Since the dawn of man (how’s that for a dramatic intro?), older generations have always complained about the younger generations. You know the theme (it’s a trope or stereotype for a reason). Kids today, or better yet back in my day!

Here’s an example:

“Whither are the manly vigour and athletic appearance of our forefathers flown? Can these be their legitimate heirs? Surely, no; a race of effeminate, self-admiring, emaciated fribbles can never have descended in a direct line from the heroes of Potiers and Agincourt…”

That was from a letter in Town and Country Magazine, republished in Paris Fashion: A Cultural History (1771).

It doesn’t matter whether it’s from forgetting how oblivious and naive we were at the same age, an overinflated sense of worth in the present, or something else. It is a time-honored tradition to think, “Kids today – it’s all going downhill!”

I disagree with that premise.

I’m going to put forth the contradictory assertion that the current younger Millennials, all the way up to older Gen Z, are, in fact, the builders and keepers of the best gun culture this country has seen in living memory.

There. I said it.

What came before

Before I regale you with their many virtues, let’s take a moment to critically examine the two generations leading up to them.

First, everyone’s favorite meme material: Boomers. We hate them for being able to buy brand new machine guns for the same price as a semi-auto. In at least one anecdote, I was told the M-16 sold for less than the AR-15 next to it because that would help cover the $200 tax stamp. And you could get an SKS for $6 and a pack of Marlboro Reds.

These are the stereotypical “Hall Monitors” that would be popping a boner in their pleated Dockers if they could still get one over enforcing their arbitrary range rules. You know the ones. They’re the ones who say, “I’m going to need to see your tax stamp for that gun with the arm brace.”

You definitely don’t want them to catch you “rapid-firing.”

“I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words.” ~ Hesiod (approximately 700 BC), with a very fancy way of saying Back in my day!

They resisted red dots and all other clearly beneficial advancements because “Iron sights were good enough for dad in Iwo Jima”.

They open-carry their Rock Island 1911’s to the NRA convention, “Because America wouldn’t have any gun rights without the NRA.”

They will run you down with their mobility scooter if you disagree. Women learning to shoot? What are they going to need a gun in the kitchen for?

After them came my generation. The younger Gen Xers and the older Millennials. We went and fought in the great big camping trip often referred to as the Global War On Terror (GWOT). Therefore, of course, we are experts on everything tactical and “Bro, everything better be tactical all the time everywhere…including that lever gun”.

We became insufferable gatekeepers in our own right.

Don’t you dare plan to be an instructor unless you have the GWOT bro creds! (Assuming you can take time away from your vet-owned coffee and/or T-shirt company). We couldn’t grasp that not every American wants to learn how to fight counterinsurgency, and might not have 39 other heavily armed, highly trained dudes backed by a trillion-dollar logistics chain supporting them.

Kids Today: Going Their Own Way

So, what’s a young man or young lady to do? Well, what I see the 20–35-year-olds doing right now is creating their own gun community without the permission or approval of the establishment. They started making YouTube channels like “Dirty Kid” and “Micah Mayfield” that were lighthearted and didn’t take themselves too seriously, even as they put out good information derived from actually running the guns.

These are the kind of people who will roll up to a competition unironically wearing overalls and proceed to outshoot everyone in the place.

And here lies one of the big distinctions. These guys (and gals) shoot! Not content to spend their days arguing with strangers on the internet forums, they grabbed their guns and went to the range to test and learn for themselves. They surely have the benefit of being in a time when the selection of quality gear has never been better, but they didn’t have to embrace it.

For one thing, it’s expensive to have nice stuff, and these folks are coming into a world where it’s never been more expensive in terms of purchasing power and real adjusted income, to do things like buy a home. Still, the setups I see at my local range are light-years ahead of what I was running at their age.

Their attitude is also incredible. Rather than being gatekeepers, they hold no rigid dogma sacred and see rising tides as raising all ships. They collaborate, they support each other, and they are generous with their time and equipment.

When they hear the FRT in the lane next door going “Brrrr,” they pop over not to ask about the setup, not to scold the user for the “crime” of having fun while obeying all safety rules.

Social

Where will we go from here?

I don’t know. I’m not in the driver’s seat anymore. Hopefully not to anyone’s “Back in my day!”

As the great philosopher and rapper Kanye West once said:

Old folks talking ’bout, Back in my day
But homie, this is my day…

I’m the “old folks” left to watch this new generation run “their day” as they see fit.

I’m learning what I can from them and passing down what I know when it is helpful. These are the people my kids will grow up shooting with, and from what I’ve seen, they’re going to be alright.