I found this on another site. Made me laugh...thought some of you might get a giggle. You just gotta love them Jar Heads....


Subject: Gun Control

Marine Corps General Reinwald was interviewed on the radio the other day and you have to read his reply to the lady who interviewed him concerning guns and children. Regardless of how you feel about gun laws you gotta love this!

This is one of the best comeback lines of all time. It is a portion of National Public Radio (NPR) interview between a female broadcaster and US Marine Corps General Reinwald who was about to sponsor a Boy Scout Troop visiting his military installation.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: So, General Reinwald, what things are you going to teach these young boys when they visit your base?

GENERAL REINWALD: We're going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery and shooting.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Shooting! That's a bit irresponsible, isn't it?

GENERAL REINWALD: I don't see why, they'll be properly supervised on the rifle range.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Don't you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children?

GENERAL REINWALD: I don't see how. We will be teaching them proper rifle discipline before they even touch a firearm.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: But you're equipping them to become violent killers.

GENERAL REINWALD: Well, you're equipped to be a prostitute, but you're not one, are you?

The radio went silent and the interview ended. You gotta love the Marines!!

Remember those?  I knew as a kid that if you were stupid enough to throw them straight up in the air, that 5 inch spike tip  could penetrate my skull when it came down.  And there was always one dumb kid that would hang on to them too long on the follow-through so it WOULD go straight up.  They are banned now.

Archery can be very dangerous as well.  Bows shoot 80 yards, and have enough penetration to kill.  but I guess you can see if they are loaded when you pick them up.

I think everyone should carry broadswords instead of guns.  Wouldn't that be fun?  En Guard!

Daisy released the fiftieth anniversary edition of the Red Rider BB Gun made famous in the movie, "A Christmas Story."  A nearby catalogue store, Service Merchandise, offered the gun for $35.  I filled out one of the little slips, and handed it to the check out clerk.  

The clerk asked me for my purchase permit.  I explained the item in question was a BB gun.  The clerk said, I still needed a permit, and could get one from my local police HQ.

I went to my town's police office, and asked for a purchase permit for a BB gun.  The cop chuckled, but said I did, indeed, need such a permit.  He explained I would need to pay for the permit partially with a postal money order, and the rest could be paid for by cash or check.  I would then need to be finger printed.  The application process would take about twelve weeks, and once the permit arrived, I'd have thirty days in which to buy the weapon (Weapon?  It's a BB gun).

I said to forget it.

The next day, I went back to the SAME store.  And I handed the SAME clerk a slip calling for a Barnett Wildcat, 150lbs crossbow -- with a 10X scope -- that will put a metal bolt THROUGH a man at fifty feet.  The clerk didn't even want to see my license.

Reasonable gun control?


-- Modified on 5/24/2003 7:22:34 AM

-- Modified on 5/24/2003 7:23:09 AM

That has been one of my favorite Urban Legends...
In fact I think the first time I saw that story was here
about a year or so ago... maybe the humor board...
Anyway Lass thanks for putting the big grin back on
my face and knocking another humorour memory loose!
We old guys tend to forget things

--Marty

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/npr-reinwald.htm

http://www.snopes.com/military/reinwald.htm

..doesn't surprise me..
amazing..

Sedona

but damn I thought it was funny. True or not it made me giggle. Thansk for the Snopes link. Snopes is a great guy and I love checkin his site for info like this.


bew well babe..

xoxox
Lass

Having raised 6 boys, on a farm in Wisconsin, I've probably dealt with every scenerio one can invision when it comes to weapons. Your story about the BB gun reminded me of something that surprised us all...LE included.  One day I was at a St. Vincent DePauls and I saw a "Red Rider" BB rifle. It had the entire center core missing from the barrel. Well I figured, for three bucks, the kids could go "Bang, Bang", pretending to be shooting, while playing cowboys and Indians or what ever boys play at. Being an advid hunter, their father, had come in from target practice, and had emptied his pockets of change, etc. along with a couple of rounds of ammo, left over from the range, into his change dish on our dresser and proceeded to take his shower. I was in the kitchen, when all of the sudden I heard this loud BOOM...coming from the younger boys room..I ran in to find my 3 year old bleeding on his face, neck and chest...While his 12 year old brother held the BB gun, pointing down to the floor. The barrel had split like the petals of a flower, completely down to the butt of the rifle. Of course I called 911 and after the ambulance ride, 5 hours in the emergency room, we finally find out from the older boy what had happened.  It seems, the kids were playing with the gun, when the three year old gets the bright idea to climb up and get a bullet off "Daddy's" dish and with the 12 year old holding the stock, the younger one drops the 22 shell down the open barrel...well it hit a piece of metal at the end of the firing pin, and just happen to hit, smack dab in the center of the shell. when it exploaded, shrap metal blew into the little guys face and chest. The Dr's said one piece came very close to hitting a main artery in his neck, also a large one went into his eyelid...My point here is, something as harmless looking as a toy, due to a freak accident, became an almost lethal weapon...Needless to say, all guns, ammo, crossbows and arrows, were locked away that very day in a newly purchased gun case.....

