Bryan Hale has a lot in common with 9-year-old Ralphie in the classic holiday movie “A Christmas Story.” They both had expansive imaginations, and both got their first guns as boys on Christmas.
Their first guns were even the same — a Red Ryder BB gun.
“I remember that I was 12 back in Oklahoma and man, I really wanted one,” said Hale, who now lives in Cheyenne. “I remember getting that and being really (excited). I think I shot at targets with it, maybe some birds and squirrels.”
The plot of the 1983 film “A Christmas Story” is simple: Ralphie Parker is obsessed with getting a Red Ryder for Christmas, a carbine action, 200-shot air rifle. He repeatedly imagines how the BB gun would make him a real cowboy, saving his family from dastardly bad guys.
That nostalgia resonates with many in Wyoming who not only relate to its holiday messaging, but being a child getting his or her first gun.
Despite the politics of gun ownership and attempts to implement and rescind gun control laws, that first gun remains a coveted and special gift for Wyoming kids and parents, said Ryan Allen, owner of Frontier Arms in Cheyenne.
He usually recommends a pellet gun like the Red Ryder or a .22-caliber rifle, a firearm that doesn’t pack a lot of punch but is a great choice to start out with, Allen said.
The gift of a gun can also be a lesson in responsibility, said Hale.
“I think kids should learn about guns at an early age,” he said. “That’s the only way to be safe with them. You have to grow up living it.”
Throughout “A Christmas Story,” Ralphie pours over the ad for his coveted gun, but is met with resistance from all the adults in his life who warm him repeatedly, "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!”
Hearing that warning from adults is something else Hale said he has in common with Ralphie.
Christmas Gun Ads
As a youngster in 1939, Ralphie wasn’t the first boy to be targeted by gun manufacturers. Marketers targeted kids and their parents since the late 1800s, designing guns especially for children as demand increased.
In the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s digital collection in Cody, Wyoming, there are a series of Christmas ads that suggest a gun is the perfect gift to give this time of year.
In a 1901 advertisement, the Winchester Repeating Rifles and Shotguns are touted as “acceptable” Christmas Gifts.
“Many a young Nimrod who had to ‘borrow’ when he goes hunting, would rather have a Winchester rifle or Shotgun for a present than a block of government bonds,” the ad reads. “A Winchester doesn’t cost as much but is just as safe an investment.”
By 1910, gun manufactures no longer had to say that guns were merely “acceptable” and claimed that the Christmas problem was solved when you gave a Stevens Arms, the ideal permanent Christmas Gift, to the “live, wide-awake man or boy in your life.”
A Stevens repeating or double-barrel shotgun was suggested for the man while a single shot of “visible loading” repeating rifle was recommended for your boy. This brand of gun was a division of Savage and is still around, although the Christmas ads for them are not as prevalent.
By 1913, Stevens was advertising that “Christmas is coming! Boys of every land and climate the world over want Stevens for Christmas,” the ad claims. They touted at the time to have the largest line of rifles, shotguns and pistols in the world.
The Stevens ad didn’t limit the gun as a gift for men either, it states that its brand were fine for any man, boy or woman shooter.
In 1920, Winchester tugged at parents’ heartstrings by declaring that there was only one way to make that the best Christmas of all.
“Don’t you want to make this your boy’s happiest Christmas — a day that he will date history from?” the marketer asked. “Don’t you want to give your boy the think he wants more than anything else in the world?”
Just like Ralphie, these boys wanted a gun.
The ad said that a Winchester would encourage their imagination and that a boy couldn’t even express how much he wanted a gun because it’s beyond words.
“To have a gun — not just a mere gun — with Colonel Cody (Buffalo Bill) and Colonel Roosevelt and Admiral Peary — a real Winchester of his own — you simply can’t imagine what it means to him,” the ad proclaims.
By 1922, ads suggested that guns also contributed to good health by getting the new owners outside. The “famous” B.S.A. Air Rifle .177 and .22 calibers claimed to be the “Christmas Gift Supreme, for every man, woman and child with sporting instincts.”
These early ads are more likely why “The Old Man,” Ralphie’s father in the movie, understood his son’s deep desire for a gun and made sure that he indeed got his perfect Christmas gift.
Ryan Allen, owner of Frontier Arms in Cheyenne, was busy Monday two days before Christmas. He said a first gun for a 12- or 13-year-old is a popular gift. He recommends a .22. (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily) 
Bryan Hale, right, and his son look at the selection at Frontier Arms on Monday, two days before Christmas. Hale said he was 12 when he got his first gun. It was a Christmas gift, a Red Ryder BB gun just like in the popular moving "A Christmas Story." (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily) 
This 1920 ad for Winchester firearms proclaim that getting a Winchester would "make this the best Christmas of all." (Cowboy State Daily Staff) 
This 1901 Winchester ad urges people to not be a "young Nimrod who has to 'borrow'" a gun when he goes hunting. (Cowboy State Daily Staff) 
A pair of ads for Stevens firearms in 1910, left, and 1913. (Cowboy State Daily Staff) 
A 1922 ad for "The Christmas Give Supreme," a BSA air rifle. (Cowboy State Daily Staff)
The Modern Christmas Gun
Marketing for today’s gun enthusiasts are aimed mostly at adults, although parents still buy their kids guns. Most of those firearms don’t need to be licensed such as Nerf, pellet or BB guns.
However, when buying a shotgun or handgun as a Christmas gift, it is recommended by Jeremy Scribner, owner of the Wyoming Gun Company in Casper, that you know the law and realize you are the person legally responsible for that gun.
“Our policy is that if somebody's buying a gun for a child, you have to be the actual buyer and owner of the firearm,” Scribner said. “You then need to supervise that child when they use it.”
It is illegal for anyone under 18 to possess a firearm or long gun, and you have to be 21 to buy a handgun. Scribner is also adamant that he will not sell a gun to someone who is buying it for a friend.
“We don't sell firearms to people who are wanting to buy their buddy a gun,” Scribner said. “That doesn't work because that would be a straw purchase, which is illegal.”
It is called a straw purchase of a gun when someone buys a firearm for someone else who is not legally permitted to own a gun or who doesn't want their name associated with the purchase. Straw purchases are a serious violation of federal gun laws and can result in severe penalties, including up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Lesson Learned From Ralphie
Spoiler alert! In the movie, Ralphie, who has been warned repeatedly that “you'll shoot your eye out, kid,” promptly ran outside and starts shooting.
He shoots his BB gun at a metal sign, which bounces back and hits his cheek. He thinks he shot his eye out, but it's actually just a bump. His mom takes care of him in the bathroom and he tells her an icicle hit his cheek.
To prevent any Ralphie-type accidents, or worse, local 4-H Clubs in nearly every county in Wyoming offer shooting sports. Kids, beginning at 8 years old, are taught how to properly handle any firearm, from air rifles to shotguns to black powder, before they are even allowed on the firing line.
“Safety is our highest priority when we teach and practice any shooting sports discipline,” Hot Springs County 4-H Director Dawn Peil said. “Our goals is for every youth in our program to be able to handle firearms responsibility and with respect.”
Once they are trained on proper handling and etiquette on the firing range, only then are these future gun enthusiasts ready for their Christmas gift, their own gun under the Christmas tree just like the kids from over 100 years ago.
Afterall, without proper training, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!”
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
