[KriegHund]

I'm still not entirely sure how it happened, it just sort of did.

It all started with video games- specificly, tom clancy's rainbow six. I started by looking up the guns on the internet (started with the G3A3, the gun i still love) and i stumbled across world.guns.ru.

I started looking over the files daily, all starting with assualt rifles, moving to machine guns, and so on. At this point i still had no idea about gun laws, though i knew i wanted a gun.

Sometime later someone on another forum posted a link to the hk-94 forums. I was around there for some time, almost two years i think, accumulated near 2000 posts, and then was banned because i was under 18. It was there i learned about anti-gunners and various gun laws.

After the bannination I came here, cant recall exactly how. I like this place more than hk-94. Its got better staff, and though a bit less busy, more respectful members.

Anyways, somewhere along the line i went from an interest in how guns work to an interest in my rights.

[Kendra Pacelli]

At one time in my life I hated guns. I wanted nothing to do with them. I started dating a guy who liked guns and we moved in together. Guns were never brought up until it was time to move in. I told him that under no circumstances are guns allowed in the house. So out of respect, and maybe love, he housed his guns at a friends house. Years later, I started working with Oleg. I loved his pictures. We started talking about shooting and guns and I told him that I hated guns. He asked why. The only response I could come up with was that was how I was raised. He talked me into going shooting. If I didn't like guns after that then I would have a reason. I went shooting with the above boyfriend. I was bound and determind to hate them. I wanted to prove to everyone I was right. Hmmmmm......I was wrong. I shot a .22 and a .45. The .45 convinced me I LOVED shooting. I loved the freedom it gave me and I loved the fact that all the stress of my life were swept away. So, I have ex-boyfriend and Oleg to thank on switching me from anti to pro! Haven't had a chance to go to the range in about a year and I am hoping to rectify that problem soon. Saving up some money to go out and buy my dream gun (Springfield 1911) and get my carry permit. Also haven't been on this site for quite some time, so first post in maybe a year. Yeah me. Came a long way from the naive person from above to now, and I am continuing to grow.

[wally]

Really simple.

I grew up around guns, but they were nothing special. I figured how could anyone complain about needing a "permit" to buy one, if it helped prevent misuse.

Then when I got my first real job and had some spare money I wanted to buy a Thompson sub-machine gun -- the real full auto deal, the $200 Federal tax was rendered pretty tame by inflation, price of the gun+ATF "stamp" was well within my budget, and I'd been "investigated" by the FBI background check for my job already so it was no big deal.

That's when I found out that "permt" meant "only for us elites" not you commoners. Local LEOs refused to sign the ATF form despite having no legal standing to fail to certify. Fortunately I had local political juice thru my then wife's grandfather and could drop the right names to get the forms signed. I joined the NRA that week and have been a regular contributor to NRA, TSRA, GOA, & SAF since.

I'd own more full autos but that FINK Bush the elder sold us out as I was getting ready to buy an M16 -- prices shot way up out of my range before I could complete a deal :(

--wally.

[PlayboyPenguin]

I was raised with gun. We all got .22 rifles when we turned eight. My grandmother on my mother's side was an expert marksman with many county/state fair competition wins. They even created a womens division purely because she won our tri-county marksmanship toury three years in a row and pi$$ed off alot of the men. However, I was raised by my grandparents on my dad's side. My grandfather hated guns with a passion. He was a WWII, Korea, and Vietnam combat vet and would not allow them in his house. I had to keep the .22 my grandmother bought me in the basement. As I got older I shot with friends, hunted, practiced with my grandmother, etc (even managed to gather a small firearm collection even though we were quite poor...my grandfather drank up every dime he made) but really came into shooting when I was in the service. Since I did not drink alcohol or cruise the ladies I had little social interaction with my fellow soldiers except shooting. I was pretty good as a kid and got better in the military. Winning a few tournies and collecting top-gun hats like crazy. When I went off to Iraq I was forced to sell my small collection to pay my car payments. Since the car was also in my mom's name the bank was trying to circumvent the "soldiers and sailors act" and repossess the car. After that guns got pushed to the back burner. Education, survival, food, shelter all took priority. Recently I went to a local gun show with a friend and then I discovered this board when searching for info about Kimber .45 autos which a became enamoured with at the show. Well, it was like finding a long lost love. Thanks to being older and more financially stable now I immediately started rebuilding and surpassing my old collection and even rejoined the NRA. In the past few months I have bought several handguns, a gunsafe, and even a few rifles.

