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I love the comment about firearms being associated with safety instead of danger.
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I was raised with guns. My brothers and I would put a 6-penny nail in a board and with a .22 we would shoot the nail to drive it through the wood. One brother would pull up from the low ready and I would toss a beer bottle in the air, and he would shoot it. Shooting a playing card as it was turned on the thin side and we would try and split the card. All of this from television trick shooting. My brothers did not get into handguns, but I did. I got a .357 Smith & Wesson Model 66 then I got a 44 magnum. I wanted to become a Special agent in the FBI but that never did happen. I even joined the Marine Corps to get into law enforcement and after I got out, I became a mechanic then later became a chef. A lot of people appreciate the fact I am a chef now. I make a lot of people happy. Now I just seem to be collecting guns and reloading. I became an USCCA Instructor but was not able to get into a range to keep my instructors’ certification. I still work as a chef and even wrote a cookbook that is available on Amazon Books. I am going to stick with my cooking, and I am here just to learn and share what knowledge I do have to help others be responsible gun owners. Went shooting with the wife today and it was a fun day.
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Your trick shooting description reminds me of how I learned to shoot. I wasn’t grown up enough to put the .22 rifle butt against my shoulder so it went under my arm. We would throw orange peels upriver and shoot holes in them when they reached us. Skeet shooting for kids.
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I did not grow up with weapons. As a kid, I fired a .22LR revolver a few times, and a .410 shotgun, but that was it. Joining the Army in the late 70s, I soon discovered that I liked shooting and I wasn’t terrible. I scored expert in the M-16 rifle and later on the M-1911 pistol. That is when I became a gun guy.
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I was shot AT once, but never hit. That was the moment I decided I needed to get a handgun, my CCW and start EDC.
It probably didn’t matter that fateful day in the long run. A return shot would have been questionable at best. But considering what I do for my side job, AND the way the world is moving, I’m not taking any future chances.
It’s amazing that 20 years ago or so, the average American never even had to consider being the victim of gunfire (or knife attacks, etc.). But these days, anyone is a potential target.
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I’ve enjoyed guns all my adult life, and as a kid was when I first found out how fun shooting is. I always liked precision mechanical things like cameras and clocks, and guns naturally fit right in that slot. As a kid I first got a BB gun and found I loved target shooting that, stretching for longer and longer accurate shots (even putting a scope on my BB gun). Then in Boy Scouts I started shooting .22’s. Soon after my brother got a 12 gauge, and I started skeet shooting with that (I was probably 13 or 14). In college I had a good friend with an amazing collection of long range hunting rifles of unusual and some very large calibers. There was an old abandoned cement factory where you could safely shoot absolutely anything at long or short ranges, and I’d take my rifle and shotgun, and he’d bring a few old rifles, and those were some of my best memories of that period in my life.
For a long time, the guns sat quiet, maybe once a year or so I’d get one out, or maybe shoot a little with my brother at his camp, but then 2020 came along and I revived my interest and started carrying daily. That was my first entry into handguns and daily carry. Until then, I kept a rifle next to the bed for HD, but didn’t have a gun with me 24/7.
So, I was a gun guy when I was young, then somewhat drifted away from my love of shooting, then got really back into it hard when I started carrying daily and introducing hand guns into my shooting.
It’s a fantastic hobby, fun to do with others, and has the added advantage of helping keep you safe, free and fed. What more could you want in a hobby?
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I grew up in a strictly anti gun house hold. We could hunt but bow only.
My mom growing up grab my grandpa’s double barrel (loaded) and ventilated the ceiling.
Went in the Marines and I found my love for firearms. Bought a few at the PX and it was game on.
Went home on leave and went shooting with my parents, mom was pissed but when I did point out safety and the 4 basic rules, I pointed out to her that she screwed up. Not the gun.
Dad is pro gun now and I think has more than me. Mom died 5 years ago but had multiple .22’s. I still got a few of them and my daughter will get them.
Education, education
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I was an adventurous kid, and we lived at the end of the block of a growing suburb…. Literally thousands of acres of wild land 300 yards from our front door….
So mom bought me a Beeman R-7 .177 air rifle when I was maybe 9-10?
In quickly learned I liked trying to hit harder and harder targets.. been hooked on shooting ever since.
Shot my buddies 30/30 when I was maybe 17-18,… wasn’t a huge fan of firearms then….
Absolutely fell in love with my other buddies 10/22 when I was 19-20, was his grandfather’s gun he inherited and had a nice scope on it…. Must’ve put 3-4000 rounds through that gun between the two of us!
I didn’t buy my own firearm until my kids were a couple years old and I had my own home (though I did have an extensive airgun collection by that time)
When I got my 15-22, it was over…. I officially became a gun nut!
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I grew up watching the Lone Ranger, Wild Wild West and Combat!
Then, life happened. I never considered owning a firearm until I saw an episode of American Guns on Discovery channel. I felt like a child again.
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I got a First Place trophy for shooting a bolt action .22 at camp when I was 14.
I got a Rifle Marksmen badge in Army Basic.
I got the SMALL ARMS EXPERT MARKSMANSHIP RIBBON in the New York Air National Guard.
But I never owned my firearm until President Obama said that I didn’t need one. He was the best guns salesman ever.
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