"This was back when even in the hardest parts of America that guys were fist fighting to settle differences and maybe maybe somebody had a .22 ."
I think that depends on what years your speaking on and of course location.
gun and rifle laws were and are different in the south..so yeah you are right. the urban areas in the north though, there wasn't as much gunplay pre-crack era as people think. I read books and saw docs. about the 60s/70s gang era in major northern cities and there used to be actual rumbles (on some happy days stuff)...gangs meet at certain locations and bring bats, brass knuckles, chains, and fists to settle beefs...at the same time in jamaica...da gun man was licking shots.
