Pistol packing kiddo

[kshitij]

To any one not from this country, not all of us are presumptuous people who make irrelevant statements about other countries and thier cultures and give free parenting advice even when no one asks for it

[main13]

India has 207 deaths / 1 Lakh motor vehicles vs. 13.6 for the US, and unlike you I won't throw stones about how that makes the US superior.

India has .5 firearm deaths / 1 Lakh of population, vs. 10.5 for the US. Looks bad. Let's subtract suicide, since those folks tend to off themselves in an alternate way w/o firearms. That gets us to .34 deaths / 1 Lakh of population for India vs. 3.8 for the US.

Let's also consider that US gun ownership rate is 112 / 100 people, vs. 4 / 100 people in India. If we compared those stats on like basis as used for motor vehicles, we could see India has .000085 Deaths / Gun, vs. .000034 Deaths / Gun in the US - so despite having so many guns and our culture of "violence as valor", we still manage to hurt fewer people w/ the guns we have.

My mother-in-law had the same understanding of American culture when we first met. I told her that if I got my understanding of Indian culture the same way she got her understanding of American culture, I'd wonder why folks didn't spontaneously break into song and dance every 10 - 15 minutes.

What you see in TV and film isn't culture here, and gosh I have yet to see any film from India that reflects the misery of what one has to go through to pay their electric bill in a major metro circa 2006!

But no doubt as a scholar who's spent time in and studied American & Indian culture, you're well positioned to teach us about the differences between "violence as valor & aggression as bravery" which we so poorly understand.

While it's unsurprising, I would be remiss to leave unobserved the number of folks here who take the opportunity to point out I must not be giving my child a well rounded up-bringing because I choose to teach him to shoot, and provide parenting advice to help fill that gap.

No doubt your child's first motorcycle or car will be or was one they buy after they win their first race? Their first phone they got or will get will be one they buy after they have earned the money for it right? While I appreciate we all have our own value systems, I was simply trying to expose a different one, not recommend they follow it.

Seems my views have offended people! My bad.
I was only trying to suggest ways to get your kid the best of everything. That's how I would approach it. If that doesn't suit you, pls have it your way.

Hands that hold the guns must be complemented by heads full of reason & hearts full of compassion. Without it, we end up with all sorts of destruction as in Syria, Iraq & recently, France.
My dad taught me to drive at a young age; though I drove his car a lot, I bought my own car still.
This is my outlook towards life. This is what I practice & will surely teach my children some day (no kids yet!).

I think we sunk the good conversation to newest low and I'm not even American !!!

I can post a video of the valour of Mumbai police officer dancing to the tone of gun shots.

Had no intentions of doing so sir, purely accidental!
"Don't underestimate the valour of a common policeman!" - said no one!

[PeterTheFish]

Seems my views have offended people! My bad.
I was only trying to suggest ways to get your kid the best of everything. That's how I would approach it. If that doesn't suit you, pls have it your way.

Hands that hold the guns must be complemented by heads full of reason and hearts full of compassion. Without it, we end up with all sorts of destruction as in Syria, Iraq and recently, France.
My dad taught me to drive at a young age; though I drove his car a lot, I bought my own car still.
This is my outlook towards life. This is what I practice and will surely teach my children some day (no kids yet!).

To suggest ways I can get my children the best of everything is to assume in the absence of such advice I cannot manage to do so. And that assumption is based upon a near absolute lack of knowledge of me, my children, or their upbringing. Only the knowledge that I am introducing my child to an interest common to this forum.

But then I should not be so thin skinned with the knowledge that the advice comes from a good place even if misguided.

[main13]

To suggest ways I can get my children the best of everything is to assume in the absence of such advice I cannot manage to do so. And that assumption is based upon a near absolute lack of knowledge of me, my children, or their upbringing. Only the knowledge that I am introducing my child to an interest common to this forum.

My intention was never to judge you but rather to lay stress on the importance of cultivating the 'soft' aspects of a child's personality alongside the 'hard' ones.

In India we consider 'evolution' as the ultimate goal of human life. Designing weapons & cooking are my hobbies. I still spend time here & watching cookery shows to make myself better at something I know already.

