How have firearms affected your life?

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For me it has affected where I will live and what states I vacation in.
I grew up in Colorado and when the Kalifornians started coming I left.
I now live in the middle of Kansas and I can shoot and hunt for free
a mere 5 miles from my house.
My daughter is four and wants to go to Disneyland, I said "how about
Disney World". Florida is still free.
My wife thinks I take it too far but I cant visit a state that a pray
everynight would vanish.:what:
Newyork City and the entire state of Illinoise are on my do not visit
list also.:banghead:
 
The only bad would be for what I spent on this hobby over the years I could be driving a brand new car instead of the 10 year old POS that I've had for five years now. Hell my gun collection as it stands now is worth twice what my car is or maybe three times.
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Try being a car enthusiast as well. I'd cry if I calculated the money I've put into my hobbies. I'm also into computers and home theatre. My wallet cries itself to sleep at night.

Dope
 
Firearms have affected me by:
1. Helping me feel better equipped to defend my family
2. Giving me a great way to relieve stress
3. Giving me a great hobby to share with others
4. Giving me reason to be more conscious of the law
5. Making me much more broke
 
Without guns:

1) I'd spend half as much time outside and twice as much time inside and behind a computer and be even more overweight than I already am
2) I'd still be walking around in condition white
3) I'd be totally unaware of the path of tyranny down which our country seems to be trodding
4) Probably wouldn't be as good a friend with one of my son in laws as I am
5) Probably would be better friends with another of of my son in laws than I am
6) Would have a lot more money in the bank
7) Wouldn't be a member of THR

That said:
As fun and useful as guns are they are not the be all and end all of life.

To the poster who wrote the below:
Guns have been my life. It is what I do, it is who I am.
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Sorry but there's just something so sad about that quote. :(
 
Why is that sad?

People devote their lives to different things. Are nuns and priests sad? Are elected officials sad? Lawyers, LEO, military? I'd imagine that those take up most of their lives.
 
How have firearms affected my life? I've never been without one when ever I needed or wanted one, so I have nothing to compare having firearms to.

Woody

"I swear to protect the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, but I am not trigger-happy. I am merely prepared and determined in its defense. It's a comfortable place to be. I don't suffer doubt." B.E.Wood
 
Why is that sad?

People devote their lives to different things. Are nuns and priests sad? Are elected officials sad? Lawyers, LEO, military? I'd imagine that those take up most of their lives.
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For priests and nuns - yes - religion is their lives. Whether that's sad or not is another discussion.

As for politicians, lawyers, military etc - those are professions and in general those that practice them have lives outside their professions. There are exceptions and for those it is sad.

Life is full of variety - to single mindedly devote it to a single path to the exclusion of all else is a waste of the mind and soul's potential. To live one's life like that one might as well be an ant.
 
How has it affected my life?

I am not afraid.

I hunt during deer season during the week, up in the Sam Houston National Forest. One day I had a brain fart and locked my keys in the truck. Called the ranger's station, they said they'd try to get someone there...eventually. Meanwhile a guy pulled up, unloaded his ATV, looked at me, realized I had a problem, and came over to ask if I was ok. Turned out he had one of those metal gizmos you force down between the window and door that can open a truck door, and he did so. We also just hung around shooting the breeze.

Mind you...here I am, a woman alone in the national forest with one other guy around and NOBODY to hear me scream if I'd needed to. NOWHERE around. And I was unafraid. You men may not understand the depth of what that means, but I had no reason to worry. Apart from the fact that most hunters are just great folks who would never you harm, I had no fear because I could take care of myself. That is phenomenally empowering for a woman.

This year I drove cross country to our family vacation (ear problems, couldn't fly). Just got back from a cross country to NC for a workshop. Both trips were driven alone, and unafraid.

That does not mean that I take foolish chances; I don't. It means that I go about my business without worrying that I will be a victim.

That is HUGE.

Springmom
 
I have been around them most of my life. I grew up in a farming community that just about everyone hunted and fished. We would go Dove and phesent hunting with the High school Vice princapal all the time before school.

I have meet many a nice people. I have a hobby that will last a life time. I have valuable firearms that can be handed down to my children. I can also pass down the knowladge i have learned to my children. I know I can protect my family. Some people have been apauled at me because I am a varmint hunter more than anything else.

Learned that hunting is not always about the kill. It is mostly about being one with nature and enjoying the outdoors.

