I remember when
Hardware and Western Auto stores sold guns. In the small towns too.
Had access to guns 24/7. No child protection back then.
We would take our rifles to school in the truck to go shooting after school and the swat team wasn’t called and it didn’t make the 6 o’clock news.
As 11 year olds, dad would drop off me and a friend on the railroad tracks with our high power centerfires to hunt and pick us up at dark.
We would ride in the back of the truck. We would drink from the hose. We would ride bikes without a helmet.
We would see frogs, horny toads and prairie dogs on a regular basis.
I remember those old Western Auto stores and even feed stores having reload supplies and firearms for sale. We had a grocery store in town called Buttery's that sold firearms and 4831 powder out of 50# barrel containers. They'd also sell it in a bag and scout it out by the pound.
When I was a kid I mowed lawns, chopped wood, and dig shovel work and one summer purchased an carbine at an garage sale. Nobody cared.
