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Posted

I graduated high school in early 80s and lived in a rural area with many hunters.  Pickup trucks often had gun racks mounted in the back window.  It wasn't uncommon for some of the kids to have unloaded guns in their cars/trucks so they could go hunting after school.  They either ate what they killed or sold the pelts for money.  No one thought much about the guns then, just like no one thought much about the pocket knives that almost every boy and male teacher carried in his pocket.  I live in a city now, and here both are a big deal.  I read that if a student has an unloaded gun locked in their car in the school parking lot, they can be charged with a felony.  Are today's rural areas with many hunters as stringent as the cities about no guns in locked cars in the school parking lot?

Posted

Interesting question. I live in an area where hunting is popular but can't remember seeing a gun rack in a truck in ages. We're not rural though, more suburban.

 

I don't often hear of someone being shot with a hunting rifle except in hunting accidents; they're not easily hidden and are unwieldy in close quarters.

Posted (edited)

I graduated high school in early 80s and lived in a rural area with many hunters.  Pickup trucks often had gun racks mounted in the back window.  It wasn't uncommon for some of the kids to have unloaded guns in their cars/trucks so they could go hunting after school.  They either ate what they killed or sold the pelts for money.  No one thought much about the guns then, just like no one thought much about the pocket knives that almost every boy and male teacher carried in his pocket.  I live in a city now, and here both are a big deal.  I read that if a student has an unloaded gun locked in their car in the school parking lot, they can be charged with a felony.  Are today's rural areas with many hunters as stringent as the cities about no guns in locked cars in the school parking lot?

 

 

Back in the 90's I taught in a semi-rural high school.  Some of the guys had gun racks, but guns were a huge no-no on campus, unloaded or not.  There was a bit more leeway if someone "forgot" that a gun was in the truck/car.    If  that happened, the student could go  to the principal or the part-time SRO to ask them to come out to the vehicle  and remove it.   The parent would then have to pick up the gun from the school.  I can only remember it happening a couple of times in the six years that I was there.  Both times it was a case of hunting before school.  Today, it would be handled much differently.  

Edited by Artichoke
Posted

I see plenty of racks, but few actual guns.  Probably b/c most hunters (students and parents) are on school properties so often, where guns aren't allowed.  I have to assume they only grab them on their way to actually hunt.

Posted

I grew up on the northern Minnesota border, which is a huge hunting area, and I don't remember ever seeing a rifle in anyone's truck in the school parking lot. I graduated in '01. Even living in an area that most people would consider to be wilderness, everyone knew better than to bring a gun to school.

 

I still live in MN, though further south. Hunting is popular here too, and the school districts have strict zero-tolerance gun policies. (We hs, but I get all the newsletters from the schools and dd has friends who attend.) 

Posted

Can I just sad how sad it is for me to read this thread? I grew up in a town with the kids who would go hunting after school. I remember they would park in the teachers lot. They were the kids I was LEAST scared of. I never really thought twice about the guns they took to school until years later. And my school had a bizarre bomb threat (think clock kid with a bit more to it).

 

It seems we are loosing a bit of "us" because of the actions of a few REALLY disturbed kids.

  • Like 2
Posted

Can I just sad how sad it is for me to read this thread? I grew up in a town with the kids who would go hunting after school. I remember they would park in the teachers lot. They were the kids I was LEAST scared of. I never really thought twice about the guns they took to school until years later. And my school had a bizarre bomb threat (think clock kid with a bit more to it).

 

It seems we are loosing a bit of "us" because of the actions of a few REALLY disturbed kids.

 

It's not just the kids.  It's also access to a whole different world of firearms than were used 30 years ago.

Posted

A kid will not come to school with an AK47 so he could go hunting after school so he can help feed his family.

 

I don't know a thing about guns. I live in NJ and I have 0 interest in ever getting a gun, however I still respect those who are the type to go out hunting. I have several in my family.

 

I may not be able to tell the hunting rifle from an assult weapon but I am also not a security guard or police person. There should be a middle ground for SOME communities.

Posted

Honestly, guns were such a part of my life growing up, but  I never shot one, I never wanted to. My dad killed  animals with his gun, I understood to be careful of it. I don't think rural kids are the problem with gun violence. I do recall some instances of gun violence that have happened in rural areas, but those kids are from not the same culture that I grew up with. The problem with gun violence is probably just a matter of population growth. The more the population grows the more people will have access to guns and when those people are disturbed...

Posted

We're extremely rural.  Farming community where most hunt -- even the wives.  Truck gun racks galore.  However, no firearms whatsoever in the school parking lots, nor any other type of weapons (knives included).  This is just common sense with the advent of school shootings and escalating violence within society.  I'm pro-gun and have no problems with this rule.

Posted

This happened a few times when I was a dispatcher in a sort-of rural area (mid 2000s), always when a student drove dad's truck to school because the kid's car wasn't working. I don't remember exactly what happened, usually the SRO would rip the kid a new one, explain how not checking to see if dad took the rifle out was not an excuse, and then call a parent and rip THEM a new one as well.

 

Unless the parent was on the school board. Then I'm sure the conversation was a bit less harsh.

 

I wasn't privy to how school or juvenile discipline went down after that.

Posted

Honestly, guns were such a part of my life growing up, but  I never shot one, I never wanted to. My dad killed  animals with his gun, I understood to be careful of it. I don't think rural kids are the problem with gun violence. I do recall some instances of gun violence that have happened in rural areas, but those kids are from not the same culture that I grew up with. The problem with gun violence is probably just a matter of population growth. The more the population grows the more people will have access to guns and when those people are disturbed...

 

On the other hand...... the #1 risk of gun deaths is suicide, and rural culture does lead to a markedly higher risk of death by suicide using a firearm.

  • Like 1
Posted

Not allowed. Period. I know a boy who was kicked out of school because he forgot and left an airsoft gun in his trunk. A girl was suspended because she left her Girl scout knife in her jean pocket one weekend and wore the jeans to school. Zero tolerance.

Posted

On the other hand...... the #1 risk of gun deaths is suicide, and rural culture does lead to a markedly higher risk of death by suicide using a firearm.

I'm not surprised by that at all, rural people don't have access to pill to OD the same way a city dweller would, so firearms are certainly much more available in a rural environment.

Posted

I'm not surprised by that at all, rural people don't have access to pill to OD the same way a city dweller would, so firearms are certainly much more available in a rural environment.

 

This made me morbidly curious. Because I am a long time city dweller, and I wouldn't know how to get pills.

 

In the US, firearms are by far the most common method of suicide.  #2 is strangulation / hanging.  #3 is falling / jumping.  The presence of guns doesn't seem to result in more or fewer suicide attempts overall, but, it has a higher "success" rate than other methods.    And...... that's as far down that rabbit hole I want to go.

  • Like 1
Posted

A kid will not come to school with an AK47 so he could go hunting after school so he can help feed his family.

 

I don't know a thing about guns. I live in NJ and I have 0 interest in ever getting a gun, however I still respect those who are the type to go out hunting. I have several in my family.

 

I may not be able to tell the hunting rifle from an assult weapon but I am also not a security guard or police person. There should be a middle ground for SOME communities.

 

Part of being a truly responsible gun owner is not bringing them places they don't belong. Guns don't belong in schools (or their parking lots). I don't see how not being allowed to bring them to school is such a hardship. 

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