A question and answer about gun violence in 'The Magic Hourglass' ((OS 291)), taken from DCML:
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On matters
Gary Leach
Fri Apr 20 18:14:14 CEST 2007
[...]
Larry:
> Nils mentioned several Bark comics with gun violence. It
> reminded me that in The Magic Hourglass, 4C291 Sept. 1950, Donald
> and Huey, Louie and Dewey were actually hired by the leader of the
> camel caravan to be riflemen guards. How old are HDL supposed to
> be in these stories? On page 16 their shooting diverts an attack
> on the caravan by the raiders of No Issa. Huey actually advises
> the caravan camel drivers how best to aim at the raiders.
Carl Barks, like my own grandparents, grew up in a time and place
where pre-teen kids were expected to be adept at firing and
maintaining the rifles and shotguns commonly found on farms and other
homesteads. And this sensibility was still quite widespread in the
American population when Barks drew The Magic Hourglass. I myself was
eight when my father first took me hunting, and I even had my own
"junior" .22 into the bargain. While I ultimately didn't gravitate to
the "sport", there was nothing unusual at the time I grew up about
getting one's first training in firearms at a fairly early age.
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http://nafsk.se/pipermail/dcml/2007-April/024944.html