[Pilot]

Common sense.

[Crimson]

like the thread author, video games, but not FPSs

It was RPGs, the heroes travelling, fighting injustice, going where they wanted, when they wanted, and with no officials asking them to present passports, or go through security checks or fill out forms.

(or hand over their high capacity assault spellbooks and staurday night swords)

Midgar and Shinra are pretty good examples of what I fear the most for our world.

[Warren]

Wasn't really into guns much.

Had gone shooting a few times, mom had a cheap .22 revo but that was it.

Discovered around the time I was 14-15 that there was a gun control movement. Looked into it and was horrified.

Became pro-rkba then, but it took a couple of decades to finally morph into a gun nut.

[mrmeval]

Waco

[PlayboyPenguin]

waco
??? Are you saying you hope that someday the govt will have reason to come after you for being a cult running, child raping, nutjob?

[lee n. field]

Reading El Neil's (http://www.lneilsmith.org/) first novel, and living in a not-so-nice neighborhood.

[mack]

I cherish liberty and the personal responsibility that comes with it. I despise slavery and the abnegation of personal responsibility inherent in it. :)

[Kalashnikov]

Like the author, I geuss it started with games. I was always fascinated with the technical aspect that differant gun combinations could do vastly differant things. As I grew older, I got tired of toy guns and wanted to move to the real thing. Like a few others, I started at world.guns.ru, and have yet to find a better place. Naturally my tactical/technical interests lead me to move onto the legaland political, (that and move love of history). I was pretty much disgusted at how the gun control movement worked/works and want to change that. And thats my story.

[Taurus 66]

I'm gearing up for the inevitable battle between the forces of good and evil.

By the prickling of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes.

[Monkeyleg]

Even though I grew up around guns, it wasn't until the early 1980's that I realized there was a concerted effort by the anti's to try to ban them. That's when I started writing letters to the editor, etc.

The 1994 AW ban put me into high gear, and I started working on political campaigns.

When I got my FL non-resident permit years back, then came home to WI disarmed, I got ticked off and started working to pass CCW legislation here.

[mack]

PlayboyPenguin quoted and wrote:


Quote:
Originally Posted by mrmeval
waco

??? Are you saying you hope that someday the govt will have reason to come after you for being a cult running, child raping, nutjob?

Ya know, I thought that at the time when it initially happened. But watch "Waco, The Rules of Engagement," or just read up on the whole situation and it becomes quickly apparent that regardless of the merits or sins of the Davidians and their leader - that the federal government set in motion a series of events that resulted in the deaths of many innocent children, men ,and women, an event that did not have to happen. An event that was initially created as a media opportunity to help boost an agencies profile and to insure continued levels or increased levels of funding.

The planned "swat style" raid did not need to happen to enforce the law, it should have been called off when it was known that the supposed element of surprise was compromised, the rules of engagement written or unwritten which allowed the random firing into a building containing innocent women and children were a violation of law, and the subsequent handling of the mess thus created - was unconscionable. Cooler heads should have prevailed.

[Hemicuda]

when i was 5 or so years old, my dear ol' dad bought and gave me a single shot .22 bolt gun... been hooked ever since... it was the single best and worst thing he ever did to/for me...

best 'cause it taught me alotta lifes lessons and whatnot... worst 'cause i spend WAY too much money on guns, accessories, ammo, and rkba stuff...

