Do they still sell Red Rider BB Guns? Or any kind of BB Guns?
Yes, as a matter of fact. My parents got my brother one of these Red Ryder BB Guns. IIRC it is made by Daisy now. I got a hell of a kick out of this and kept repeating “You’ll shoot your eye out!” Such a fine Christmas tradition.
Been watching “A Christmas Story,” have you?
Of course they still sell BB guns. The day that they stop is the day that I lead the charge to the U.S. Capitol. The Red Rider has been sold by Daisy since the 1940’s (I believe). The version (a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time) that was depicted in the movie a Christmas Story didn’t actually exist then but Daisy actually made a model based on the movie in the late 1990’s.
BB guns are still sold all over and air rifle shooting is even an Olympic sport. Popular low-end consumer models are made by Daisy and Crossman. Higher quality guns are made by Beeman, Benjamin, and Sheridan.
Naw, when I was home there was a “cute” news story where the news man went looking for one. One man told him that it was no longer legal to sell them in PA and besides “you’ll shoot your eye out.” I found this somewhat dubious. I haven’t looked for one for years, but it seemed unlikely that they stopped selling them.
Even in Massachusetts, you can walk into K-Mart or Wal-Mart and buy all of the BB and pellet guns your heart desires. They are restricted to over 18 sales here however. I have three of them and they are great fun.
Red Rider BB guns aren’t powerful at all and this proabably makes them even more dangerous. Kids quickly figure out that you can have BB gun wars with them without anyone getting seriously hurt. That is, until someone gets shot in the eye of course. Higher models are too powerful and anyone with half a brain would know that you can’t shoot one with one of those. They are powerful enough to kill small game.
Beeman makes air rifles that I am going to get soon. They cost as much and have the same quality as a firearm rifle and some have higher muzzle velocity than a .22 even when they shoot .22 caliber pellets.
Very folksy web site, too, replete with an 800 number…
http://www.daisy.com/history.html
…and they want you to call.
We had goggles and made ourselves bulletproof vests by stapling a couple layers of newspaper to the inside of a large paper grocery bag and cutting armholes.
Yes, this is what 12 year old boys do in rural areas, at least nobody gets pregnant.
That may be but the sheep are still scared.
My sister just bought my brother a Red Ryder BB Rifle for Christmas this year. He’s a big fan of the movie, and got a big kick out of it.