LeverAction1892 - I thought I would relate a story that happened a while back that my 
wife and I were just recently laughing about. My sons and I (8 and 4 years old) had just finished watching "Mark's Rifle" (the ending always puts a lump in my throat!). As soon as it was over, the boys started arguing over who got to play with the one toy gun we had in the house. After a few minutes of this, I looked over at my wife and told her we had a "gun control problem" in the house. I don't think she was ready for my next statement- "Looks like we don't have enough guns"!
Within a few minutes, I had the boys saddled up and off to the toy store. As we were looking around, I heard them yell "Dad, Dad, come here!" When I turned the corner, I saw them both looking up at a cap pistol and rifle set. I looked at their faces and could just imagine Mark saying "Oh Pa, can we?" Of course we can- and did (plus two cowboy hats and Marshal's badges!)
Back at home, I showed the boys how to put the caps in and sent them out into the backyard. They were so excited! I was too, it took me back to my boyhood days when every kid in the neighborhood had a cap gun. We played "Cowboys and Indians" or "Army" for hours on end. The boys were amazed when I didn't have to read the directions (like I do with all their other toys) when it came to loading the caps. My son Nick said "Dad, how did you know how to load them?" "Years of experience" I told him.
After a few minutes, I peeked out back to check up on them. They were up in their fort and all I heard was pop, pop, pop, and the sky was filled with the haze of cap smoke! "What are you shooting at boys?" "Someone is trying to rob the hotel" yelled Nick (must have been thinking about the RM episode we had just watched). When my wife asked how they were doing, I told her it did my heart good to see them playing together and not fighting each other! The funniest thing of all though, was the look on the neighbor kid's face as he watched the boys playing. His eyes were big as saucers and his jaw was just hanging. He had been running around the yard with a plastic broomstick pretending he was Harry Potter. The next weekend, he came over to show me his new cap gun!
Thanks LeverAction1892 for sharing this great story with us!!!!!