[Richard.Howe]

It was getting married, having kids, and realizing my responsibility to protect my family.

The hobby aspect followed shortly. The Constitutional beliefs came later and are now deeply ingrained.

My wife now calls our closet "The Armory"

[Nitrogen]

Living in Northern California.
There's the obvious reasons with their restrictive laws, but I actually was a gun owner before I moved there. I had one when I lived in Phoenix, before California. I sold it when I moved.

2 big reasons that have a lot to do with each other, plus one HUGE reason.

In 2004, my fianceé moved in with me. There were a few incidents in our california town that made me realize just how vulernable we were. First, she was followed home from work one day. She tried to call the police, but since the car following her had no plates on it, the police responded, "We can't do anything because you don't have license plate numbers, sorry."
She managed to lose them with some aggressive driving.
Add a few more incidents like that, and I decided that some other means of personal protection were called for. So I did some reasearch to figure out what one has to do to legally buy a handgun, and carry it in California.

I'll skip to the end. I moved to Texas in October of last year, when I had a job opportunity, and she followed in late November.

My 2 big reasons: I realised just how much I depended on a police force that seemed to care less about something I cared dearly about: My fianceé, and of course myself! I wasn't going to trust the police to always be able to help me (reason one) and I wasn't going to let anything happen to my fianceé without a fight. She's going to get her CHL here in texas in the next few months, so she'll be able to keep anything from happening to ME then, too.

When I explain to my california friends (who are great people, just ignorant about guns in general) I point them to this book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0964230445/
It explains what I learned the hard way in California: The police are under no duty or obligation to protect you. I'm glad she or I didn't learn it a harder way.

Now, for my huge reason, which you might be able to guess if you've noticed my .sig line:
I'm a Jew. Some of my releatives escaped from Hitler in the 30's, and one even died at a concentration camp.
Members of the tribe of Yehudah have had thousands of years of struggle against oppressors, both in biblical times and in modern ones. While i'm lucky to live in a place where this currently isn't a problem, it can change pretty quickly. (Just look at Europe)
I refuse to stand idly by if such a tide should turn in my lifetime.
Some might call it paranoia. Plenty of other RKBA-folks are called the same thing. I, like them, consider it readiness.
And like the famous song says, "Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after you!"

I won't even get into being brough up in an ANTI-gun family. That's a story for another time.

[Hockeydude]

- Living in NYC and being mugged and attacked has shown me how the leftists here are hypocrites.
- Although I never grew up around guns, my parents are socially liberal and don't mind. My family is Jewish and from the USSR. My grandparent's family was killed by the nazis. Also, Jews in the USSR were second class citizens. So my motto has become, "Never Again."
- I love history and am a WWII buff. So military rifles have sentimental value to me.
-To bad I'm only 17. I can't wait to move out of NYC.

[silliman89]

Grew up shooting .22 rifles. I took it for granted.

In High school, my Dad gave me an old Enfield .30-03 he didn't use any more. I've been using it for a wall ornament ever since. I still haven't fired it.

I actually went to a gun show with a friend in '93 who bought an AR-15. I was like, "yeah it's cool, but you spent all that money and what are you going to do with it?" I didn't buy anything.

Basically I took RKBA for granted and didn't value it very much. And then the AWB came along. Today, I understand that it was just the last in a long line of anti-gun laws. At the time though it was the first one I was really old enough to pay attention to. I thought it was horrible.

The AWB made me value RKBA because I finally realized that Government might try to take it away. It's sunset made me run out and buy an AK-47. (I still think the AR-15 is over priced, but that's a different story.)

[Sindawe]

The abuse the Weavers suffered in their home at Caribou Ridge, and watching the events in Waco Texas unfold on live TV.

[bigun15]

Somehow found Oleg Volk's website and visited the link to here at the bottom. Been here ever since and have gotten more and more interested the more I read. Waiting for the day I can own a gun, since youth can't have guns anymore.

