[sm]

I just buried another really close friend. Lot of funerals for me it seems of late. So its cold, wet and the rain is coming down pretty good, I'm standing there watching the casket being covered up with dirt.

"Why did you learn to shoot?"

I turn around and there is an old mutual friend of my buddy we just laid to rest. Startled I reply " I was raised that way". My buddy served in Korea, avid shooter , taught many to shoot, loved to fish, but more important he was one as a kid that helped me to learn to shoot, in particular the 1911. I recall being raised with certain values about self reliance, responsible for myself. We didn't have 911, we did keep guns handy and learned to use them. I was raised this way.

I remember being asked by my now deceased friend "Why do you want to learn to shoot ?" I probably mumbled whatever kids mumbled, or repeated what parents had said. Being a kid I most likely gave lip service because I didn't understand the depth and serious nature of it all. I just remember the Constituiton, Second Amendment, reponsible self reliant part. People were concerned about missles being aimed at us. I recall the Vets with limbs missing and in wheelchairs.

Learning to shoot is what a kid was taught. Learning to shoot is what we did.

Mutual Friend had been there in Korea and served in the Army Reserves with our friend laid to rest, had been there whilst as a kid I'd shot a Gov't 45.

Well six of us go out to some private property. We have a old Gov't 45 and we are going to shoot in honor of our friend laid to rest. I haven't seen this gun in almost 40 years. We take our turn firing rds as was requested we do In Rememberance. Why I learned to shoot is re-enforced.

You learned to shoot because...

[Dionysusigma]

... it started out as a day of fun in a friend's grandparent's field. We were blasting apart clays with a 30-30, a BB gun, and of course, shotguns. But it left me with more than just a memory of a friend's birthday.

I'm an Industrial/ Metal/ Goth fan, 19 years old, from Washington D. C. and work at a tobacco store. That's what most people I meet know me as. But like with any person, that's only the tip of the iceberg...

What many don't know is that I can prep, saddle, and ride a horse with the best of them; I've played piano since I was 4 years old;I have decent computer skills (enough to fix anything I've messed up on my computer); I can cook well; I know advanced math, physics, and chemistry rather well; I've written a movie and have another in the works; I can make any type of espresso drink known to man; and so on...

Why did I learn to shoot? Because. Because you never know when you're going to have to know how. And it's better to know and not need it to do it than to need to do it and not know how. That's why.

Plus it's so much fun :p

[hillbilly]

Because my mother taught me how to when I was about 8 years old.

Because she had learned to shoot at about the same age, and like to shoot nickles off the tops of fence posts with a BB gun.

hillbilly

[treeprof]

... it's a family tradition, borne out of a hunting tradition. Began w/BB and pellet guns and moved on from there. I migrated mostly into sport shooting and SD-related shooting, while my dad and brother still primarily shoot for the sake of hunting. My brother's oldest son has shot recreationally with me, and hunts w/his dad.

[mwithers72]

I learned because that was what we had to. I can not think of any other thing. We lived in the back woods ( my dad is a farmer) and we were just expected to learn to shot so we could protect livestock and get deer meat. I can remember that we would walk back to the burn pile ( when you live in the country you always had a burn pile in a clear spot of your land because you dont have a pickup service and the dropoff centers are too far away) to shot anything that might be there. (bottels, mice, etc). what found memories:D :D

[P95Carry]

My first intro to shooting was competition ... smallbore rifle. Watched it the once and just had to try ... so was taught the basics and that was the start of a lot of years of shooting of various types.

Culminating these days .. in my more ''twilight'' years in enjoying the sorta collection I could once only have dreamed of ..... and relishing every damn minute of it!:)

[Jick42]

I believe when i got my first pellet gun was when the addiction started. I would set up my army men along the tree limbs in the trees, and shoot them, acting out in my head if i missed, that was it for me. Sounds silly, but i think thats where it all began for me, and my concern with great accuracy. Ever since, i have just always been around and shot guns.

