That span is not necessarily how long they were around, but rather the uncertainty about when they were around.

Because that really is what most little girls choose.

I have boys (now ages 11 to 20). Then got a little girl (now age 4.25). The little girl is and always has been very different from the boys. She started picking out clothes she liked before she could walk. None of my boys cared until much later. The girl chose pink clothes even tho she had almost none since she outgrew the "new baby" gifts (most of which were neutral yellow and white). My wife is not a "pink, frilly" type, but my little girl is. We had to buy more pink and frilly stuff.

Christmas 2012 at age 3, my little girl "adopted" a particular wrapping paper (pastel, blue field with white angels and some other minor colors) and came to tears when a package with that paper was not for her, and refused to have anything to do with packages wrapped in a color she particularly disliked that year. My boys never cared about the paper and certainly never turned down the chance to open any present.

My wife is not a "let's go shopping" type. My little girl is. She wants to go shopping for shoes, or for dresses, something my mother-in-law still has to drag my wife out to do. At age 3 she didn't much care for dolls. She did like stuffed toy cats but her favorite toy was a green john deere tractor (sit on and kick it around it size). Last summer my little girl noticed an older cousin had painted fingernails and wanted it on her own fingers. My wife never wears nail polish (and seldom makeup). My little girl has started taking care of a "baby doll," but last november when a friend just wanted to play with barbie dolls, after less than 10 minutes of that came the response, "I'm not a barbie kind of girl" (as reported in shock by the mother of the other girl).

My little boys played with blocks. They made roads that cars would drive on. They made buildings and towers to knock them down. My little girl plays with blocks. She makes houses where people (and animals) live. She makes roads so the people can visit each other. She makes towers so the people can be on top and see each other. The little girl makes forts with blankets and boxes. They are places where people live and she brings all her stuffed animals in with her and they eat and play together. The boys made forts with blankets and boxes. They were hideouts, and the associated play had monsters and missiles, traps and battles.

And little boys will make a gun or a car or a plane or a bomb out of anything.

What do you mean "until much later" ? :)

Just to make your point a bit more clearly in case anyone does not get it...

I have four boys from 11 to 20. I work with "boys" ranging in age early 20's thru mid-60's. My father in law will be 69 this year and my father will be 80. There is not a single one of those "boys" that is not "attracted by shiny toys."

I draped a roll of RGB LEDs over my desk in December. Guys stopped by to ask details about it every day. None of the passing women stopped except one that said, "those look nice."

I bought some closeout LED decorative lights on New Years Eve. I was checking them out and all the guys in the extended family gathered around to see what was going on, what the lights could do, and etc. I could not get any of the women interested. Maybe next Christmas when they are decorating...

A lot.

After multiple confrontations with the teacher in 8th grade science then nearly flunking 9th grade science, when starting 10th grade I did not want to take Biology, I wanted to take Physics. The questions started with "Why" (because I like physics) and went thru "There will not be any other sophomores in the class", "physics is a much harder class" and "It's too hard for sophomores" to "Every sophomore takes Biology" and "You have to take Biology" (the requirements did NOT say that), ending with "It may set you back, but you can take it if you get the teacher's permission." I got the teacher's permission, was the only sophomore in the class, got an 'A', and never did take high school Biology.

Now if a female gets asked "why" and does not have a good answer for herself, or chooses not to insist/persist, the real question is why did she give up? While the teacher may have been wrong, the problem did not begin with the teacher.

I'm your wrong target.

Ahh, the politician method -- popularity over principle.

No, they aren't.

Spray and pray only works in movies, and even then only for comedic effect.

Which is why the War on [some] Drugs has been such a resounding success at eliminating drug availability and use in the entire country.

I like it. As soon as the court rules that taxing constitutionally guaranteed rights is A-Okay, we should require proof of firearm proficiency to be presented before voting.

Don't forget to close the door as you leave.

And the British realized they'd left open the barn, so they tried to close it. Too late. Yes, it was threat of gun control that started the shooting part of the American revolution.

That is an incredibly naive viewpoint.

Of course all guns were legal at one point. And if you go far enough back, all guns were made by hand at one point. And if you pass a law outlawing all guns you just turned all legal guns into illegal guns.

Everything was legal at one point. But one day the remaining members of the community got together and decided to outlaw a lot of it.

I hope the remaining members of the community grow more intelligent, but that hope is dwindling. Because no matter what political division you choose, you will never eliminate guns unless you make them obsolete with something much, much better.

Totally bogus "work" that has no right to claim being a "study."

And those are not PREVIOUS work, as a simple glance at the dates would tell you.

If you live south side Chicago, do you want a gun?

If you do, why should any peaceful citizen not be allowed to have a gun?

If you do not, you are a fool.

Do you really think that allowing only the murderers on the south side to have guns lowers the murder rate?