Growing up with Guns

I grew up with guns.  In fact, my father used to take my brother and I to our grandfather's farm (only field and grain bins, no houses) to shoot shotguns and pistols.  My dad reloaded shells (shotgun and pistol) in the basement of our house.  Basically, I feel as though I have some gun knowledge.  Of course I think the NRA is full of crazies and believe that it is absolutely ridiculous that assault rifles are legal, but I do feel that I am somewhat knowledgeable about average guns.  Well, this morning I realized this was indeed not the case.  A student accidentally (long story, no danger) brought a bullet to school.  When he found it, he immediately reported it to the teacher.  Teachers were asked to keep students in their rooms.  Everything was investigated, and after some time (40 minutes?) students were released to their next class.  Not long after the incident, the teachers of the involved students were being debriefed.  They kept talking about the .22 caliber bullet.  For some reason, I seemed to be the only one in the meeting who had no clue what a .22 caliber bullet looked like.  Because I was embarrassed to ask, I called my dad on the way home.  He gave me more information than I needed, but did answer my questions.  Although I'm not really sure why, I thought rifles (shotgun, guns that one brings to his/her shoulder) had shotgun shells (plastic, gold top) while pistols had metal bullets.  Nope, rifles are different than shotguns, and some guns that one brings to his/her shoulder have metal bullets, like the .22, good to know.

With all of that information, let me tell you that I lied as I held the students in my room.  One mentioned that I looked scared.  I said that I wasn't scared but that I didn't have a lot of information.  After that I proceeded to lie when I said, "I have faith in the administration of this building.  They are doing what they need to.  I am doing what I've been told, and I need you to do what you've been told."  It wasn't a complete lie.  I have faith in 40% of the 4 administrators; however, I do believe they were doing what they needed to and were handling the situation to "the best of their ability."  Unfortunately, I often question their ability.  It, however, is my firm belief that we were never in any danger and were always safe.  Accidents like this are heightened (and should be) in the wake of our current tragedy.