FENCEROWS...War Games
By John Luthens
I’m a parent of a 12-year-old son and a 10-year-old daughter, and I’m a simple gun owner. I don’t shoot a lot of target rounds over the course of a year. I’m more comfortable swinging a 12 gauge after birds, a .22 after squirrels and maybe a .30-30 after deer. I don’t conceal and carry, and frankly, if someone broke into my house in the dead of night, I’d have to open the trigger locks on my guns and scrounge my drawers for ammunition to defend myself and my family.
I’m not saying that is the only way. I’m not even saying it is the right way. I’m just saying that it is my personal preference. I support conceal and carry. I believe fully in the principles of the Second Amendment to our Constitution. It is pertinent for associations such as the NRA to lobby on behalf of gun owners’ rights. I believe every legal citizen should have the full ability to defend themselves and their families as they see fit. I’m on my own level, others are on different levels, and our Constitution has a place in it for everyone.
Airsoft Arsenal
That being said, there was a part of the NRA’s prepared response to the Newton, Connecticut shootings that pointed to me as a possible part of the problem. NRA executive director Wayne LaPierre’s statement, following the devastating tragedy, included the following passage:
“And here’s another dirty little truth that the media try their best to conceal: There exists in this country a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people through vicious, violent video games.”
LaPierre names several games in his statement. The names don’t matter as much as the realistic and violent content the games contain. He goes on to say, “Isn’t fantasizing about killing people as a way to get your kicks really the filthiest form of pornography?”
I’ve seen these war games and I’ve played these war games. I’ve read the books that my children read, listened to the music in their libraries. There is no doubt in my mind that the digital revolution has sprung forth violent content that is leaps and bounds above my generation.
That might sound like an old man reminiscing about the good old days, when the world was simpler. But the fast-paced world of technology has brought these kinds of images to the forefront. There is no going back.
Growing up, my favorite weapon was a Colt .45 cap gun. Our neighborhood gang spent hours in the fields and forests, ranging back and forth over imaginary battle lines in a never-ending scenario of war games. We built bows out of fishing line and alder branches, carving arrows from dead sticks and shooting at anything that moved; assuming that what moved was closer than five yards, which was the approximate range of our hand-crafted weaponry. The facts that the guns and bows were imaginary and no one really died in our battles were a given.
As we grew older, we went hunting. Of course this hunting was done with real guns, real bows, and broadhead arrows that would not only bring down a deer, but would skewer a live human being without discrimination. Somehow we all understood the difference between fantasy war games and the realities of live ammunition. Looking back, I see that our parents were directly responsible for this. I know mine spent a lot of time assessing my maturity level, making sure that I was responsible enough to handle a real weapon.
My favorite imaginary gun these days is an FAL assault rifle with extended clip and select fire options that let me switch from semi-auto to full bore chaos with the click of a button. I also carry a 3-round burst pistol that fires full metal jacket shells and is equipped with a laser sight. I like Semtex grenades that stick to an enemy when thrown, but I’ll use C4 explosives in a pinch. Adjustable stocks and other hybrid optics are always available, along with the ability to call in attack helicopters and air strikes for maximum carnage.
I learned to use these weapons from watching my son. He and his friends are far more proficient in the cyber-battlefield than I am. But I believe it is imperative, if I am going to allow access to these realistic war games, that I become directly involved.
We could debate the facts of the degradation of society through these video games, and I think we could debate my parenting skills and judgment. But the facts are that this is a multi-billion dollar worldwide industry that is not going away. Neither are the violent movies, and neither is the questionable lyrics in some of today’s music. As long as we live in a consumer-driven society that caters to disposable income, the consumer dictates what sells. And this stuff sells.
My back yard also can’t escape this debate. It becomes controversial on any given weekend, hosting a running and shouting group of kids, toting pistols and sub-machine guns and shooting plastic pellets at each other. The game known as Airsoft is similar to paintball, I suppose, but without the mess of paint splatters. The weapons are spring-driven, highly realistic, and shoot at speeds up to 500 feet per second.
The kids are captivated by it, at least my son’s friends that come around the back yard are. I am there to make sure safety equipment such as goggles, face-shields, and heavy-duty protective clothes are worn. I know all the parents of my son’s friends on a first name basis. There is a firm line of full disclosure drawn. They all understand fully the importance of knowing what their children are interested and involved in. To be certain, I play along because the games are fun. But I also play along to make certain that line between fantasy and reality is clearly understood.
Now, as it stands, my daughter’s weapon of choice is a compound bow. She has read “The Hunger Games” books at least three times. She is enamored with setting snares for wild game and building survival fires. She received a bow for her birthday, set up a target in the back yard, and we watched her practice hours on end. I read the books with her. My daughter is not only as fast a reader as I am, but she is likely a better shot with the bow.
The time came when she asked if she could shoot a rabbit on our property, and I relented. I told her that anything she shot, she would have to help me field dress, and she would have to help me eat it too. When the moment of truth came, she decided for herself that she was not ready to shoot at live game. She is an animal lover at heart.
Our experiment with snares was loads of fun. I think I was more into the whole experiment than she was. There was a healthy debate on how to best capture an animal without harming it. The snares got quite elaborate, and while we never did catch anything, I feel certain that we might have trapped the meter-reading guy in a live trap if we kept working at it.
On the surface, the “Hunger Games” is a story of love and adversity in a harsh world, with the heroine of the story battling with a bow, and relying on her intelligence and survival skills. It’s a good story line, but it also involves children being forced to fight to the death. And central to the plot is the fact that the government rules the majority of the population with an iron-clad fist. They control everything, including the media and including the guns.
Is my 10-year-old going to see this as a subliminal message to the government gun control debate? - Probably not. But not only can she shoot a bow and set a snare, she is also quite smart. All kids usually are - sometimes more than we give them credit for.
As it stands now, both my kids love the outdoors, fishing and hunting, often just running around and climbing trees. Who knows where the world will take their interests when they are grown.
I only know what is out there now, what they’re are interested in, and what they’re involved in. I won’t win any parent of the year awards. But I am doing my best, doing my best to draw a hard line in the sand between the games of war and the game of real life.