Did your parents buy you guns?

[ChopperKen]

My parents gave my brother and I each a 20 ga Stevens
Single shot for Christmas when we turned 12.
We kept them in our shared bedroom with ammo on the nightstand
Between our beds.
Now that I'm a adult (47)I buy my own.

 

[wannabeagunsmith]

Wannabe, where in WA do you live. Come spring there are berries, and bulbs, spinich seed weeding.....you are not quite old enough for peas, but if you have access to any agracultural areas there are summer (and some spring/fall/winter) work to be found for young folk in that area. There is always yard work in more urban, suburban areas....$10/hr their equipment, $20/hr your equipment. A lot of people would rather pay to have their yard work done than do it themselves.

Ag is one of the few areas the Unions have not put off limits for kids (through legislation) the Unions don't like cheap compitition and the unions are politically strong in WA.

There are other things you can do, like volunteer where you would like to be employed later, but you cannot be "paid" for the work...it is just a way to get your foot in the door. Probably the most visible of these kind of volunteers is the candy stripers at your local hospital, but that is not the only place...you say you want to be a gun smith...find a gun smith that will allow you to help, while you learn.

Hm, that is something to look in to....where I live (near spokane) there aren't really any big farms, but there is a couple of firearms retailers.

 

[AK_Maine_iac]

Yes
My first gun was a Savage over/under 22LR/.410. Was my birthday at the ripe old age of 5. That would have been back in 1956.

 

[jon86]

My parents did not buy me guns. They never owned any themselves. I waited until I was old enough to buy my first gun myself. They didn't have a problem with it being in the house, and it actually made them "feel safer." Since then my Dad has bought his own guns.

 

[postalnut25]

Nope. My parents don't even own a firearm.

However, I've made up for this with my kids because all five of them have at least one gun. Even my 3yo, with his little Crickett. Don't worry, though, since he is abnormally large it was easy for him to go shooting with it. I just had to help load the cartridge into the chamber.

 

[Uberti]

I was not allowed to have a BB or pellet gun until I was an adult. Dad had a point. They are thought of as toys instead of guns. A friend thought it was a travesty that I didn't own a pellet gun and gave me my first red rider for my 28'th birthday.

I did, however, have a breach loading single shot .22 at an age that would send the child welfare people into conniptions in modern times. I don't know if this could be considered mine though, dad just picked up a rifle for me to shoot. I don't know that I was actually "given" a firearm until I hit 15.

 

[Mike1234567]

Yes, my parents spoiled me rotten. I'm not going to work and you'd better darned-well give me what I want or this 50-year-old baby is gonna scream and stamp his little feet!!

 

[Dnaltrop]

Red Ryder BB gun as a "joke" gift the only one bought "for" me. 3 years ago. Yes Christmas, No, I didn't shoot my eye out.

I've gotten a few family antiques here and there, but nothing outside of hereditary trickle-down. ( or intended for heavy use)

 

[coolluke01]

My Dad bought me a ruger 10/22 when I was about 15. Greatest present ever. I still have it and I have shot 1000's of rounds through it. At 15 I was working along side him in our family business all summer. This was my "payment/birthday present".
I plan on giving guns to my boys when they are old enough. They aren't getting my 10/22 though for a while. They can have their own, this ones mine.

 

[moojpg2]

I got a Model 7 in 7mm-08 when I was in middle school, Winchester 1300 20g when I was in maybe 9th grade, both hunting intended. I've bought everything else, I've worked since I was 14. I've always had access to my dad's guns though if I want to use them or shoot them. I am also responsible for doing all of our reloading, although we share the expense. Even though I'm 23 now, my parents live close to our range and I keep everything there, we have a dry erase board on the safes. We just leave a note so we know who has what. We never really planned it that way its just worked out over the years.

 

[mljdeckard]

Dad bought me a F.I.E. Nylon 66 knockoff when I was in 7th or 8th grade. I bought him a Ruger Single-Six for father's day several years ago. When he died, it went to my sister. along the years he either gave me or I inherited a Remington 700 VSSF 22-250, a S&W (Howa) 1500 in .270, a Ruger 10/22, a 700 BDL 30-06, a Remington 760 in .257 Roberts, and a Ruger Mk I. From HIS father, I inherited a 1917 Enfield, an M-1 Carbine, a Colt Woodsman, and a Model 97 16 Ga.

With division between me and the other siblings, we have a rule. These guns NEVER leave the family.

 

[Strykervet]

8 yo I got an air rifle, a 10/22 and a shotgun. Not all at once, the air rifle was to prepare me for hunting and arms safety and the shotgun was actually first.

At 14 I bought all my own and I got an M11 (what junk, but hey it was the '80's) and a stainless Smith .38spcl. At 16 I got an SKS and another 10/22.

At 18 I was able to buy whatever I wanted and went haywire --I liked AK's then of course, this was before the day of the M4.