[mrmeval]

Wonderful attitude you have there, very high road.

playboyPenguin:
??? Are you saying you hope that someday the govt will have reason to come after you for being a cult running, child raping, nutjob?

[GLOCK19XDSC]

Kendra Pacelli? Hey! I have a book about you! :D

[mrmeval]

Oh the Kendra Pacelli from this?

http://www.sfreviews.net/freehold.html
http://www.baen.com/author_catalog.asp?author=mzwilliamson

The author is a member.

[ebd10]

Never touched a gun until I went into the Army. While I was in, I bought a Colt Government Model. After I got out, it stayed in my nightstand, and I never thought much about it. It was just a "souvenir". Then one night, I had to shoot an intruder. After spending a night in jail, and waiting in a cell for my lawyer to get me out, and getting sued 2 1/2 years later costing me grand total of $10000 to end the case, I was a committed pro-gun advocate.

When I did a little digging and found out just how hard the gun-haters were working to take my rights and property away, I decided right then and there that I was joining the ranks of the "cold, dead, hands" crowd.

[mbs357]

I've always been pro-gun...but not as seriously as I am since I found THR. :D
I can't remember how long ago it was that I registered.

[Hellenistic Riot]

Counter-Strike, then finding out that I can't own an MP5 in Illinois. :(

[Topgun]

REAL easy one. It happens to be one of MANY rights I am SUPPOSED to have. Kerry would have gotten rid of the RKBA and Bush is getting rid of the others.
I want .....ALL...... of them.
And woe and misery to anyone who wants to tamper with ANY of em.

:fire:

[Larry Ashcraft]

My dad, now 78 years old. It was always ingrained into me that I had a right to owns guns, a right to defend myself.

Actually, if I think about it, my grandad and great grandad were the same way.

[Barbara]

I grew up around hunters but never really cared much about guns one way or another till Bill Clinton and the MMM. I actually attended the Million Mom March (on the other side) and still have the Clinton Sucks pin I got there, too.

[Otherguy Overby]

Oh the Kendra Pacelli from this?

http://www.sfreviews.net/freehold.html
http://www.baen.com/author_catalog.a...r=mzwilliamson

The author is a member.

Cool, I didn't know he was a member. Anyway this particular novel is a free download now from his publisher (Baen Books)

http://www.baen.com/library/mzwilliamson.htm

So, thanks Mike Z... :)

[cosine]

You want the truth? It was this forum. I ran across it while browsing on the web one day. I stopped and read a bit. I read some more. I stayed up real late and read some more. I read more, lurked for about six months, and then registered.

Before I found this forum I was kind of anti-gun. I thought that most anti-gun measures sounded pretty good. (But, in my defense, I will say that is all I had ever encountered) However, as I read this forum, I realized the lack of logic and reason behind most anti-gun measures, and then realized that they prevented or interfered with one of the most effective means of preserving one's right to life and liberty, and also realized that anti-gun measures did not stand in the way of the tyranny of government.

Needless to say, I'm now a straight up and down pro-gun, RKBA supporter, no ifs ands or buts.

Thanks, The High Road!

[Standing Wolf]

In exactly one short word familiar to one and all: taxes.

I put myself through school working two and three part-time jobs. I did janitorial work. I managed a rooming house. I hustled cars and guitars. I wrote term papers. I did a little of this and that, and much of it was for cash.

Armed with my parchment, I went to work in a library. All at once, I noticed over 20% of my earnings were taken before I so much as saw them. Almost overnight, my collegiate leftism flew out the window, and before long, I found myself voting Republican, making a laborious way through some of Ayn Rand's books again, and starting to doubt everything I'd ever been taught by my parents and civics teachers and fellow class mates.

During that same time, I happened to notice a bumper sticker on the back of a rust bucket pick-up truck:

When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.

