[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by chrisinhouston

I still have an Ithaca 22 caliber single shot rifle that my dad gave me when I was 8 (I think). It looks like a Winchester style but when you pull down the lever it opens the receiver and you can only put in one shell, there is no magazine. And after closing the breech you have to physically pull back the hammer to engage it to fire, it isn't automatically done like the repeating rifles of the old west. That gun was given to me in about 1965 and I shot it a lot when we moved to Atlanta, Georgia as we lived at that time in a more remote rural area (now part of the city). I taught my kids how to shoot with it as well and will probably teach my grankids to shoot targets with it, the gun is very accurate and as it is one shot only I feel it is a safer beginner's rifle.

That being said, the kids get a lot of instruction before they ever shoot.

When I got this rifle back in the mid 60's we lived in Roslyn, NY on Long Island and my older sister took a marksmanship class in High School and got an NRA certificate for accuracy from the class. I don't imagine they offer that class any more.

That is the kind of sanity I remember and associate with responsible gun ownership. I'm pretty sure you're right about not offering that class...