Put a lawn dart on the ground, draw a circle around it, and then make sure no one touches it.  I guarantee that no one will die as a result.

Play lawn darts safely in your backyard, don't let kids throw them unsupervised, pretty much the same story.

Let a drunken friend, unsupervised child, or someone you don't know and cannot vouch for toss them over a fence, without supervision: recipe for disaster.

I also collect banned books, kill deer for meat, and slaughter lambs for Easter Dinner.

Wow, I'm a real menace.

HPG

Scored 100 percent. Funny thing I didn't have to take a hunter's safety course, my dad taught me gun safety and how to shoot.

Had my first BB gun at 5, shot a .410 for Doves at 8, at 10 graduated to a JC Higgens 16 Gauge with a dial choke, bought a Remington 870 Wingmaster at 12, and bought a Remington 1100 at 19.

Been hunting with my family and friends for over 40 years now, never shot anything I didn't aim at, never killed anything that didn't need killing.

Point is, my definition of gun control is hitting what you are aiming at.

HPG

This is only ONE of the reason's I'll NEVER live in Kalifornia!

recently, I compliment you on the cool, calm manner, you handled a potentially lethal situation. My Mom would have lost it had it happened to me and I would probably be dead today (don't you wish, right?, just Kidding!!).

What's done is done, and no sense in blaming anyone at this point. However, besides the obvious, i.e., keeping all dangerous instruments locked up and out of reach of young children.  I would recomend the following for anyone who has children and weapons in the same house.

When I was about 4 or 5 years old my Dad had a couple of his shotguns broken down on the coffee table(much to my Mom's dismay) cleaning them. I approached him with typical childlike curiosity and asked him "Dad,is that a real gun?" to which he replied yes it was, and did I want to hold it? After telling my Mom to relax he told me how to hold it, and where to point it. Then I gave it back to him he gave me the following warning. "Do not touch this, or any other gun in this house unless I hand it to you. Do you understand? I gained the proper respect for a firearm, and never had a problem. Hell, I used to play in my parents bedroom where my Dad sometimes kept a loaded shotgun in the corner. There were no problems because my Dad warned what would happen if he ever caught me playing with any of his weapons. Like Nancy Reagan used to say "just say No!!"

I happen to live in California & have owned & collected guns for years, & have done my share of hunting as well.  We have a lot of laws on the books in this state regarding guns that simply make no sense.  One I recently encountered had to do with what defined an "assualt weapon" & the definition was completely ridulous...based on the appearance of the weapon alone.  

In this particular case the weapon having a 'flash supressor' at the muzzle made it illegal for sale..but if replaced with a 'muzzle-break' it was legal.  For those unfamiliar with these two devices, both of which screw into the end of the barrel, the supressor has several long slash-type openings in it..the openings in the muzzle-break are a series of small circular holes.  There is no way in the world the lethality of the weapon is altered in the slightest. And replacing the supressor with the brake, something that doesn't require a gunsmith, changes the weapon to one that's legal.  I doubt even the stauchest opponent of private gun ownership can agree that makes any sense.  

But as long as we have politicians passing laws without really sufficient knowledge we'll end up with crap on the books that makes no sense in real life.  Sad but true that whatever they think will on the surface make them look good on their voting record in the next election is what they'll vote for..it doesn't matter if it's about guns or something else.

And with regard to the guy who posted the BB gun story (sorry, forgot your handle)...I'm curious what state this took place in?