Guns helped get me to read more as a child and adult. I will read any gun book cover to cover.
 
I grew up around guns and owned them since I was 14. I can't imagine what it would feel like to not have guns around. The biggest change was when I got my Michigan CPL in 2001, and I started carrying legally every day. Carrying really does change you and your outlook. Aside from all the above mentioned positive feeling mentioned above, safety, self reliance, increases situational awareness, the most important thing for me is I feel like a citizen, a true part of society, by not depending on it to protect me. I am an equal partner, not a ward of the state, not some child to be protected.
 
A previous poster covered my largest impact. I always owned firearms but getting rather serious into collecting and having a carry permit for the past 10 plus years has made me much more aware of the attack on gun rights and what it means.
 
If you go around with a type of "I own guns and they are the most important part of my life!" tourettes, expect negative responses. Only time I talk about guns with "strangers" is when some person decides to give me a random hug and I don't get my right arm under their left and "hello, is that a gun?" I usually explain it's my insulin pump, although I'm not diabetic. Joe
 
You men may not understand the depth of what that means
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That's true, but it's still powerful testimony and makes it all the more infuriating -- for all of us, no doubt -- that there are those out there who would disarm us in the name of "public safety" or the "common good."
how have firearms affected my life? In addition to just about everything said by others thus far, it makes me feel pretty good about myself that I can master this thing we call the art of shooting. It's a skill just like everything else, and not necessarily something everyone can do. I have a mild case of cerebral palsy that left me with limited use of my right hand, which complicates my shooting and makes it a bit more difficult, but I manage very well and for me that's a huge confidence-booster.
 
51Cards said:
Also, got me looking into a far greater range of political aspects than I had been really digging into before. I found that an awful lot of folks were lying their butts off about a lot of things
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I also became deeply involved in politics and personal freedom because of firearms. I probably wouldn't have ever come this far without them.
 
Guns have given me :

1) An awesome hobby
2) A great stress reliever
3) The capacity to defend myself, an increase in situational awareness, more confidence, and the wonderfull feeling of excersing a constitutional right.
3) A real wallet money drain, lol. Between my shooting and reloading, buying guns, I'm broke!
4) The joy of seeing all of my rounds hit inside the 10 ring from 25 yards out.:D
5) The deep involvement in politics, +1 on that! Without guns and the politics that goes with gun ownership, I wouldn't be nearly as informed and involved as I currently am.
6) The NRA and other freedom loving organizations would not exist.:(

I pretty much agree 100% with the points that black adder made earlier.:D
 
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Firearms-skills got me a job that allowed me to earn the money to meet the lady in the USA with whom I'd been chatting online for about 3 years. Ended up marrying her, so you tell me ;)
 
How have firearms affected your life?

All positive!

Top 10 ways guns have affected my life...

1-Sure keeps me from spending money foolishly!
2-Wife and kids (myself) enjoy hunting and plinking.
3-German shorthairs have something to retrieve.
4-Good reason to buy another gun safe(for wifes jewelry of course).
5-NO fear of children mis-handling/ mis-using firearms.
6-Healthy high protein diet of venison/ waterfowl and game birds always on tap.
7-Meet a lot of great people with similar interests.
8-Cheaper than collecting old Mercedes.
9-Feel good about aiding the US economy buying S&W/ Remington/ etc..
10-A solid appreciation for living in the land of the free!
 
Positives:

-I'm exercising a right given to me.
-I don't feel quite as 'helpless'.
-I enjoy the stress relief firearms give at the range.
-They're machines...I like seeing how their parts interact.:p
-If I ever start a family I'll be better equipped to defend them.
-Discovery of Tannerite.:D

Negatives:
-Sometimes I'm made to feel like ownership is a disorder. Non-firearms people look at me like I'm off my rocker. I'm always having to hide the fact I enjoy guns and have a permit.
-Once I started reading about SD articles and got my CC permit, I pretty much felt like the 'red' pill got taken.
-I'm not quite as 'carefree' as I used to be.
-My 'alert' status went up a notch, all the time.
-Proper firearms safety is a real PITA.
-Learning all the CC laws bakes my brain.:cuss:
-This 'interest' is EXPENSIVE.
-Sometimes I wonder if I could actually use one in a SD situation.


But even so, I would still do it all over again.
 
The only negative I have seen is that it costs me a lot of money... but I love it. :evil:

The positives are too many to list, but the most important one is that I can defend my family from those that would do them harm.
 
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