Deadeye777

Hey guys -
I'm a senior at Washington State University getting a wildlife ecology and management degree. Hunting is a big part of my life, but paramount is proper gun ownership. I firmly believe that the way you handle and care for your firearms and promote safety and pride in their condition and function is what makes you a responsible gun owner (too bad there's no law to enforce that!). Recently I've listed a .30-30 Marlin336W with leather sling and recoil pad in near perfect condition on a flyer at the local sporting goods store thinking a responsible farmer or cattleman with experience around firearms would pick it up for porch or saddle gun, but instead my first contact came from a very respectful but plain speaking college kid, and something about his email of interest raised a red flag in my head and I thought I'd ask your opinion on something.

he says
"Hi Ace my name is andy. i saw that you had a .30-30 lever action for sale. i am very interested in this weapon. I would like to talk to you about it, and take a look at it. my phone number is 555-5555, you can give me a call or send me a message back if you are interested. thank you very much"

I understand that often times people of military or law enforcement background speak of firearms as "weapons", and I understand that, but in my neck of the woods a "weapon" implies criminal intentions for a firearm, and anyone I grew up with would never call a firearm or gun a "weapon" because that violates the safety and responsibility that we've been instilled with - just the same as when some of my college friends who don't know much about guns say somethingrefering to"shooting" someone with one jokingly I don't take it as a joke and I make it obvious right then and there that that kind of talk won't be tolerated by me - you just don't joke about that. Anyway, I took a look at the kid on facebook because he's in my network and I see no indication of prior firearm ownership. nothing in his interests says hunting or shooting, nothing in his public photo album involves any kind of outdoor sports or leisure, and none of his friends seem the firearm owning type. I hate to judge a book by it's cover, but this is the white-sneaker wearing bleach blond hair, pookashell necklace, popped-collar frat boy that's liable in my mind to do something stupid with a gun. on top of that he still lives in the dorms!
Maybe he wants to own his first gun and be a responsible citizen and gun owner, and it's not my place to take that from him or tell him he can't have one, but I organized a meeting today to let him see it in person.we're meeting in a neutral location away from my home and other firearms. I told him someone else is interested and i promised them first dibs, but he can take a look at it. truth be told it's just a way to feel the guy out before I decide to let him take it.

What do you guys think about the situation? I hate tobe so calculating over a simple word choice, butI just hate the thought of a crime being commited with my firearm because I wanted a few bucks for it. after all this is a lever-action and a pretty simple and effective weapon.

thanks for reading!
Ace