Beebe Gun

Our Grandson got a Beebe Gun for Christmas. I asked his mother if he was using it. His mother said he could hardly lift it. I remember getting a Beebe gun when I was four years old. The first thing my father told me was not to shoot the hubcaps on our car.
I had to turn the rifle up side down to cock the lever in order to ready it for firing. Once it was ready to shoot, I could barely lift and aim it at a target. However, I could certainly hit them hubcaps my father told me not to shoot. The rifle was taken from me for a month.
Whenever I got to town, I always bought more Beebe’s for my rifle. They cost a dime when I was a boy. They come in a round tube. Sometimes, you would have to pinch the sides of the tube to release the Beebe’s, other times the tubes had a cap you took off.
All stationary objects were fair game and most moving objects also; Birds, fence posts, electric transformers, the barn, and did I mention hub caps?
My brother once shot an up stairs window out trying to knock an Icicle off the house. He also shot a friend in the hand because he asked him to do it. The friend put the palm of his hand on the end of the barrel and told my brother to pull the trigger on the rifle.
This friend was a couple of years older than and us. He went to the house wining like a little girl. My brother was in trouble until our friend went home and then we all had a good laugh about it.
Our father taught us fire gun safety with our Beebe guns. We would all go hunting and he would show us the proper way to handle our weapons while in a group. There was no way Dad was going to have an accident with a firearm in the years to come.
I killed many a bad person with my Beebe gun and spent many years enjoying it. I do not know what happened to it. As real weapons took its place, I lost track of it. It will always be in my heart.
I took a friend of mine to where I grew up. The first thing I told him was the area was safe. I killed all the bad people in the area while I was growing up. If you ever get up Michigan way, the northern Lower Peninsula, enjoy yourself it is safe. Until next time.

Norm