Growing up with guns

For Chanse Mullinix, the lessons of boyhood include learning to shoot.

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Scott Mullinix keeps close as his son, Chanse, fires a .22-caliber rifle at a homemade target to sharpen his shooting skills at a friend's farm near Mt. Airy, Md.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Chanse, 9, eyes a target as he aims with a .22-caliber rifle that belonged to his dad's great-grandfather. Chanse went on his first hunting trip at age 4 and was given his first gun when he was 6.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Chanse races back to his dad after setting up cans and bottles for target practice at a friend’s farm near Mount Airy.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Chanse holds a can he shot using a .410 shotgun.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Scott stakes a homemade metal target rack for Chanse to shoot at for target practice.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Scott keeps close as Chanse fires at cans and bottles. Scott became a single dad before Chanse was a year old, and he taught the boy to shoot a few years later because it was an area in which he felt confident in the lessons he was teaching.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Many generations of Mullinix families have lived in the area around Mount Airy, and there are roads named after them.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Chanse and Scott return to their townhouse after a day of target shooting.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Chanse has an after-school snack as Scott smokes at the townhouse in Mount Airy.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Scott marks Chanse’s height, noting that the boy has grown a quarter-inch recently. Chanse is short for his age, but his father tells him he carries himself like a grown man.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Chanse, who is energetic and always moving, tosses a football with grandfather Greg Mullinix in the living room. Greg learned to shoot decades ago, in part so he could eat, and he butchered his own game. He said he lost interest in hunting after serving in the Army in Vietnam.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Chanse searches for a squirrel tail he kept as a memento from his first squirrel hunt. The walls of his home are covered with photos of the hunting and fishing trips he has taken with his dad.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Scott shows photos of Chanse on his laptop. This photo is from a squirrel hunt.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

The walls of the home that Scott Mullinix shares with his son Chanse are covered with family photos that feature hunting, fishing and sports.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Chanse Mullinix and his grandfather Greg chat with dad Scott (off camera) about what kind of pizza to order.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Chanse Mullinix is focused as he plays a first-person shooter game called “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.” He doesn't play these games as often as some children because he prefers shooting real guns for target practice and going hunting with his dad.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Scott keeps his .45-caliber Kimber handgun locked up. It is strictly for protection and not for hunting as are most guns in the home.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Scott Mullinix changes a light bulb in his basement. The room features several hunting trophies given to him by friends. Other mounted trophies in the upstairs of the home are from his own hunting trips.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

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