Regarding the Dec. 21 letter “Too young for a gun”:

That’s one person’s feelings. I myself, a church-going person, have enjoyed my son at the age of 6 shooting his first deer. Hope to see my other two boys do the same.

That’s no different than parents taking their kids fishing. Someone could fall into the lake, get a hook in the hand or, hey, maybe even have a good time.

The difference between my kids and those that you hear about on the news is that guns are not a curiosity to my children. They are taught to respect them and that they are not toys. It’s like the book “Curious George.” He was always into things that he should not be messing with (good or bad). You take the curiosity out of the equation, and you have a normal, gun-respecting child.

It’s not like the boys are in the woods by themselves. The law states that they have to be within arm’s reach of a responsible adult.

As far as it being some kind of child abuse, where in the world would someone even think about classifying hunting with that topic? It’s a father teaching his kids about life. It’s not all about the killing. It’s about parents spending time with their kids. We need more of that in this world.

— Robert Long

China Grove