Yep! ^^^^^^^^^^^Exactly. I remember walking down a main street in my old town when I was 12 years old, carrying a .22 rifle, and nobody noticed or cared.
As pre-teens:
I can well remember my Older brother and myself either walking or riding our bikes, .22 rifles in hand. Would stop at the Gas Station to buy .22 shells (.50 cents for a box of 50). We would go down to the river to plink or out to the county dump (lots of cans and bottles).
It was common place and no one feared for their lives.
Later:
Able to have a rifle or shotgun ina gun rack in our trucks even in High School. Parking lot full of such. (Circa early '70's) Austin, Texas.
Times have certainly changed.