Click! The light bulb went on. I'd already owned a gun several years, a little five-shooter Smith & Wesson Chief's Special I'd bought outside a bar at 19. I'd shot it a little. I'd hitch-hiked back and forth across the country with it in my knapsack. I kept it tucked out of sight just in case. In the space of a few weeks, I understood what was behind so-called "gun control" efforts, and understood, as well—or at least, began to understand—why government might want commoners not to have guns.

I've been a First Amendment, Second Amendment, and tax reform rabble rouser all the years since then. Sad to say, I still don't see a great deal of visible progress on any of those fronts.

[Pafrmu]

I was paid off by gun manufacturers. They were wearing lizard suits and were trying to jump to heaven on a trampoline.

[Kamicosmos]

Hm. Good question. I know that RKBA is what got me really going in other political areas, but what got me going in RKBA?

When I bought my first gun, like most people, I had very little knowledge about gun laws. (I was really confused when I had to go get a permit from the sherriff to be allowed to have my new toy) When I bought my second one, the AWB had just gone into effect, and I again, knew nothing of it (internet wasn't as useful then as it is now). So, I bought a .40 Beretta, because it was cheaper than the 9mm version next to it. The 9mm came with 2 'hi-caps', and was $100 bucks more. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was so freaking dangerous about having 5 more rounds of less powerful ammunition.

So, I guess what really got me digging into gun laws and turning into a 'gun nut' was: The AWB.

That's some good irony right there.


PS Oh, mbs357 said "I can't remember how long ago it was that I registered."
It says it right under your name to the left there. ;)

[JohnBT]

I think it was Sen. McCarthy terrorizing the U.S. and the Chinese pouring into Korea that did it. Most kids back then were afraid of the monsters under the bed, not me.

John

[The-Fly]

i've always been pro gun to a degree, even though i was raised in the PRK. The AWB made me more pro gun, the illogic of it was pathetic to put it gently (even though i didnt own a gun back then). Once i bought my first gun ( a year ago this month), and did some reading on gun laws and what not, and the history of our rights and the attacks on them, it firmly put me in the camp of the gunners. I know who my friends are ;)

[hrb02]

Grew up shooting with Grandad on the family farm. Always had a love (and respect) for guns. But, as I grew up, got married, etc. I really started to take them for granted (i.e. if I want one, I'll just go and buy one).

Then, after living in KS, where I felt no infringement on my rights, I moved to IL and then to CA. When I finally had the time to start updating my gun collection, and I was living in CA, I about freaked. (Gunstore: You have to wait 30 days to pick up your gun. Me: ***).

So, I started spending time and money on those organizations which support my rkba. Because, if we lose this one, we're only a couple steps from the edge of a long, slippery and ugly slope.

The High Road has helped keep me informed and, at the same time, thinking about my position and why I feel how I do.

HRB

[Smoke Rizen]

Used to watch my Dad and Granddad go out most weekends in the fall for birds. When I turned ten I was invited to go along. When I hit twelve My Dad gave me a .410 bolt action Springfield(still have it)to carry when we went hunting. The next year I got a shell to carry in it. I remember those years as the first serious discussions I had with my Granddad. He had served in WW 1, my Dad in WW 2, and I followed in RVN. " Let us fight to make men free, His truth is marching on".

[gulogulo1970]

Well I started reserching guns a couple of years before I could legally own one(I was too young). About 1986 a started buying a yearly Guns Digest. If you look at what you could buy then and what you can buy today you will soon find out that our choice have been limmited by import bans and outright bans.

I like guns and I hate having someone telling me what I can and cannot own. My pocketbook and my lack of a criminal record should be my ticket to buy anything I want to, not the governments permission.

[Freedspeak]

Raised with them, father was a small arms instructor WWII. Was a bit lax during the early years, but was a contitutionalist (though I didn't realise it!), and it was reinforced when I enlisted, "Protect and defend the constitution", (there is no termination clause).