[Doug444]

May seem silly, but I think it was a combination of cowboy movies/shows and Johnny Quest. As a kid I watched those a lot, and it always seemed that the good guys needed guns to be safe and save others. My dad was a hunter, but died before he could do much teaching about real guns (I was only 10), and my mom wouldn't let me have a pellet gun until the neighbor boy (he was 5 years older) taught me the rudiments of "gun safety". Took Hunter Safety at 14 (New York law) and I wanted to be safe and ethical so I practiced when I could. I guess to sum it all up, it just seemed like the right thing to do.

[sm]

P95Carry has a sig line that is similar to what this old friend said back so many years ago.

I am NOT, a ''gun nut'' ..... I am a firearms owning, responsible and law abiding person, who chooses to enjoy a sport, and has also decided that my protection will be - MY - responsibility. No one else will or can do it for me.
Not meaning to embarass you Chris...but various ways of saying the same thing Is why I learned to shoot...

Thanks for letting me use it, and the replies so far I appreciate. I'm not surprised thus far.

Kinda sorta figured the lurkers and new people might be interested as well--even tho' we have discussed in the past, in various threads, well never know whom might need to see it for the first time.

[P95Carry]

No probs sm .. if anything I am honored you should choose to quote it..... certainly no ''embarrassment''!:)

I don't mind the ''gun nut'' label between friends in the shooting fraternity but do have a prob with the way the anti's use it . and thus the felt need for that part of the statement .. the rest? Well .. self explanatory!:)

[Black Snowman]

My Dad taught me to shoot in the loft of my Grandfathers barn with a S&W Airweight .22LR so I'd know. So I'd know how to be safe around the guns we had and to prepare me for hunting later.

Only went hunting once but I learned my lessons about responsability and safety and learned to enjoy shooting too. My good friend Kamicosmos brought me back into shooting after nearly being brainwashed in High School by the media and teachers.

[Dave Markowitz]

RON in PA (Dad) gave me a Daisy Model 99 BB gun on May 27, 1976 -- my 8th birthday. I was interested in shooting before that day because that's what Dad did, but my OBSESSION with guns dates to then.

I still have that Daisy, too. :)

[tetleyb]

because I joined the Marine Corps

[Mr Kablammo]

Because I apostized from a religion that kills apostates.

[a9mmfan]

Because I was told, If I wanted to eat, go kill something to eat, and to always remember to not kill anything that I did not want to eat!

[semf]

When I was very young maybe 8 or 9, while on a family visit to my father's parents farm in Ala., I was watching my father and his brothers and in-laws shoot when their kids started shooting with them I was allowed to shoot for the first time, being ecited I screwed every thing up, dropped the cylinder of the old H&R in the dirt, couldnt hit anything, and in general embarrassed myself and my father in front of all my farm raised cousins . The yelling and laughing didn't help much and I was dismissed rather quickly.
That same night my uncle sent my cousin in to get me so I could shoot a 410. My cousin came in, handed me the gun and told me to come outside, knowing nothing about guns I was thumbing the hammer trying to figure it out as we walked outside apparently my finger was on the trigger(how many rules is that) as we step out the door the gun went off almost taking out the phone lines. More yelling, laughing and embarrssment, and disappointed looks from Dad.
The next day everybody went to town. I didn't feel like tagging along for obvious reasons so I stayed home. An hour after they all left my grandfather came in and said for me to come out to the field he was going to show me how to do something. For the next 3 hours he patiently taught me how to shoot and have fun with it and explained to me that the only thing I did wrong the day before was to shoot with idiots and I should avoid that in the future.
This granfather was a mean, drunken, racist, that by all accounts did not likeanybody and couldn't stand children. I've heard many stories about him, None of them kind, and have a picture of him with Al Capone ( I even have the Wormser hat he was wearing in the photo). Thankfully my only memory is of a grandfather helping a humiliated boy regain some dignity.
I think of him alot when I shoot and especially when I teach my sons.
He taught me the basics and started an interest that will probably last my lifetime He also taught me to never shoot with idiots, the others taught me to hate "range gods"

[Standing Wolf]

I learned to shoot because it's so very hard to shoot well.

