There was the Hubley Ric-O-Shay, and the Mattel Fanner .45 with the Greenie Stick-Em Caps. There was a Thompson and an M3 Grease gun, the latter with hand crank for a realistic sound. The Man From Uncle Gun combined a Walther P.38 with a buttstock, long barrel and scope. There was a foot-long scale likeness of a Winchester Model 94 I glued together like an airplane model. Finally there was that matchless day when I received my first real gun, a bolt-action .410 shotgun, and toys were no more.

All that was, I guess, preparation for almost 39 years in the gun industry. And, like much else that was shown in those flickering images, anathema to right-thinking members of today's academia.