Do you come from a non-gun family?

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Not really any gun people in my family. My father had a shotgun and we would dove hunt maybe one day a year. One grandfather had a .30-.30 and would shoot a deer every few years, or a coyote if they were messing with the cattle. I had a Benjamin pellet gun early on, and eventually a little Winchester gallery gun .22.

There wasn't really any interest in guns beyond their immediate utility value just like any other tool on a farm.

An assistant principal at my high school opened a sporting clay range one summer and I went to work there hauling shooters and throwing clays. The range hosted IPSC matches on the weekend and I'd watch those guys and I was hooked completely. Never got a paycheck, I traded my labor for use of a shotgun, 12 gauge shells, and a few rounds of clays a week. Started borrowing handguns to shoot IPSC and a friend of the family took pity on me and sold me a used Delta Elite super cheap. Other kind souls donated to me, a single stage press here, some used reloading dies there, box of primers for mowing the yard, and next thing I know I'm in a full house race gun with Ernie Hill Speed Leather lol.
 
Not anti but neither enjoyed hunting or shooting. I was fortunate to have cousins and friends of the family to take me hunting and shooting and my parents supported my interest and love to cook wild game.
 
My Dad hunted as a young man but when my parents moved due to his job in the late '50s that went away. My mom actually carried (Titan .25) for the last 20 years of her life due to an incident that shall remain untold. I was given BB and pellet guns for Christmas when I was a kid so I'd have to say both parents were pro-gun but Dad wasn't active.

After my mom passed away Dad bought a Taurus revolver for home defense which I didn't know about.

I don't know what started it but a few years ago over a casual breakfast meet Dad started pushing the idea of me owning a SD firearm. I was very interested but up to that time hadn't given gun ownership much thought. Always thought it would be neat to own some but didn't want to spend the money plus I know how I am about hobbies.:D He kept dragging me to gun stores just to browse and on my birthday that year I was given my first semi-auto pistol along with a lot of encouragement to take classes and to learn shooting and above all safety from a pro.

So, I blame my Dad. :D

Dad turned 80 this year but moves, thinks and acts like a 40 YO. Over the last year, during our breakfast discussions (we meet regularly at least 3 days a week at Denny's) Dad always brings up old Western movies and TV shows. He loved them when he was younger and his big fascination is lever action long guns. Guess what Pop's getting for Christmas this year?:)
 
Grew up with parents who were not gun owners. As far as I can tell they don't care if others do, they don't seem to have any political opinions about them either. My grandfather, however, used to go shoot an old Winchester .22 out in the country side when he was a kid and owned several .22 firearms and an old browning auto 5, but I never knew of any of this until a few years back when he finally realized he was too old to do anything with them and started handing them out to the kids. My parents and ex-wife (who is on the verge of being anti-gun) were really uncomfortable with me having them so I just kept them at my brothers house until I wanted to use them. I had always had a passing interest in shooting growing up, but because of how I was raised it always just seemed like one of those things that other people did. Now I'm divorced and moving in with my GF who's a LEO and has friends and family deeply involved in the sport and some are very well trained. I am in possession of my .22s and also have the first handgun I've ever had/purchased. I'm adamant about training and try to spend as much time as possible at the range. I enjoy the hell out of it and don't see what the big fuss is against them. Can't wait to take my son out shooting when he gets old enough.
 
My uncle had guns (they're mine now) but he didn't talk much about them when I was younger. My mother and aunt we're both sort of anti-gun. I seem to be changing my mother, though. :D
 
My dad was a Gunner's Mate during WWII and was responsible for an anti-aircraft gun on his ship. I remember his talking about how he had to be able to disassemble and reassemble it blindfolded under a certain time limit. However, he never owned a firearm or hunted that I ever knew of. That always seemed unusual to me. Neither my dad or mom was against guns. They just never had any around.

I had a BB gun when I was a kid and loved getting better with it. I think that was the beginning of my interest in guns. I had cousins in the rural northern part of the state that we used to visit every summer, and they had .22 rifles. I remember buying a couple boxes of .22LR and cajoling them to shoot each time we'd visit, but they didn't have much interest in it.