[goalie]

I learned to shoot because the Marine Corps thought it would be necessary to learn before I got to graduate from boot camp. I really, really wanted to get home for some leave.

[10-Ring]

I've been shooting since I was old enough to buy a handgun. I didn't learn to shoot properly until a few years after that. I hooked up w/ a bunch of guys that played shooting games for money & I got tired of always owing money at the end of the night :rolleyes:

[Powderman]

Ever done something that just kinda imprints itself on your consciousness? I mean, something that, as soon as you do it for the first time, you know you were born to do?

That's me, with firearms.

By all rights, I should almost NEVER have come into contact with guns. My mother was a staunch Democrat, and my father didn't mention much. I grew up in the geographical center of the City of Chicago. As a teenager, my mother arranged for me to join the Operation PUSH choir :barf:

Yes, it was THAT far to the left.

But, I got ahead of myself. One night, off the porch of our old apartment building, my father let me wrap my hands around the stocks of a .32 Hand Ejector, and then let me pull the trigger. At the flash, and the crack of the revolver, I was hooked. For life.

Next, I procured from somewhere (don't quite remember how) an old Manual of Arms. This manual had the inner workings of the Garand, M1 Carbine, the BAR, cal. 30 machinegun, and the 1911A1. I found another manual too, with the M79 and some experimental rifle called the XM177E1.
:D

Little did I know how that manual was going to shape my life. I excelled in ROTC because I studied D & C from that manual. I yearned, I hoped, and the pictures in that manual--and the love for firearms that I developed--led me to join the Army in 1977.

Why do I shoot? Because I like to. Because it is my right. Because I can!

[rayjay]

I learned to shoot at an early age because my father was an avid shooter and hunter as was his father before him. My father thankfully passed that tradition to me and my older brother. My brother and I were so competitive when it came to hunting and shooting that one would not rest until he could "top" the other one. It was NOT healthy by no means.......but it was FUN!! Who could shoot the biggest deer, who's Elk weighed more, who could shoot coyotes from the furtherest distance. Which I still hold the record for, sorry brother, 525 yds(give or take) with a Win. .270 w/ a Bausch & Lomb 6-14x target scope. To this day we still argue and tease each other about hunting and shooting.
So why did I learn to shoot? To make my brother look foolish of course!

Hey Bro :neener:

[Alexey931]

I learned to shoot by accident. In the Soviet Union the shooting sport existed only in the ISSF style and in the professional mode, with the sole purpose of bringing home Olympic medals. So they picked up a reasonable number of teenagers basically in the streets (I happened to be one of them), and coached them on a professional footing from the very beginning. The system worked beautifully, as far as Olympic medals were concerned. The only embarrasement, should the shooting sport get scrapped from the Olympic schedule, there is going to be no shooting sport in Russia any more :(. The Olympic style shooting seems to be a dry and academic thing, but it is still addictive. It deals with bedrock skills like stability, trigger control, self control and self insight. Far cry from hunting or self defense, but still a cutie.

[ACP230]

My grandfather on my mom's side stayed with us quite often when I was a kid. I used to sit on the couch and watch TV Westerns with him for hours.
Without that, I might not have become a shooter as soon as I did. Because of grandpa and those shows I fired my first shot at the age of six, got an air rifle at 12, and more guns as soon as I could.

My dad hunted deer and I remember watching him sight-in his deer rifle once, but I think grandpa was really more of an influence.

[Smoke]

It was just the natural thing to do.

I grew up on my family ranch with a GrandDad and Dad that were pretty avid bird hunters. (GrandDad especially) Guns were always around and used when needed.

It was just part of growing up that you learned how to shoot.

Smoke.