Getting more vociferous ever since!

[Freedspeak]

Raised with them, father was a small arms instructor WWII. Was a bit lax during the early years, but was a contitutionalist (though I didn't realise it!), and it was reinforced when I enlisted, "Protect and defend the constitution", (there is no termination clause).

Getting more vociferous ever since!

[cbsbyte]

I was never into guns when I was younger. I did shoot a .22 rifle at summer camp a few times during the NRA rifle course but that was restricted after my mother found out , and complained. I knew of one friends father who owned guns. As you can tell my family is very anti-gun, and I did accept the notion that guns where evil. It all changed after the 2000 election, with Bush as President and both houses controlled by Republicans I knew this country was in for a rough time. So After taking the state mandated licensing course, I bought my first rifle, thinking I could use it to defend my family in case of civil unrest. I now have 15 guns, including three handguns which where my last purchase. I don't hunt, nor believe in it, and rarly have the time to shoot my guns do other activites.

[Srigs]

Trap shooting at my brother-in-laws place in SD. This got me into shotguns.

My best friend had a pistol for sale 3 months later and I purchased it.

[Warren]

mbs357



Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Ahoskie, NC
Posts: 1,200

I've always been pro-gun...but not as seriously as I am since I found THR.
I can't remember how long ago it was that I registered.


I'm getting a vision...a vision of when you joined up..I think it was sometime in DEC 2004.

[White Horseradish]

The Long Island Rail Road massacre. I wasn't really one way or another before that, but when I read the detailed accounts, I thought "Dammit, had there been even one man with a gun in that train car the %^&*( would not have been able to reload several times..."

[k_semler]

Well, if you really want to go to "the roots" of it, it would be being raised with a 12 ga shotgun, (yes it was loaded with one in the chamber) always loaded next to the door since I was 3 years old. I knew better then to touch the rifle, but I didn't give it a second thought. It was actually strange when the gun wasn't by the front door. Then I learned to shoot at 8 years old with a .22 single shot, and I thought it was a treat when my dad would let me shoot his 10/22 with a "bannana clip" as he called it.

But I didn't learn it was an actual right until the 5th grade. I became obsessed with the Constitution in 8th grade, and read it 3 times a day until I graduated high school. I actually read it for entertanment, that was my "down time". I was once at the point that I could quote the entire constitution verbatem by the 11th grade. I renember getting quizzed by the history teacher on the tenth amendment, and I blew the class out of thier minds when I quoted it word-for-word, (even with the disclaimer that I might not be able to go verbatem). Yes, I got an A in that class. :) I actually liked US history, and the teacher too.

I became a "feverent" 2nd amendment supporter after reading of the legalities of modifying my SKS to have a duckbill magazine. The federal regulations got me worked up. After getting material from JPFO, it all went down hill from there. Note that I've been an NRA member since 1998, but the JPFO, since 2005 has done more to awaken me then the NRA ever even attempted. NRA reminds me of "it's all OK, you just need your skeet gun. Why ban a sport?" JPFO brings up the Warsaw massicre, Bonus Army, Waco, Armenian slaughter, Native American "cleansing", and the corruptness of the BATFE. NRA makes me roll eyes at TPTB, while the JPFO makes me want to use my AK for what it was manufactured for.

[Chrontius]

Ironically, it started (seriously) around the time of Bowling for Columbine. OTOH, it seems to be in my blood. Both grandfathers and my mother have operated, worked with, developed, or both, the stupidly powerful engines of war of their time. (Air force, Navy gunboat, etc)

Really, the interest goes way the heck back there.

[xsnydx]

My Red-Ryder BB gun that my grandfather gave me. I love that thing...I still have it and plan on having it as long as I live. Well, that's the beginning of my love of weapons...as for being behind the spirit of the RKBA, it's been since I've been reading more and more about the things that happen all over...I always knew the world wasn't pretty, but there are so many horrible things that happen every day...and as I grow up, I undrestand more about the necessity for it...some people criticize for carrying a weapon, but I just feel like they don't understand the real world...

