My grandfather introduced my brothers and I, the youngest was going to join the military so he got a handgun and a rifle, combined with my grandfathers guns, we went out shooting more and more…
I bought my first handgun and got my concealed carry license.
From there my growth was slow but there…
When I was younger, i was kidnapped and told it was to be my last day. I escaped it. My family was not into firearms so no guns at home. Given the circumstances, had guns been in our home and my brothers and I trained to use and be safe, that trama could have been potentially avoided…
I carry so that should something happen again to me or my family, I have a chance to do something about it rather than being helpless…
These days I have a substantial collection and am still expanding.
In the next couple months, i hope to pickup a firearm which will be a first of its kind for me, something that is hardly practical and more of a because I can and a BLAST.
Got my wife into it a little, I spend 1 weekend a month helping out at a gun store, I get to handle and see more firearms than most other people so i get a feel for what i may want next…
Something similar for me, I lived in New Orleans in the 80’s and lived through several major landfall Hurricanes. So watching what happened I knew no one was going to save me, except me.
As far as Self Defense and the 2nd Amendment. I can thank someone who pulled a gun on me and made me believe I was about to die, so much so I jumped off a 40" bridge rather than stay and find out. I’ve had to be my own first responder way to much. I’ve had to much taken from me.
What started my 2A lifestyle? I like to talk to muslims for a twofold reason. First to bring them out of the cult. Second to show them the truth of Jesus Christ. The day I gave out too much personal information is the day I got a call from moslems saying they will kill me.
Within two weeks I had my CCDW, set up my backyard range and bought a quality pistol and holster. I carry everywhere except sharif’s office the post office. Except for those two places its only a trespass and when asked to leave I will never to return.
I was given my first gun as a Christmas present when I was 15. It was a Savage-Stevens .22 with a tube magazine. It’s a great little gun that I still have. I went to Army Basic in 1985 at Fort Benning. GA. Thus began my lifelong love of firearms in earnest.
Fast foward to 2002, when my future wife and I started a small PI and security company. It was then that I first got a concealed handgun permit. I have carried every since. We closed our company due to physical limitations, but by then I was totally hooked on carrying concealed.
After three deployments to the Middle East, my decision to carry every day was strongly reinforced. A year on the Border was another eye opener. When you see real evil up close, carrying every day without fail is a no-brainer, at least it is to me and those like me.
My first EDC was a nice little Sig P232-SL .380. I still have it too. It is a terrific little pistol that is very similar to a Walther PPKS. I retired from the Army-Army Guard in 2014. I carry my new best buddy, the Sig P365. She has not had any stoppages after around 800 rounds. It is a fantastic carry pistol.
It is quite interesting to read about the many varied reasons that folks take up concealed carry. We are a very diverse and fascinating group of citizens. Thank you all for sharing your stories.
I’m thinking it may have been when I started seeing concealed carry magazines on the shelf along with guns and ammo. With all that reading other stories of self-defense situations. Also add news coverage in the past over riots and such… But I don’t think it was one thing in particular.
Dad spent 3-4 years working on them during Vietnam. My grandfather did 20+ years USAF (also an airplane mechanic) and retired just before 'Nam. Both were robust examples of American manhood. A dying breed, I’m afraid.
Isn’t that the truth. My dad severed in Nam and an Army Drill Sergeant a long time before being a DS was limited to a few years. He served 22 years. He was wounded when he drove over a land mine. He was still pulling out shrapnel the day he died.
Old family firearm family heirloom left. Was only one of few things I never let go. I neglected it. One day, began working on restoring it. Learned having it was not legal so I applied for a FOID card, and then it became a hobby, collector, beginner hunter, and now active EDC, and USCCA member.
I didn’t grow up in a firearm family. My father was with a group that had a negative firearm related experience when he was in college and wanted nothing to do with them. In high school I shot my friends .22 rifle a couple times and we had several paintball contests in the woods. That was my only hands on experience for the first 3 plus decades of my life.
But for as long as I can remember I have always had an interest in firearms and feeling that I should own one and learn to use them for self defense and for hunting. It just took a long while with my nomadic lifestyle to finally be in a place where my drivers license matched the State I was living in long enough and for my bank account to have enough money in it to purchase one. I knew very little about firearms aside from the internet and some less than practical advice from the couple coworkers I had who owned some. That and the fact that I was living in CA at the time led to my first choice not being the best choice and I didn’t end up shooting much my first couple years as a firearm owner.
Around 2006 I started getting wind of the upcoming economic crises and started to get a little more serious about self defense and preparing to take care of myself, family and friends. I made a couple more practical purchases and most importantly lucked into finding a very good instructor who offered low cost training to locals. I eventually got connected with the USCCA and shortly after won one of their gun give aways which at the time was a gift certificate to an online shop. That allowed me join the world of semi auto rifle self defense tools. And here we are today:)
. I feel dirty.