[Ed]

Because I grew up in the south, and thats what boys learned to do. BB guns at 6. Pellet gun at 8, 16 guage at 9..... My Dad grew up on a farm hunting and my Mom didn't. So he had guns and taught my brother and I to shoot. Every summer when we went to my Grandparents house in Ky, we would shoot in their backyard. My mom never saw use for pistols or toy machine guns, so we were denied those as much as she could, which wasn't a lot. So I had kinda a strange situation, a Dad saying guns were ok and a Mom saying they weren't. I think this is the perfect combination for a Gun-Happy adult:D I think its kinda funny now that I am 29 so not really old, and we lived in a neighborhood, but I still walked down the street at 12 years old with a shotgun to hunt in the woods behind the neighborhood and the only thing people would say is "have any luck?" Times change fast.:(

[ny32182]

Ever done something that just kinda imprints itself on your consciousness? I mean, something that, as soon as you do it for the first time, you know you were born to do?

That's me, with firearms.

By all rights, I should almost NEVER have come into contact with guns. My mother was a staunch Democrat, and my father didn't mention much. I grew up in the geographical center of the City of Chicago. As a teenager, my mother arranged for me to join the Operation PUSH choir

Yes, it was THAT far to the left.

But, I got ahead of myself. One night, off the porch of our old apartment building, my father let me wrap my hands around the stocks of a .32 Hand Ejector, and then let me pull the trigger. At the flash, and the crack of the revolver, I was hooked. For life.

Next, I procured from somewhere (don't quite remember how) an old Manual of Arms. This manual had the inner workings of the Garand, M1 Carbine, the BAR, cal. 30 machinegun, and the 1911A1. I found another manual too, with the M79 and some experimental rifle called the XM177E1.


Little did I know how that manual was going to shape my life. I excelled in ROTC because I studied D & C from that manual. I yearned, I hoped, and the pictures in that manual--and the love for firearms that I developed--led me to join the Army in 1977.

Why do I shoot? Because I like to. Because it is my right. Because I can!


This is basically my story as well, except for the joining the military and growing up right in the middle of a city parts, lol...

My mother is a 98% anti-gun liberal democrat, and has always been over protective of myself and my brother... even today, now that I haven't lived with my parents since turning 18 years old, and back before that it was pretty bad. My brother is turning 18 in December, and I feel his pain, ha.. Anyhow, my father isn't like that, and comes from a much more conservative family than my mother, but he doesn't see a neccessity to voice his opinion, and pretty much just goes with the flow. He owns two rifles, a .22LR and a 30/30 lever action, but hasn't fired them in years. I wish I could say I was taught by long family tradition like most of you, but such is just not the case; I think I've probably only been shooting with my father a couple times in my life.

As to how my interest in guns developed, I have no idea. I can remember wanting (back then, very real looking) toy guns more than anything else from the time I was old enough to retain memories, so I guess it was just always there. Of course, my mother never allowed my desires for toy guns to be satisfied. Later, I acquired pellet guns and played tournament paintball in secret as a teenager. The only formal firearms class I've ever had was my CCW class. Everything I know was either completely self taught or learned from computerized resources such as this place, and I have to say that I think I'm doing pretty good considering I mentored myself. :D

For a while after moving out, I had the freedom but not the means to get into firearms. Now that I have both, my collection of gear has grown at an acceptable rate :) but is still sorely lacking compared to most of you, judging from the "how many calibers do you own" thread. But don't worry, my 4th caliber is on order as we speak. :)

I'm going home to visit my parents for Thanksgiving later on today, and I'm gonna take a couple AR-15's with me for my brother to look at.. might even take him shooting. I'll probably be just as excited about it as him, since .22LR is the only gun he's ever fired. Should be fun.

[Jonesy9]

I learned to shoot for something to do with my dad who was an avid shooter and competitor in his early days, never fired anything but 22's in Boy Scouts till I tried to get him back into it when I was around 25 (about the time I grew up and started to realize how much he meant to me).

