Most people, especially young people, tend to think of today's problems as unique to our own particular point in time. The proliferation of guns and violence, we assume, is a product of today's society. "Ding" Darling, however, was dealing with the need for gun control 75 years ago, long before most of us were born.

As a hunter, "Ding" distinguished long guns (shotguns and rifles) from hand guns, which he felt had no other purpose than to kill human beings.