I couldn't imagine my mother, father or grandmother telling me no on that. This was all before the straw purchase stuff back when a parent buying a kid a weapon was a parent buying a kid a weapon. I think all that happened back then was that they signed --I actually paid for them from 14 on. This was also in the South and I didn't know a kid that didn't have some kind of firearm.

We used to look like a fire team coming out of the woods, all of us kids with our air rifles. MAN those were the days! Cops didn't mess with you unless you shot at their car or shot out windows or did something stupid.

Believe it or not, what your dad is doing is probably the right thing if he isn't willing to teach you or supervise. A 16yo with no firearms exp. is no different than an 8yo --or a 30yo, seen that too. So I agree with him and I don't at the same time, but that is because I was brought up that it was the duty of the parent to pass on the past, and in my case that was living off the land and pioneer skills.

I wouldn't trade those skills for all the money in the world.

For you, I recommend doing what he says, get the money somehow (I bought all mine at 14, my grandmother didn't, and I got that money throwing papers and mowing giant acre plus lawns --in 100+ degree heat for $20). Seemed like a good deal then! One friend bought a riding mower used and took over the whole neighborhood, he had a car in a year or so. I also detasseled corn in NE for cash too.

It isn't so easy today though.

 

[Strykervet]

Oh yeah, you should look around for storm damage to clean up. I remember going door to door DURING a blizzard to shovel snow in NE. Anything to make a buck. The people told me I was crazy, and I ended up crawling home using the curb to get back in a whiteout. Four feet of snow!

Money doesn't always come easy for a kid, you have to be very enterprising and do stuff others don't want to, menial jobs. Just ask around.

I bet if you cough up the cash and take that to your dad without him knowing he'll be impressed too.

 

[12gaugeTim]

In order of appearance, a Red Rider, single shot .410, Mossberg 500 20g, Henry lever .22, Parker Tornado, Benelli Ultralight, single shot Ithaca .22, Encore 50 bp, and just today, a .308 barrel for the Encore.
Hoping to grow it more until its unreasonable to type them all. My dad knows how much I enjoy it and looks to get guns as gifts often. So happy to not be living in an anti-gun household

 

[elrowe]

10/22 - great choice, carried mine in the squirrel woods yesterday. Hopefully your dad's plan is to pass it to you someday. Seriously, don't worry about it, he's taking care of the best part he can for you, spending time working with you to learn shooting safely. You don't need your own gun yet, but if you're not already, keep showing him more and more responsibility, take over cleaning it after you shoot with him, research accessories that you can install to learn some basic smithing skills and ask if you can buy them and put them on your shared gun (I'd start with an extended magazine release, they're only about twenty bucks, and are a huge improvement).

Be patient, he's making sure you're ready before he takes you to another step, and in the mean time, you've got a great hobby to share with him, that'll make memories for the rest of your life.

 

[Mike1234567]

Strykervet... You've got that right, buddy!!

 

[purpplehaze]

All sorts

 

[scout123]

I started shooting a BB gun when I was 6. My father handed down to me a Remington Nylon 66 when I was eight( which I still have iron sights on). The only other gun that was given to me was a Marlin .35. Things were real tight around the house when I was growing up. All of the other guns that I have I went out and worked for them. As a teenager it was getting lawn jobs and other various means to keep on hunting and shooting. My son and daughter have been shooting BB guns since they were four. We just got our son on a .22, he is nine now.

 

[2ifbyC]

I forgot. As previously stated, my Mother hated guns so my parents never purchased any for me. But my Uncle Sam gave me an M16 as a gift right after I completed my B.S. in college. I had to accept or I went to jail; I accepted.

 

[FROGO207]

A .22 single shot then a 12 GA single shot and a 30-30 all before I was 12. I was shooting in the summertime with both grandfathers when I was 4 and with my father that fall. Getting rid of red tree rats by myself at 6 with my .22 and I was off on many adventures after that.

 

[hey_poolboy]

My grandparents and parents bought me a 10/22 for my 9th birthday. That's the only firearm that I didn't have to work for and buy on my own. That doesn't make it any less special. That's probably the only gun I own that I would never let go.

There is something to be said for earning it yourself. You tend to put a little more thought into what you want when you're putting the money on the line.

 

[mulh222]

Hell yes, my parents bought me my first and I've bought everyone since for myself. In turn I bought my wife and three sons their first rifles and each one their first pistol. Along with these gifts I included the proper training and usage for each one. God bless us all.

 

[JohnM]

Yep. A BB gun about 1947, followed by a few others at various Christmases.
The last was a beautiful customized 03 Springfield my Dad presented to me after I got back from overseas and out of the service.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Only my first in 1968 when I was 12. A Stevens Model 34 bolt-action .22. Still have it and still love it.

 

[shooter_from_show-me]

Nope.