We had a good time but his dimished eyesight and shaky hands got him down a bit.

So we bought a 21' walk around boat for ocean fishing together and have a great time together and can't wait till my son is old enough to come out with us.


I'm still shooting though and I'll shoot with my son before my eyesight goes :)

[Newt]

Because, like Ed, I grew up in the south. I have many memories when I was a child shooting/hunting with my dad, but can't seem to recall which memory came first, possibly because I was around guns from the time I was born and it was just always a part of my life.

Newt

[Skunkabilly]

College freshman; needed a new hobby.

Didn't pick up till after I turned 21 though.

[Dave R]

Because my Dad thought it was something every young boy needed to know.

[JohnBT]

Because...

You know kids, once they can walk pretty well they want to get into everything, see what everybody else is doing and master the useful skills of daily living.

I guess I could have stayed on the porch with my grandmother and helped her churn butter and snap beans and such.

A better question would be why I wanted to learn to drive a tractor and a truck. That led to work as soon as I could see around the wheel.

John

[MrAcheson]

Because skeet shooting is the most fun I have ever had, because guns are cool, and because specialization is for insects.

[Mornard]

We lived on a farm, we all got BBguns when we were 8 or 10. Graduated to a pellet rifle at 12, .22 at 14 -- way back in the days when my 16 yr old brother and I walked into the local Rummage Barn, and bought it ourselves!

[Bob Locke]

... everyone else in my family (dad, grandad, cousins, uncles, you name it) did, and I wasn't about to be left out (or be made fun of because of poor ability)!

I still recall an incident with my grandmother one morning when I was about 6 or 7. I went to the chicken coop to get some eggs one morning, and there was a snake inside with three or four eggs in him. I about crapped my pants and went running to the house. She calmed me down, went and got a little .22 revolver from her dresser drawer, gave it to me, and told me to deal with it. I dragged the bugger out with a rake and shot him right in the head. Felt about 10 feet tall, too! And not because I had killed the snake (well, not totally anyway), but because my grandmother trusted me enough to know that I was competent with that firearm.

Sometimes recalling that memory saddens me, because there are places in this country today where she would almost certainly go to jail for doing that. :fire:

[Gewehr98]

Paying a mortgage on a big 2-story house, 5 acre former farm, and between them they held down 2 full-time and 3 part-time jobs. But the garden provided the veggies and fruit, while Dad & I, and later my kid sister, provided the bluegills, and kept the freezer full of cottontail, venison, pheasant, duck, and goose. That worked well because my folks enrolled my scrawny little butt into the Junior Rifle Club - my sister joined 4 years later. I still have the trophies, and the Remington 521T, sort of - I gave it to my wife last year for Christmas. If we ever succeed in having a little sprout of our own, the legacy will continue, that's a guarantee. ;)

[WvaBill]

It is what is done.
There is not a reason.
Like saying Sir and Maam.

Why do we continue to shoot?

For the reasons some choose to drive fast, engage in EXtreme sports. I don't mention defensive reasons because, IME, this is the result of the mindset shooting provides me. Shooting is the ends. The ability to be responsible for self is an advantage that comes from knowing how to shoot. I would not begin shooting to learn to defend myself. I have yet to be touched by violent crime, even remotely.

Happy Thanksgiving:D

[duckfoot]

Because I was hungry!

[Freedspeak]

My brother an I both learned early, it was a bit of family tradition (folks since the 1600's in Pa. (still have some of the B.P. stuff)), and dad was a small arms instructor in WWII. We were both good skeet shooters by 13, plus varmint, and local small and big game hunting at an early age (under 10).

[Dr.Rob]

Grew up doing it, Was shooting a bb-gun at age 5, 22's soon thereafter. Family tradition? We didn't go camping without burning a couple bricks of 22's. i didn't get 'serious' about guns/shooting/etc until I started hunting. I didn't get "serious" about defensive shooting/competition until I started thinking about getting a CCW. I made a decision to learn to shoot better. Every time.

