Your First Gun: A Family Guide To Shooting

Watching this program, one could safely assume that the only airguns in the world are made by Crosman. This is, of course, not the case (Daisy, Sherman, and a host of other companies market airguns.) But commercial video has a tendency to create its own reality. Using a cloying and annoying frame device involving a young boy left with his grandfather, a pointless few minutes are wasted on the kid fixing his bike before the program gets down to the subject. Following a nice summary on the Winchester '73 and the Colt Peacemaker, the grandfather outlines the rules of safety for handling guns (one obvious rule, to us anyway, that is not mentioned is: ask the parents permission first before letting a child use a gun). The safety rules are followed by a basic instruction in how to load, aim, and fire an airgun. One other section, with Olympic coach Frank Briggs, has the young boy learning the four basic positions for shooting. Beyond that, we have a trip to a store that apparently carries only Crosman airguns--and each model is duly promoted; a bikathlon, in which young shooters ride their bikes, and stop to shoot at various points (the event sponsored in big banner letters, of course, by Crosman); and a birthday party for the kid who gets, needless to say, a Crosman airgun. In case one hasn't gotten the point of the program, an extended video tour of the various Crosman airguns concludes the show. There's about 15 minutes of good information here. Unfortunately, it's buried in 45 minutes of commercials and claptrap. We recommend that you wait for a program that makes information its primary, rather than secondary, focus. (Available from: Lyon House Productions, 6000 Sunset Blvd., Suite 209, Hollywood, CA 90028.)