Huh? What was that? Waddu say?

For some reason there was not much emphasis on ear protection back when I was young. Maybe I was just ignorant of it. When I was 13 years old I got a Ruger Standard .22 auto for Christmas (1967). I regularly shot my .22 pistol without protection, not knowing I was doing anything harmful. Soon after that I bought a Walther P.38 and didn't know that shooting 9mm without protection would be harmful.

My first real damaging experience that I recall was a box or two of hardball ammo through a G.I. Colt .45 ACP a few years later. The ringing never went away.

Soon after that I got my first .357 Mag. I noticed shooting the .357 felt like being jabbed in the ears with knitting needles. That's when I looked into hearing protection, at about age 16. Toooooooo late!

My hearing has continued to decline. I'm now 56 with lots of tinnitus and a big hearing deficit. There are strong factors of heredity from both my mother and father, but there's a strong factor of stupidity from yours truly.

Take care of your ears, boys and girls.

Curl

www.RoscoeStephenson.com

[Linked Image from rbsiii.com]