Why SHOULD you learn to shoot?

Because someday you might have to. Because its fun. Because you are a citizen. Because someone doesn't want you to. Because you might be better at it than me.

[Ol' Badger]

I never realy had any interest in firearms as a child. Then I got beating and put in the Hospital when I was 12 by two men who thought it would be fun to beat a kid!

From that point on I started carrying a knife(Buck 110) and went on from there to handguns and then was shown the best outdoor activity in the world HUNT'N!!!!

Know I'm never without a blade and always within easy reach of a handgun in my Poke Bag.

Never Agian.

[WvaBill]

From that poit on I started carrying a knife(Buck 110)

Badger,
I'm still carryin the 110 I started cayyin when in 1975. I carried that knife in school:eek:
Went to MI for college and couldn't carry:fire:
Proudly carry it on weak side again.:D
Prolly technical violation, but no one has said anything. :cool:

[Ol' Badger]

I still take mine Hunt'n with me every season. I started in 1982. But not tactical enuff for today. My Father still carries his that he bought at the PX in Da Nang and its still going strong.

[4v50 Gary]

Sport. Pure, simple fun.

[Double Maduro]

I learned to shoot because it put food on the table.

I learned to shoot for fun because I had friends who were into varmints and targets.

I learned to shoot for protection, of myself-my loved ones and my country, because it was my job.

DM

[MountainPeak]

It was what we did. I'm 52, grew up in a farming/ranching community in ND. We shot for food. We shot for money(fur). We shot to protect our food/income(varmints). We shot for fun. We shot because we could, and because of that, weren't likely to be preyed on!

[Vasilia Zhietzev]

"Why did you learn to shoot?"

...One day I found myself in a place where I realized I had no defenses. I damn near died from lack of them. I did everything possible in my physical power to stop what was happening, yet I could'nt. And I'm no dainty piece, all lily buds and tinkling crystal...I'm as big as most men. I cannot tell of the feeling of awareness that the pain won't stop just because you're defeated & are on the ground. Maybe some you guys that are soldiers whom has seen battle would understand that. It did make me want to live, though. It also taught me something about the nature of humans.

Years later, I asked a co-worker whom was ex-military about firearms & shooting. After some conversations, I realized maybe just a martial art was not enough, though it got me out the bad habit of behaving like a victim. So I asked to be taught.

The wounds & anguish are long gone, but I shoot often & enjoy it as sport; it's not just 'self defense', 'just in case', or 'empowerment'. It's actually fun to me & has influenced my lifestyle in a positive direction.

[Orthonym]

1. If one pretends to be a citizen, and is registered to vote, he'd better be able to back it up.

2. Better late than never.

[geeman]

I learned to shoot for the same reason my mother-in-law learned to play piano.

1. I had the time.
2. I grew up with it.
3. I enjoy it.
4. I took lessons.
5. I'm good at it.
6. It serves a purpose.

"But you are not a policeman."

"Nor are you a professional musician."

Garry

[michiganfan]

I'm a lawyer, about 20 years ago the fellow who served all my process for me who was a deputy sheriff took me to the pistol range. It was a lot of fun. So I got a pistol. Went two three times a year. What was the point of going more often because in Michigan at the time it was a may issue state. When it became a shall issue state I got a permit and I go to the range two three times a month. I'm not bragging but I've become pretty good to about 25 yards out.
It is good feeling knowing you have the capability to protect you and your loved ones if push came to shove. You know at least if you are confronted by someone who has a weapon, at least that person won't be the only one who brought a date to the dance.

[T.Stahl]

...when I left secondary school at age 19 I was drafted and joined the army. Papa Staat gave me a G3 and told me I shoot learn to shoot with it (he also told me I should learn how to maintain and repair vehicles) to defend our country and the rights and freedoms of our people against the evil red hordes (well, it was '91 and they were already transitioning from Red Land to Green Land as the name of the imaginary enemy). If they only knew which seed they sowed. ;)

[Sven]

...dad would let us plink tin-cans, and it was a rush to hear the bang and see the effects on the tin cans we shot in the gravel pit up at the cabin. Later, shooting took on much more depth for me, but it all started there.