[gunsmith]

Late one night in san francisco I saw a women being held against her will by a huge thug with a bat, this guy was bigger then the terminator, I found a phone a few blocks away to call the cops but it was too late, I never found out what happened.

the more i looked into it the more i discovered my instinct to self preservation
was being rail roaded by people who have armed protection 24/7.

[Mortech]

One word grandfather , I've always had access to firearms as soon as I was able to learn which way to point one . On top of everything approxiamtely 90% of the male members of my family have served in one branch of the military or another . Plus I got this wierd streak , has anyone else ever thought of a firearm as a work of art . I do mean any firearm cause I sure as hell can't afford to collect VanGoghs .

[PlayboyPenguin]

Mortech,
Firearms are very much about the art and the craftsmanship. If it wasn't they would all look the same. Asthetics and quality of build are what draw me to a firearm in the first place. Some of the ones I own spend much more time unloaded and in my hands being admired for their beauty and feel than they ever do on a firing range. I just spent nearly an hour cleaning and oiling my Birds Head Vaquero and loved every minute of it. :)

[Spiphel Rike]

"Midgar and Shinra are pretty good examples of what I fear the most for our world."

Even though there were weapon shops everywhere :p
That's pretty true though, that's the worst thing that could happen.

[rangerruck]

Krieg, I was in some great units in the military, and fired all types of guns. It was not until 10 years later, after i was out of the military, and got my first gun as a civilian, and went to a range, and saw all the different people there, some from different countries, that i began to FEEL deep down, not just get in my head, how important the 2nd amm is. there were people and boys and girls there who were learning how to shoot , to protect themselves in their homes or their businesses. There were women there from India and other countries, who if out in public with people they were with, back in their home countries, would probably be jailed or killed. here they were in a group with other 'terrible Americans" learning how to shoot firearms, maybe for their very first time ever. I have several different types of firearms, i enjoy all different types of shooting , whether it be 22 pistols, or some long range 308 shooting, or my eclectic range of 22 rifles.
truly only in America. As long as We demand it to be so.

[dzimmerm]

Someone trying to kick my front door in while I was away and my wife was at home alone caused me to start looking for a handgun for her.

I bought an inexpensive 9mm semi auto handgun for my wife to have while I was away at work.

I thought it would be a good idea to practice with said weapon.

I bought a second inexpensive 9mm semi auto handgun to practice with.
Then I bought an inexpensive mil surplus CZ52 to practice with.
Then I bought a yugo sks to practice with because a rifle is better in most situations than a handgun.
Then I bought a Makarov when my state finally legalized CCW.
Then I bought a .22 rifle because I could not practive with my Yugo indoors.
Then I bought a cheap, later found to be non working, .38 special revolver for my wife so she would not have to rack the slide to use a handgun.
I replaced the non working revolver with a new tauraus .38 special 5 shot revolver for my wife to use.

And that is where I am now.

I have always liked machines and have a lot of professional experience taking mechanical things apart and repairing them and putting them back together. I admire weapons as interesting machines.

I got started reloading after buying the Makarov and finding it was interesting to build ammo for it that was more what I wanted than what was for sale locally.

Thinks kinda snowballed after that first inexpensive 9mm semi auto handgun.

:)

dzimmerm

[U.S.SFC_RET]

I became politically aware shortly after voting for president Reagan, I became a budding rebublican.
There are elected officials who are perfectly willing to take away your rights to own a firearm period. The Clinton's former administration for one with that dame (Janet Reno) homosexual for an attourney general. Expect problems to come when the next democrat steps into office and starts clamping down on your individual rights to possess firearms.
If you want certain types of firearms buy them now because you are in between bans and the price will go up. Good time to invest.

