Wow... First off - Welcome aboard, Springfan! Quite the discussion you've started. So many different points of views and mostly, experiences. I'll be 42 in a few weeks, so I can't claim to have spent considerable time thinking this through. However, I've bought each of my guns (only 3 longs, 1 shot, and 1 pistol) with the idea of passing them on to my 2 sons. I've also used guns as a "coming of age" gift. Each of them got their own, brand-new Remington 870 in 20-ga on their 12th birthdays. I can't even count the great times we've had shooting together already and they're only 17 & 13. My hope and prayer is that when I go home, the guns they receive will resurrect the great memories and help them maintain a connection with their heritage.

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Ed