[olyAR73]

"We didn't have 911, we did keep guns handy and learned to use them. I was raised this way."

Nor did we per se. I grew up on my grandparents ranch which was 20 miles out of town and another 5 miles down a gravel road. Even if you called the Sheriffs Dept. it could take them 1 to 2 hours to get out there. I remember keeping a 410. for the occaisonal grouse, and an old 30. carbine for the coyotes and wild dogs on the tractor and later on the seat of the old farm truck.

The property was surround by BLM land and there was alot of pot growers around S. Oregon in those days, and I suspect there still is. They pretty much kept to themselves but you never knew when you were gonna run into a crazy. So gramps always made me lug a 30-30 or the 30. carbine whenever I ventured into the hills.

Ah those were the days...

[walking arsenal]

i learned to shoot handguns because i grew up in a town south of a large indian reservation and because of that we have a heavy drug traffic through the town. Not wanting to be an easy target for the gangers i picked up a gun when i turned 18 (the legal carry age then) and began to learn the trade. i still carry every day and am still learning.


i learned to shoot rifle at age 7, a .22 rifle, and became the fear of the local varmit population. shotgun came later.

[Phyphor]

....to learn a respect for guns.......

to learn how to use them just in case there ever came a time that I might need to...

[tcsd1236]

I had plinked a bit as a kid, but didn't do anything more than that until hired by TCSD.So excluding the childhood plinking, I guess you could say that it was a job requirement.

[standingbear]

the pigeons in the barn were crapping all over dads convertable- my father bought me a bb gun and taught me to use it and learn responsability at the same time.got an marlin lever 22 shortly thereafter to go on family squirrel hunts.been hooked ever since.i still have and enjoy that ol 22.

[Kim]

My Dad gave me my first firearm at the age of 18. This before Clinton decided those from 18 to 21 ded not need handguns for self-defense. It was a S&W 38 special snub nose. He knew I would be driving 25 miles to and from college and probably staying away from home. So he made sure his daughter could protect herself. I even kept in in the dorm room at college. At times, especially when I went to the big city to Medical School I carried it in my purse at nightime and early morning hours when walking from the hospital to the dorm. Never had to use it but there was 2 times when I though I might have too. I'm really mad that my 18 year old neice can not carry. I wonder if someone could bring a lawsuit challenging the age restriction. She is not happy. She is at college and works late at night at a Pizza Joint and I worry about her. She asked me about getting her conceled permit and I had to tell her the government just did not trust her to carry. She is not happy about it.

[Baba Louie]

...it was what the men of my family did, and still do.

Dad and all my uncles were trained in the military, 2 of my uncles were lifers in the Corps (1 stayed 20 yrs, the other 30) and served in SEA, 2 of my uncles served in WWII, 2 in Korea, another 2 were Police Officers...

Whenever they all got together either as a group or just as brothers (or BIL) they always had something (usually rifles) to haul out to one of my uncles farm or to the quarry.

My Uncle Jesse came home from the Pacific and gave his kid brother an Arisaka... its now mine. My Uncle Howard came home from Europe and gave his wifes kid brother a Luger, the first handgun I ever shot. Dad still has that one. I can wait for that one.

Dad was a machinist mate (the only Navy man) who tinkered with fixin all his brothers guns, he eventually became a pretty competant smith.

I can't imagine not shooting. Or introducing others to the sport. Other than my sisters, everyone I know who tried it, loved it.

I learned a lot of World/American history from firearms because of my Dad.

I blame him.

Thanks Dad. :)

I've got a cousin in the Missouri State Troopers. His shooting skill has saved his life. With me its just fun. And Responsibility. And History.

Adios