<p>Parents who grew up in “hunting” areas of the country -</p>
<p>Were you ever taught “Treat every gun with the respect due a loaded gun?”</p>
<p>Check this out - are these real guns? or are these just decoration guns for parades or something, like the white painted wooden “guns” that you sometimes see in parades with drum and bugle corps?</p>
<p>[Army</a> ROTC, Military Ball](<a href=“http://archive.badgerrotc.com/rotc_files/imgs_social/ball/pages/b04_78_jpg.htm]Army”>http://archive.badgerrotc.com/rotc_files/imgs_social/ball/pages/b04_78_jpg.htm)</p>
<p>I didn’t grow up hunting but I did work at a shooting range for a number of years when I was a kid and we definitely never ever pointed a gun at someone even if you were absolutely certain it wasn’t loaded, had the safety on, etc. It’s not just a matter of safety, it’s also a matter of courtesy since the person the gun would be pointed at wouldn’t know for certain the gun wasn’t loaded and they’re on the ‘receiving end’.</p>
<p>However, I do think that ‘dummy non-firing guns’ are routinely used for certain ceremonial functions so hopefully these are those.</p>
<p>I grew up in the country in Kentucky and while I never hunted, I learned to shoot and learned gun safety at a conservation camp through the state park system. The FIRST rule of gun safety was: “Every Gun is Loaded” – i.e., you should NEVER point a gun, not even one you are sure is unloaded, and (especially) not even in jest, at another person. We had this drummed and I mean drummed into our heads by the rangers who taught the course. I got to where I could shoot a .22 pistol pretty accurately, but I was never much of a hand with a rifle. We used shotguns to shoot skeet but I could never track the clay pigeons, so missed about 98 percent of the time.</p>
<p>In the picture, those look like dummy guns to me, but maybe I’m just hoping the cadets aren’t idiots.</p>
<p>I saw the generally very good movie “Witness” with a friend who also grew up in the country, though in Virginia in his case. In that movie, Harrison Ford is a police detective from the city who goes to Amish country to find and protect a little boy who has witnessed a killing. In one scene, Ford is horrified when he comes back to his room where he is staying with the boy’s family to find the little boy examining Ford’s gun, which he has left holstered on his bed. Ford tells him that the gun is very dangerous and takes it from him. So far somewhat credible; though Ford’s negligence in leaving the gun where the boy can get at it is questionable, he ordinarily lives alone so it’s a believable if inexcusable lapse. But then he unloads the gun and hands it to the boy, saying “There. Now it’s not loaded, now it’s safe”! At which my friend and I turned to each other and said in unison: “EVERY gun is loaded.” No well-trained police officer (and most are) would ever make that mistake.</p>
<p>They look like M1903A3 Springfield rifles. They are probably real, but almost certainly have been made non-functional.</p>
<p>They are carelessly handling the rifles, even if they can’t fire. :(</p>
<p>Ditto the sword, but its probably just dull.</p>
<p>Here’s a link to some ‘Parade Rifles’ -
[Rifles</a> Sabres & Accessories: Drill Team, Colorguard, Winterguard, Military, Parade](<a href=“http://dancecheer.net/dirriflessabres.html]Rifles”>http://dancecheer.net/dirriflessabres.html)
and
[DrillAmerica™</a>; Rifle - Replica Rifles - Military Gear | Parade Decorations](<a href=“http://www.paradestore.com/detail.aspx?ID=415]DrillAmerica™”>http://www.paradestore.com/detail.aspx?ID=415)</p>
<p>There are apparently many places to purchase these ‘drill’ and ‘parade’ non-functioning rifles. I think a non-functional replica rifle like this is probably what they’re really using. I noticed they have swords as well.</p>
<p>They are still breaking the basic safety rules, even if they are unloaded/non-functional. That’s just creating bad habits, IMO.
…not that I haven’t seen stuff like that happen before, with ceremonial rifles.</p>