But then I should not be so thin skinned with the knowledge that the advice comes from a good place even if misguided.

Would take that as a compliment! Indians are warm (& somewhat nosey) people, we rarely have time to offend the westerners as we're too busy fighting some of our neighbours...

We have this Hindu spiritual text in India called the Bhagwad Geeta - was sung by Krishna, considered a great Yogi, to Arjun, a great warrior, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra when the latter had given up arms & refused to discharge his duty as a warrior, i.e. fight the enemy without actually hating him!

I consider the philosophy of Geeta very relevant in modern times. I find it similar to 'Bushido' (Samurai philosophy) culture of Japan, only a lot more intricate!

I feel every person who loves things martial - guns, adventure, sports etc, should sometime try his hand on one of these too! Guess I'm digressing from the point, again, no judgements here....

[PeterTheFish]

Time to add to this. My eldest turned 5 today and got his gift.

Overall the trip was a success. Despite a rushed day leading me to forget the 50-60 inflated balloons I intended to use for targets at home, we were still able to make use of colored water bottles and clay pigeons available on the .22 range.

Trigger finger discipline was not as good in real life as practice (some instances of getting on trigger before shot was lined up) but some targets were hit and no AD/NDs took place.



https://vimeo.com/148696842

[StampMaster]

5 year old with a gun? Well I appreciate that parents are actively taking interest in their children to teach them safety. However, it a tender age parents/adults (with sufficient knowledge and safety) supervision is strictly recommended.

I do not want to boast about myself, I got my national .22 air rifle when I was 8. My dad showed me how to use it a few times. And then I started to use it, every weekend 30 shots. And I still enjoy shooting it. Never did anything mischievous or shot something unintended.

Well, now when old and matured enough handle a gun, my dad is worried. Not because of my intentions, but coz of my stress. Living in cities, work pressure, traffic etc has made me less patient. I got some cases registered in my home for yelling, honking and even throwing napkin balls at vehicles blocking the road.

Happy shooting

[kshitij]

@peterthefish,
That is one happy kiddo in the pic Also, that .22 looks really small, are these designed specifically for kids or young adults?

Added in 4 minutes 31 seconds:

I got some cases registered in my home for yelling, honking and even throwing napkin balls at vehicles blocking the road.

[winnie_the_pooh]

@PeterTheFish..... that is one happy kid. Wishing him a happy birthday and a long and prosperous life. I think you need to plan ahead and buy him a nice rifle in a more serious calibre right now.... for when he grows up LOL.

[PeterTheFish]

@peterthefish,
That is one happy kiddo in the pic Also, that .22 looks really small, are these designed specifically for kids or young adults?

Yes - that is a Savage Rascal. http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/model/rascal

@PeterTheFish..... that is one happy kid. Wishing him a happy birthday and a long and prosperous life. I think you need to plan ahead and buy him a nice rifle in a more serious calibre right now.... for when he grows up LOL.

Waaaay ahead of the ballgame there

[winnie_the_pooh]

These chaps would get my money if ever, we Indians are allowed to import

http://www.dorleac-dorleac.com/?lang=en

[AgentDoubleS]

Many happy returns of the day to the young kid, Peter the Fish. He is one happy kid in that picture, no prizes for guessing if he liked the gift or not.

The limited firearm options in India make we wonder what options do we have in India to introduce kids to this sport?

I'm neither an expert on parenting nor on child psycology but would definitely prefer to teach my kids to use firearms safely before teaching them how to use an iPad or smart phone. What age would that be? I have no clue!

Cheers,
SS

[PeterTheFish]

I'm neither an expert on parenting nor on child psycology but would definitely prefer to teach my kids to use firearms safely before teaching them how to use an iPad or smart phone. What age would that be? I have no clue!

Now that would be an achievement! Unfortunately my kids seemed to learn to use the iPad and phone all on their own long before they were capable of safely handling guns.

At 5 he is capable of understanding and following safety rules but still physically struggled a little bit even with the very small and light gun. Nonetheless he enjoyed it and did well - he requested a second session today and many balloons were popped.

[PeterTheFish]

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