I began getting a desire for a handgun in my early 20s and my now ex-wife bought me my first handgun one Christmas, and that began it all for me. It was an inexpensive Iver Johnson .22 that key-holed like crazy (but the thought was great), and I soon bought my first good handgun, a High Standard Supermatic Citation .22. When I got the first centerfire, I began handloading and have been ever since. I taught myself to shoot and handload because no one I knew did either.

I've offered to teach my wife and kids to shoot, but none of them have had much interest up to now. However, my youngest adult daughter has now expressed a desire to try it out and I think she'll be a good shooter. I'd like to pass the knowledge and skills I've acquired on to the next generation. We can't afford to have the love of firearms die out.
 
My grandfather, my Dad's dad, was a WW2 vet and a supernumerary (part-time) police officer for many years. He owned several long guns and hunted from time to time. He passed away when I was 16 yrs old and my Dad inherited his rifles.

My Dad is now a retired elementary school teacher and is probably best described as gun neutral. My Mom can't stand guns. So we had my grandfather's rifles, and one my Dad bought, hidden in the attic forever, gathering dust. I knew they were in the home as a teenager, just not where they were located.

My Dad had some friends (fellow teachers) that were into shooting and he did take me with them a few times in my late teens, but not frequently. But I got the itch.

As I grew up, I bought my first handgun (a 9mm Glock 19) just after turning 21 and kept it hidden at home in my parents' house. I bought 2 more handguns (a 9mm S&W 6906 and a .380 Beretta M85) and an AR-15 (a Colt Sporter Match H-BAR) that same year. Mom and Dad eventually found out, but didn't freak out.

I took all of my guns with me when I enlisted in the Army. I served just over 9 years between both Active Duty (6+ yrs) and the Army National Guard (3+ yrs). I learned to be really proficient with and enjoy firearms. When I got out, I became a police officer and have been in LE for the last 15 years. Guess I followed in my grandfather's footsteps...

Still, I'm the oldest of 4 boys and I'm the only real 'gun nut' in the family. My Dad gave me all of his guns, and those of my grandfather, a few years back. I don't believe that any of my brothers or my Dad now own any firearms. That leaves just me...

I will teach my daughter (5 1/2) and son (2 1/2) to shoot and safely handle firearms when they're a little older. I've taken my wife to the range a few times so that she's familiar with firearms, since I do have a bunch in the house. Although she's not really into it, she does acknowledge the necessity for me to have them at home.
 
My family never owned guns but are not anti-gun. My dad said that after I got into shooting that he wishes he had never sold his guns. He bought me my first pistol as a 23rd birthday gift. (model 19 S&W)
 
I absolutely did. My dad was in the Army, but I grew up not seeing a gun or knowing about guns whatsoever. I wasn't even allowed to have a BB gun when I was a kid. Nothing for defense, and he didn't hunt, so it never crossed my mind.

It wasn't until I got into the world of law enforcement right around 21 that I introduced myself to guns. Now my dad has a pistol in the house (two, actually) and both my sisters are married to guys who are into guns. We've become a gun family over the years, even though we never even saw one growing up.
 
When I was living at home nobody in the family was allowed to touch guns or ride motorcycles. Fun huh? We were allowed to have BB and pellet guns as long as we didn't shoot any windows out or anything like that.

I think my sister was the first one in our family to have a gun. Now a few of my brothers have guns too so we're making progress. I tell them it's a good investment to have many guns and lots of ammo.
 
No guns!!!

Both my parents were hippies and protested the vietnam war and wouldn't even let me have a squirt gun. So, at 17 I joined and spent over twenty years in the Marine Corps and have owned guns ever since.
 
My dad wouldn't know what to do with a gun if you handed him one with an instructional video. My grandfather has a few but I think I've shot with him once. My interest in the outdoors came from a father of a buddy I grew up with. He would take us out fishing and shooting regularly. I actually included him in a speech I made at my wedding thankng him for introducing me to the outdoors. It is truly one of the best gift I've ever received.
 
