WingCommander ...
When I was in middle/high school in the late 70's (about two hours outside of New York City, a rural area), my neighbor and I would ride our bikes to the local hardware store with .22 rifles on slings over our shoulders or just hold them on the handlebars.
We would stop at the local hardware store and each buy 2 or 3 packs (50 cartridges) of .22 shorts or longs, ride to the gravel pit, shoot cans or whatever else was around, get back on our bikes and ride home. Once the guy at the hardware store knew you and your parents, age was not an issue.
If a kid did that today, he would be in jail. The hardware store would be out of businesss. Police would block the road off, fingerprint your bike, put crime scene tape around everything and you would be in a juvenile facility for who knows how long. With all the guns we had (only .22 calibers of course for kids), even at 14, 15, 16, years old, I can't think of anyone who would consider taking a gun to school and shoot anyone.
You may have gotten into a fist fight with a bully sometimes, get a black eye, a bloody nose or exchange the favor, but the thought of using a gun never came to anyone's mind.
It's a different world today.
Rub a Dub