot my eye out.
I never shot the dog, or the cows, or the cars, trucks, or tractors.
Because my folks told me not too if I wanted to keep the BB gun.

So, I guess I did good?
Because I got a brand new Winchester .22 for Xmas when I was 9.
And then, the real small game hunting begin!

rc

Having been the recipient of a Daisy bb gun as a kid, by way of the Grandfather, by the way, I see no problem with a gift as such. Sure, I overheard the arguments between the "grown ups" about me shooting my eye out, or shooting into the window, or even shooting the neighbors dog. Which even I questioned, though very quietly, 'cause nobody but us had a dog on our street. But, my Father finally settled it when he said we, me and him, had gone shooting one afternoon with his .22 rifle and I had did just fine. It sorta' worked out for me, as I did get to keep it but, I could only keep it at Granpa's house and only shoot it towards the woods from the backyard ridge. Guess my step mother really won that argument. After they divorced, it did come home with me though.

To be honest, I believe that that there are so many over protective parents out there that just won't let a kid be a kid. What's wrong with eating dirt and sand and getting muddy with grass stains all over? I mean, a bb gun IS part of being a kid ain't it. Just like football in the backyard and learning that fire burns and really hurts when it does.

My bb gun taught me responsibility for my actions, and forethought for those actions. Not to mention that my lil'l azz woulda' been all kinds of warmed if I did anything stupid with it. Go ahead and them one. Just tell the parents, as my Granpa did, that you'll watch over them and teach them the right way to shoot it. And he And my Father did.

I wish I had grandkids to do this with. I have mixed feelings about a bb gun. The ever ricocheting BB is a place looking to bounce off of everything.

I dunno. I grew up in the 50's, as did many here. IT WAS DIFFERENT BACK THEN... at the risk of sounding like an old fart. I got my first pocket knife when I was 5-6, from my grandfather. Promptly cut through my blue jeans and sliced my leg a little wiping the blade on my pants leg - BUT it wasn't taken away. A lesson was learned - it was sharp, don't do that again, etc...

We got our Daisys when we were 8. Safety wasn't emphasized, because it was assumed. We never shot windows, or each other (too much)...

better? dunno - just different then.

I got my BB gun at about age 5 I think. Long before Christmas my dad sat me down and asked me if I wanted a BB gun for Christmas. What, are you kidding? So he said if I learned the 10 commandments of gun safety Santa might just bring me one. Well I learned them, and lo and behold, Santa came through.

A few years later I began getting real guns and the fun began. But he made sure I knew what to shoot, and what NOT to shoot.

Like RC, I knew that if I wanted to keep it I needed to observe all the rules.

I'm pretty sure that movie was what kept bb guns from me when I was younger.
I was like exactly Ralhie's age when that movie came out.
Finally bought my first pellet gun at like 16.
Pellet guns are safer than BB guns by a huge margin.
Pellets don't bounce directly back to where they came from.