I think it's merely in our perceptions. You see I believe Monogamy is that unrealilistic, "Till Death Do Us Part" thing. My point has always been, we, as humans cannot do that. Many of you Believe however, that monogamy means, monogamy until you get the desire for someone else and then it's "everyone change partners". Similar to the Hollywood Marriages..if that's the case, I believe Liz Taylor,has been "Monogamous" 8 times...Sorry...I'm sticking with my belief....we are just calling the same idea by different names....PS..As far as a cool head with my son's accident...well 6 boys train you well, believe me...Peace, Robyn

I own a pistol, myself.  I have it solely for target shooting.  While I've had quite a bit of training on the use of such a weapon, I live in an area where keeping one for home protection is silly.  Heck, half the time, I forget to even lock my door.

I am in favor of responsible gun ownership, and am concerned about over-zealous, or poorly thought-out gun control laws. I can't see any instance where a private citizen would legitimately need an assault weapon, and agree with your implication (or my inference) that our laws need to be written and administered by more knowledgeable people.

I do take exception, however, to opponents to private gun ownership citing the second amendment as supporting their viewpoint.  They routinely interpret, "A well regulated militia..." as meaning our present day National Guard.  I maintain one must interpret the amendment in the context in which it was written.  In the late 1780s, "the militia" was every able-bodied man and boy.  This must have been what the framers had in mind -- not the National Guard.

One of my favs on the issue...

http://www.flashbunny.org/content/gunnuts.html

I think we're basically in agreement, particularly about the need for more knowledgable thought to be given before the passage of any bill into law.  Those restricting gun ownership are only one example of many.  

The term 'assault weapon' is a political invention, just as was the 'Saturday Night Special'.  As to the legitimate need for a law-abiding private citizen to own one, it's an arguable issue I suppose..but a not-so-silly analogy would be to ask if the purchaser of a new Jaguar really needs a 390hp engine when cars kill many more people than assault weapons?  One fairly common misconception is that assualt weapons are capable of fully automatic fire & they aren't with the exception of those in the hands of the military.  Laws prohibiting public ownship of machine guns have been on the books since the heyday of Al Capone.  BTW numerous studies have shown assualt weapons to be involved in an extremely low percentage of crime involving guns.  Can't recall a single incident of a driveby bayoneting either.  LOL

But like I said..I think we're in agreement, so my comments about assualt weapons are merely commentary & nothing more.  If you haven't already done so, you might check out the link provided by HootOwl in his post below.  

A final thought...I think I'm glad I don't live in New Jersey. LOL

....would go a long way, whether speaking of gun laws or the issuing of traffic tickets.  I don't think there's a lot of dispute about the excessive percentage of traffic citations issued for speed.  Speed alone, absent some other factor, simply cannot cause an accident...something else simply has to come into play, but not nearly enough attention is given by traffic enforcement to those things.  Talking on a damn cell phone is really a peeve of mine, not talking about the person who answers a call & keeps it really brief..but those who engage in 'serial' conversations.  But in a sense cars & guns aren't anything more than useful tools which can be deadly if not used properly & with care...as can a chain-saw, an axe, etc etc.  

My reference to the bayonet did sound silly didn't it?  But that ACTUALLY IS one of the factors that our all-knowing legislators have placed into law as being a determination in defining what is a so-called assault weapon.  I can't legally take a weapon to the shooting range with a 20-round magazine, it's perfectly within the law for me to tote it around with 2-round magazines.  Am I somehow less of a menace to society if I have to pause 3 seconds to load the second magazine?  Where is the common sense? But the fact is in most crimes involving guns, the guns weren't obtained legally in the first place...so they can pass laws until they're blue in the face & that isn't going to change.  But I will say that I'm exempting domestic violence when I make that statement & doing so for this reason...in those cases if a gun were not available it's likely another weapon would be--a kitchen knife, a hammer, a baseball bat, a golf club, etc.  

Your Dad has my respect.  I taught my own son much the same.  Education is the key, not law.  Law can never control either thought or action if a person has a certain mind-set.  With respect to the tragedies that occur with children playing with guns, there are now laws regarding requirement of trigger locks ( good idea IMO) but they aren't a substitute for education & can't solve that problem if they aren't used.  There has to be some responsible personal action taken..no law can ever substitute the need for that.  

Sorry to all for taking up so much space on this, but it's easy to tell it's an issue I'm rather passionate about.  I wish government would stop protecting us from ourselves & let us take more personal responsibility for our actions.  We're not damn robots & we didn't elect them to treat us as such!