i'm not scared of an AR-15, either. my point about the AR-15 was that they have kits sold for them that clearly make them look like toys to children. the 'is it still a sport?' thing is a bit of a trivial side-discussion (though i'm not generally in favour of killing animals in anything other than the most effective, instant way). a hunting rifle generally looks like a mean piece of kit. it's big, heavy, wooden, and smells of your dad's chewing tobacco. an AR-15 can quite literally be kitted out to look like a toy. or something from call of duty. it blurs the line between 'lethal weapon' and child's accessory, imo. a little uncomfortably, anyway.
personally, my value system, i wouldn't take a young kid hunting or give him a gun to shoot. but i respect other people may want to introduce their children to hunting (i have a little more trouble with the idea of someone wanting to get their kid into shooting/target shooting, but whatever). sure lots of rural people do it. i spent many an afternoon out in the woods trying to shoot small birds with a friend at age 14. and it wasn't just proper guns, either - air rifles and BB guns were also fascinating as a kid. but this is the thing: in the UK, getting a lethal weapon is extremely difficult, even in rural-farming areas. youthful fascination with guns isn't allowed to stray beyond toys/playing around. in america, the boundary between toy-guns and real guns is pre-tty scarily blurred.
personally, my value system, i wouldn't take a young kid hunting or give him a gun to shoot. but i respect other people may want to introduce their children to hunting (i have a little more trouble with the idea of someone wanting to get their kid into shooting/target shooting, but whatever). sure lots of rural people do it. i spent many an afternoon out in the woods trying to shoot small birds with a friend at age 14. and it wasn't just proper guns, either - air rifles and BB guns were also fascinating as a kid. but this is the thing: in the UK, getting a lethal weapon is extremely difficult, even in rural-farming areas. youthful fascination with guns isn't allowed to stray beyond toys/playing around. in america, the boundary between toy-guns and real guns is pre-tty scarily blurred.