When shotguns were ignored at school

By James Brodell

I brought a shotgun into my high school. Several times.

That may seem shocking, but I am not the only one. By the way, I also brought the weapon to school on the school bus.

That some may be shocked is a commentary on the times.

I was in Class of 1960 at Watchung Hills Regional High School in suburban New Jersey. I remember a handful of times when I broke down the 12-gauge Winchester double barrel shotgun and stowed it into my locker in anticipation of an after-school hunt.

If I did that today, I would be wearing orange.

Yet that was not a big deal in 1957, 1958 or 1959. A good portion of my male classmates were hunters. There were a few notable absences at the start of deer season even among the teachers. Flu always was rampant on that first day of the season.

An after-school rabbit hunt did not require such preparations. As the final bell rang, we would head for our lockers and assemble the shotguns, if necessary. Then we would gather in the school parking lot and perhaps admire a particularly impressive shotgun. A farm field was just a short walk away and led to the wilds around the upper reaches of the Passaic River.

At the time there never was any thought or suggestion that this was unusual. We wore red jackets with hunting licenses displayed on the back. Teachers and fellow students knew we were packing and for what reason. No one batted an eye.

It would have been bad form to stow a dead rabbit in the school locker all day long, so we never engaged in pre-school hunts. And then there were the morning chores at home that took plenty of time and weighed against surprising bunnies at daybreak.

Never did the idea reach our minds to turn our weapons on our classmates or teachers. However, we did discuss at length the possibility of dismantling the chemistry teacher’s small foreign car and reassemble it on the school roof. We did not do that because we could not figure out how to move the motor and drive train up 12 feet.

Weapons were not scary in those days. Some of the teachers served in World War II and Korea. Patriotism was rampant, although the honor history teacher promoted a kinder and gentler U.S. foreign policy, maybe even a little on the pink side.

Now all the deranged, starting with the duo at Columbine High School, have ruined a good thing.

Knowing how to use a firearm and the results of doing so make a marksman humble. Seeing the terrifying results of a 12-gauge blast on a bunny is a sobering experience, even though the subsequent stew is tasty. The real thing cannot be duplicated by bloody computer games.

The differences between then and now might be explained by fewer two-parent homes today, a challenging economy and school courses that teach social theories instead of facts. There was no TikTok then, and young men and women did not announce their most private thoughts on the front of their sweatshirts. Aspects of adulthood were not forced on first- and second-graders. Personal responsibility won praise, and freaky performers were not lionized.

In addition, political alarmists did not tell youngsters that there was no hope.

Published Jan. 12, 2024