''Gun Control'' is a catchphrase for legislation in a given country regarding the personal ownership, purchase, sale, or use of firearms and rifles by that nation's constituents. It's also a big political black hole. It's just completely impossible to resolve to anyone's satisfaction, and if you take a stance one way or the other there will be people who disagree with you. Strongly. And some of them are packing. The National Rifle Association of America says, ''There is no particular age to talk with your child about gun safety. A good time to introduce the subject is the first time he or she shows an interest in firearms, even toy pistols or rifles.¹''

In the state of Virginia, a twelve year old can purchase a hunting license if s/he has completed ''a state approved hunter education course.'' This differs from state to state, but particularly in the southern region of the US, they start them rather young. It's one reason why Gun Control is such a hot issue in the US. Many families have incorporated guns into their every day life for hunting, marksmanship, and other sports. Owning a gun for many people is the physical embodiment of wielding their inalienable freedoms. And guns are so ingrained into the history of this country. Many men remember their father teaching them about guns, and their fathers before that. It's a rite of passage and a legacy to share. That's the sort of person which actor and NRA president Charlton Heston represents. However, unfortunately there are many more people without that legacy who don't care that are taking advantage of the situation of those that do.

It is against both federal and most state laws to sell or give a handgun to a person under 18 years of age, even if you are the parent or legal guardian. Under certain circumstances, rifles are allegedly acceptable for young people to use (like adult supervised hunting expeditions for example) but that varies from state to state. If an 18 year old has aquired a Firearms Owners Identification card (FOI), they can obtain firearms and ammunition legally without adult supervision. Anyone under the age of 21 can be in the possession of firearms or ammunition provided they are under the supervision of any adult who has an FOI. The Gun Control Laws are talked about a lot. There are quite literally tens of thousands of Gun Control Laws on the books in America. Far too many to detail here, and far too many to properly police. Furthermore, some laws are not taken seriously, especially in communities where guns are an important part of the culture, like south urban countryside or low-class slums and ghettos in the cities.

Even when they are taken seriously, those enforcing the laws can't be everywhere. For example, there are laws stipulating a time between the purchase of the gun and the actual ownership. Generally it's between 24 and 72 hours that the gun seller is to hold the gun before the purchaser can actually take it home. However, this generally doesn't apply in some situations, and many guns are sold on the Black Market anyway. There are stories where a cop was chasing after someone in an alley, and accidently shot a kid because he turns the corner and down the alley is a shadow of a figure holding a gun, and it turns out to be a nine year old with a water pistol who just got in the way, but the cop didn't know. There are also stories in which a criminal breaks into a family's home in the middle of the night, and the only things that protected that family were the possession of firearms in the house and the practiced knowledge of those family members in how to skillfully use them against the intruder. So it's a tough call, and Gun Control is one of the primary benchmarks in today's America. Where the lines are drawn here marks where the lines are drawn for all our inalienable rights. For good or ill, Gun Control is one issue which will never go away.