The response to this thread shows that it is not at all unusual for someone to grow up in a non-gun or even anti-gun household and end up being a gun owner or enthusiast. Growing up in NYC guns were not a part of my familiy's life, although my Dad had a few guns around (but hardly ever shot them). After he died my Mom sold his guns without even giving me a chance to ask for them or to buy them from her. Most of my blood relatives are still in the NY area and share the same irrational dislike/fear of firearms; I am the "crazy" uncle who served 24 years in the Army and owns and likes guns. What surprises me is that all four of my grown kids, despite being exposed to guns and shooting with me when they were young now range from being mildly gun averse (my two daughters; based upon having young children in the house) to anti-gun (my two sons, one of whom is an LEO!). My wife is passionate in her dislike and fear of guns. We have been married for longer than ever and for all of these years I would ask her if she would please take a gun with her when making a long, solo car trip (something she would do a few times a year to visit her sisters across the country). She would refuse every time and ask why do I keep asking after over 40 years of her refusals? I would state that should anything ever happen to her where a gun could have made the difference, at least I would know that I tried. But at least she doesn't give me a hard time about shooting, owning guns, or taking one with us when we go on a vacation. I only clean my guns when she is not home; she can't tolerate the smell of Hopp's #9.
 
Yes and no. My mom is affraid of guns, weather she will admit it or not. My dad was drafted into the army as a young man and shot expertly with the M14. However, he did not grow up hunting, so all guns were to him were an instument to end human life. I grew up in a city, and had little to no exposure to guns as a result. I think my parents just didn't want any of us kids to develope an interest, since there were a few .22 rifles jammed in the rafters of the basement.

Then I turned 25 and moved to the middle of nowhere. Here guns are just a part of life due to a lack of law enforcement and dangerous animals populations. I realized I had to protect myself, because no one would do it for me.

Then when I was 26 my freinds took me shooting. They put a .300 short mag up against my shoulder and said "Go ahead. Just don't let the scope kiss you." I had no idea what that meant at the time. :D Then they handed me a .44 mag with full power loads in it.

I was hooked that day forever. Two years after that I owned an AR15 (sold that) and a .357 magnum, and now........ well lets just say I've added a few more.

About two years ago I took my dad handgun shooting. He watches the news and reads the news paper every day. He realizes what a scary world we live in, especially for city dwellers like my parents. I took him out a few more times, and two weeks ago I sold him his first handgun. I doubt he will make collecting a hobby, but he takes shooting seriously, and want's to become proficient for home defense. My mom is ok with it, in fact she encourages it, but she is still affraid to use a gun herself. I'm still working on this.

It took two years of relaying "armed citizen" stories to them, showing them that guns are fun, as well as useful, and that guns are a great investment, but I converted them from gun fearers to gun users. A success to be sure.
 
I was raised in NYC. My dad was indifferent but my mom was totally against guns. I couldn't even have a bb gun when I was a kid. I did have a long bow though so I got into shooting that early on. I had a few friends that were into hunting upstate so I got into it that way. When I hit 18, I bought a Marlin 336 in .35 Rem. A couple years later I got an 870 Express combo, possibly the first or second year they came out. I just shot that same 870 yesterday to be sure I was dialed in for shotgun season that's coming up here quick. I don't have a large collection, but I do have a few guns, both long and short.
 
I come from an ANTI-gun immediate family, at least as far as my mother goes. She wouldn't allow my father to have any guns.

I started buying guns in college, starting with a mail order Commission 88.

My mother somewhat changed her mind when somebody hit her upside the head and robbed her. Of course she lived in Chicago, so she was SOL for defending herself, regardless of her opinions. She lives in the suburbs now, and could own a handgun in her home if she wanted to, but is still SOL outside of her home.

When I got my Ohio CHL, she told me she didn't want me to carry. I asked her if she was volunteering to move to Ohio and be my personal bodyguard. She declined and hasn't criticized my choice to be able to defend myself since.
 