[The Viking]

I can't really remember, but I know that I've been pro-gun for atleast five years now. Previously, I just thought they were cool, but restrictions were needed. :o It all went down the drains, piece by piece. Now I'm quite upset that its so damn hard to get a handgun legally here :fire:, atleast if I want to keep it. Bloody licenses are only valid for five years :fire: :cuss:
Now I'm thinking of ways to move to the US...

[beaucoup ammo]

What truely "sealed the deal" was the night my wife and I were mugged, and I had no means of protecting her or myself. Not all of us are 6-3 and 3rd degree black belts! I got my CHL (Texas) shortly thereafter and face the world with a more "confident" outlook.

I don't look for trouble, but I sure as hell don't fear it! :O)

Take Care

[Geno]

All of my uncles, most of my aunts hunted--well, at least the aunts bought licenses :rolleyes: . Everyone them them got a deer too. Yeah.

To our family, the Constitution was and remains what it always was--the right to bear arms, period. That includes the right to not bear arms of one so chooses, but for fact, it is a right of choice. Several attempted B&Es and an attempted abduction certainly set the belief of firearms ownership into a value-mode.

The final sickening deed, the "Pinko-Commie AWB". Now that was stupid! For the remainer of my years, and in order to be able to pass on to my daughter, I will own high-capacity firearms and magazines.

[MartianBuddy]

My interest in guns started when i was fairly young, i used a .22 that my friends dad owned. Video games such as counter-strike and movies like saving private ryan had a big infulence on me too. My fondest memory was firing an steyr AUG in the army (practically no recoil). My interest in actualy purchasing a firearm began when i talked to someone in class (yr 11) who loves guns as much as i do.

I'm hopeing to get a glock 17 when i'm 18. I wish the rules towards firearms weren't so harsh in Australia. meh, oh well

[doggscube]

My only firearms experience growing up was maybe 20 rds. of .22LR through a bolt-action rifle at Cub Scout camp. I shot at the wrong target so I didn't know how I did.

About 4 or 5 years ago, we inherited three firearms from my wife's grandfather's estate. Of course I went shooting with my brother-in-law and the revolver they inherited. That was the turning point. I bought a HD shotgun, then a 10/22, followed by various automatics and a revolver. We moved from the People's Republic of Maryland, I got my CHL, and now I'm reloading. I'm looking to get into hunting, but I could really use a mentor, as I don't know any hunters at this point.

Just yesterday I bought a Ruger Mark-? .22 pistol, because after years of shooting at a 25-ft. indoor range, I realized that my shooting mechanics need work. I've been putting too few through the paper at 25 yards with certain pistols.

-Jeff

[entropy]

I credit my father and Davy Crockett. My dad was a cop, used a gun at work, and Davy Crockett (the old Fess Parker movie) showed me why a man should have a gun and be ready to use it to defend his country. Developed a keen interest in hunting and fieldcraft from him, too.;)

[bumm]

I grew up around guns, and my dad collected guns, but never thought much about firearms laws or rights until after the assasination of President Kennedy. That was a horrible thing, but the gun laws that grew out of it got weirder and weirder as time went by. The first I recall was "Lee Harvey Oswald bought his gun through the mail! We can't allow THAT!" And on and on and on. American Society went through some rough times, and gun laws got tighter and tighter. None of it made any difference at all. In more recent years, I hear and read the emotional, totally illogical, rantings of the Brady Bunch, the VPC, the (usually) liberal politicians that want to pass anti 2nd amendment laws, and I get madder and madder. I've talked with friends who think that us shooters are a dying breed. I hope to God they're wrong... we HAVE to spread the word and fight the good fight!
Marty

[The Real Hawkeye]

It was back in the 1970s, when I got my first .22 rifle. Started becoming aware that there were people out there, mostly Democrats, who wanted to spoil my fun with laws making some of my favorite activities, and the tools for them, illegal for regular folks. That was my "call to arms." Joined the NRA then and there, and became politically active.