Sunday, September 01, 2002 - I recently spent an enjoyable evening having dinner with my son and granddaughter, Olivia Christine, who is 11 years old. Olivia is a bright and a very alert kid who recently served as my co-pilot on a trip to Napa Valley, California, for my annual fermented grape juice run.

Our trip was a great experience for her and a pleasure for me because she loves flying. She also enjoyed the bottling, corking and labeling of some very good Stoney Springs Cabernet Sauvignon at our friends' small vineyard in Napa.

So, naturally, Olivia Christine, my son and I had lots to talk about over dinner and desert. I'm not sure how or why we lighted on the subject, but the topic of firearms came up. I have always believed that when children are introduced to firearms at an early age, they learn respect for these deadly instruments and they don't harbor a fascination for something forbidden and foreign. Olivia's dad and his sister learned to shoot by the ages of 10 and 11. So in the course of the dinner, I asked Olivia Christine if she was ready to learn how to shoot.

Her first response to my question was to flash me a pretty smile. Next she repositioned herself in her seat before politely responding:

"I don't like guns. Only the police should have guns."

Experience has taught me that kids can say the dandiest things at the dandiest times. And that you should never let a kid know when they've said something that has left you speechless.

"Where did you learn that, sweetheart?" I asked.

"In school," she said. My son and I looked at each other, and I decided to let the issue die for the moment.

Olivia Christine returned on Saturday for some back-to-school shopping with grandma and to spend the night with us.

Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny and after breakfast, which Olivia Christine delivered to grandma and me in bed, she settled down with us to read the newspaper ads, whereupon she announced she would like to own a video camera to produce some home movies.

Still smarting over what I believe to be a concerted effort by educators to misinform my granddaughter about her birthright, I said: "OK. I'll make a deal with you. I have something I want you to read and talk about with me and then I'll buy you a video camera."

What I wanted my granddaughter to read was: "The Second Amendment: What Every Kid Should Know." I wanted her to know just what the U.S. Constitution said about her right to own firearms.

Olivia Christine, her grandmother and I spent the next hour and a half relaxing in bed and talking about why every law-abiding American has the birthright to keep and bear arms.

Olivia Christine's interest in the subject impressed me.

First we read and talked about the First Amendment and the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The point, I explained, was that our government was created and designed to be responsive to us and not the other way around.

Next, we tackled the Second Amendment and talked in detail about how "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." I stressed the point that while nothing in the Constitution compelled her to own a gun if she didn't want to, in the United States of America, every law-abiding citizen has the right because of the Second Amendment to own a firearm if he or she does want to.

She quizzed me about the fight for colonial independence from England. We talked about the shot heard around the world and how the right to own a gun was a hard-won right that no other people have in this world. That impressed her.

"What Every Kid Should Know About The Second Amendment" concludes with these words: "It all began with a document called the Bill of Rights, containing, among others, the right to keep and bear arms. These are basic rights, and they remain your rights. As long as you do what it takes to understand them, respect them and protect them each and all."

I got the impression that Olivia Christine was impressed by that.

Ken Hamblin (bac@compuserve.com) ; www.hamblin.com writes Sundays in The Post and hosts a syndicated radio talk show.