My immediate family was not anti-gun, they just had no interest in owning any. On my mother's side, several of my uncles and cousins hunted and on my father's side one of my uncles is a survivalist/prepper-type.

I was the first person in my immediate family to own firearms, but I am happy to say that my father now owns a couple (the first, I gave him after he got his carry permit.) My brother and sister have also shown an interest in guns.

In my opinion, a big barrier to folks who would otherwise be gun owners is that they really need someone to personally introduce them to the "gun culture" and walk them through all the BS and misinformation.
 
Interesting. Almost 100% with no family history of gun interest. Me too.

My Dad had a shotgun that my Mom gave him for hunting but he only went once. They had a 32 in their dresser that my Uncle gave them for home defense.

I got BB and pellet guns as a child. As far back as I can remember I always knew guns were good and I liked them, both for sport and defense. Even watching antigun media propaganda as a child I didn't develop any aversion to gun ownership, it only fueled my general interest. I'm sure a liberal shrink could find something dark in that. Oh well.

I think an interest in guns may someday be linked to some type of genetic marker. What's really curious is how so many people remain in the median, not against guns, understanding their utility, but never owning one.

My in-laws are sorta like that. No guns in the house, no problem with me and their daughter carrying. Once my Mom-in-law said that they didn't have guns because they (she) were afraid there would be a domestic violence shooting. My Dad-in-law passed up on an LEO job because she wasn't comfortable with him bringing a gun home.

I hate it when an anti projects their fears onto me, but I have to respect her somewhat illogical fear that she would go to the gun if it were there. FWIW I've never known them to have physical violence but they do have heated verbal fights when no one is around.

I guess some people just think the availablility of a gun is dangerous because it is too easy to use it in the heat of the moment, and they realize that they might not have the control to stop it. I don't understand it, but it is what it is.
 
My Dad was in the Navy, never into guns. He and my Mom were both Hippies, protested the War after he got home from the Navy in 1963. I remember them, and I, being arrested at a protest march when I was little.

My wife's family had a murder/suicide with a handgun in the late 60's, they were/are anti-gun. When we got married, she knew where I stood on it and, to her credit, she has not interfered with me training our kids and taking them to the field/range.

I was introduced by a friend in College, he is directly responsible for both my time, and money, that has gone 'up in smoke'
 
My dad was raised in a monastery in Indonesia until he was taken prisoner by the japanese Kampeitai during WWII. (A story all it's own.) Other than a stretch in New Guinea in the dutch army (where he was issued a Sten for when he drove a truck) he's never fired a gun.
So no interest at all from my dad's side.

Mom grew up around guns. She had her own .22 rifle and hunted squirrels after school. Her father and 4 brothers were all hunters and general gun enthusiasts with an eye toward what was functional for their hunting. When she grew up, she lost all interest...BUT...she spoiled me with just about all the toy guns I could ever want. Not only that, but she spotted COOLER ones than I ever saw myself. A lot of Christmasses, I'd think to myself, "I didn't even know anybody MADE those!"

As far as the real stuff when I was a kid, not even a BB gun. No projectile-firing (beyond little yellow rubber bead-like things from Pariss) anything at all.

About a month ago, my wife and I took Mom to the range where she fired her first rifle in 53 years. Loved it. Has her targets on the wall at their house.
 
My father was born in 1920 in Germany and drafted in time to be an elite soldier making it to Smolensk. He had a strong dislike for guns and only saw them as distructive devices.

He never owned a gun privately and I kept guns out of his sight out of respect for his opinion.

This is my Dad, he never had a chance to vote until well after the war and fought someone's elses war.

Winterfeldzug.jpg

That is an anti air gun - before he put a handgrenade to it. Would make a good centerpiece in my collection.:D
RussischesVierlingsMG.jpg

His father, my grandpa, is a different story. He volunteered in time to make it to Verdun. Saw a little action in WWII, also. One of my kind was at Waterloo but he had no camera.

MusketierRegiment.jpg
 
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