How old were you when you first started going into gunstores by yourself?

I started when I was around eleven. I looked at and fondled everything.
I probably knew then way more than any clerk behind a counter.. but I've always been set in my opinions, lolz.
Grabbed all the glossy brochures and stuff too. The various proprietors were accommodating and pretty much just let me look around to my heart's content.
Now I don't really go into shops that much, just to look around, but back in those days it was kinda like taboo and exciting as a kid.

 

I didn't have any gun shops close to home, but I would ride my bicycle to the pawn shops when I was 12 or 13 and drool over the guns. They knew me and let me go behind the counter if no one was there and fondle them all I wanted. It worked for them too. On a couple of occasions I would fixate on one in particular and my dad got it for me for christmas. Nowadays, shop owners would likely be hesitant to tell a 12 year old to come behind the counter and help himself.

 

The good old days! I felt quite honored to be treated as an "adult". And yes, come Christmas time or what, I'd sometimes get a nice little "surprise".. those Browning brochures were pretty slick.
And yep, I'd get around on my bike pretty good too.

 

There were actually none close to my house. However when I was around 12 or so, my mom would go to a beauty salon in the same strip mall as one. I would beg my mom to let me go with her so I could walk around the gun shop. It eventually got to the point that the employees all new my name and would walk me around showing me the new arrivals (when it wasn't busy). It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot from those guys. My father always got a kick out of the fact that when he went in for ammo/arrows/fishing gear or whatever, the employees would always ask how I was doing. He would laugh that they knew me by name and I never bought anything but they had no idea what his name was.

 

13 or 14 (early 1960's) as I had to go to the hardware store to buy surplus ammo for the 303 British jungle carbine. the rifle was $32 and it was the best of them in a barrel of them. the ammo was $3 for 30 rounds. the biggest problem was that the ammo was Berdan primed and that was a pain.

 

There were no dedicated gun stores for me,,,

There were no dedicated gun stores for me to visit,,,
At least not within walking or bike distance.

But, I probably knew the stock in the local OTASCO, TG&Y, and Sears sporting goods sections better than most of their employees.

I started hanging out in those stores when I got my first decent bicycle at age 9.

Oh let's not forget the local barber shop,,,
Gus let me come in and read all of the hunting and sporting magazines,,,
All I had to do was sweep the floor after each haircut and I could read his magazines for hours.

(Even the Playboys)

Aarond

.

 

Heh, there's still one of those around here.. and I go there. Men's magazines everywhere, two "chairs" and one barber. He takes like forty minutes to cut your hair. Best haircut ever for pretty cheap. It doesn't matter if there's a few guys in front of you because all they do is jaw and there's a Chinese food place right next door.
The guy is shut probably more than half the time hunting, fishing or on a cruise with his wife. Best place ever.. except when it's closed.. gumble grumble.

 

Bought my first gun (handgun) by myself at 18. (it was legal then)

Jim

 

At 16 or there about. When I could get around by automobile without a parent*. No gun shops or pawn shops close enough to home to bike to. Otherwise I had to bug someone to take me. First rifle I bought myself was on one of my forays -- a Russian SKS which still makes me smile.






* -- My family wasn't anti- by any means, but guns were tools for hunting, or artifacts of history. I'd been reading Field&Stream and Outdoor Life since I was pretty young, but when I started transitioning over to Guns&Ammo and picked up a subscription at 13-14, there was some head shaking and raised eyebrows.

 

I remember (and I'm not trying to be funny or cute, so you know) a blonde stocked, thumbhole bolt.. I think it was way exotic.. like a .264 or something. I remember that rifle.

 

I didn't own my first gun until I was 33 years old, and a friend was with me when I bought it. I bought my second by my lonesome. It was at Academy, so I don't know if that counts. Would go to the range, attached to a gun shop, by myself shortly after the first purchase.

I'm 39 (and a half!) now, and I know my wife would prefer if I didn't go by myself. Though there's not much danger of me buying anything at the moment...

 

I was too young to know

 

When i was about 12 i lived about 100 yds behind a chain discout store called Howard Brothers,(forerunner to Walmart but on smaller scale) well i was too young to get a job there so i just hung around and visited with the sporting goods clerks, they would even give me a few new rubber worms to try when i would go fishing. i would memorize all the different model guns and ammo. it was about the time REM came out with plastic shotgun shells . they had a gallon jar full of new shells under water on the counter for an advertisement. When i saw that i ran home bought my new box of WW super x 20 ga mark V's papershells back and exchanged them for some of those new blue plastic peters water proof shells!the box with the big ole greenhead mallard on it! My son still has that box!!

Bull

 

Bought my first HANDGUN by myself when I was about 14. It was an Iver Johnson .22 revolver round butt that somebody had cut the barrel off to about 2". Paid a princely sum of $15. It was truly a piece of crap, but it was MINE and I enjoyed it! What more could you ask for??!!

 

I couldn't get to one without a car, so it had to be after I got my license; 16 years old.

 

I saw my first guns (for sale to private individuals) when I was 21 at Cabela's, Fondled cool guns from games like Desert Eagles, Beretta 92's and all that 'cool' stuff, I am originally from the Netherlands and immigrated in 2003, bought my first gun at age 24 in 2006 shortly after getting my Green-Card, it was a Hi-Point JCP .40S&W, still got it and occasionally still shoot it. I have a dozen guns now and probably am one of the most pro-gun dutchman I know lol.

I never bought any of the flashy guns from the games since I matured but many other new gun owners will probably do the same thing.

 

My first time in a real gun store without a parent was when I was 16 and couldn't afford a thing but maybe ammo. Considering my first car was a 8 year old Mercury with a 460 V8, I spent most of my money on gas to get around.

 

When I was very young almost all stores were gun stores The good old days!

 

Good Point & same here.

 

I was 21 before I ever knew there was such a thing as a gun store. All through the '50s, '60s and early '70s we shopped for guns and smmo at hardware stores, tire stores, country stores, Sears, Monkey Ward, and all those kinds of places. And the farm store, the Augusta County farm co-op.

Back then hardware stores had almost everything. For example, at Charlottesville Hardware the men could buy guns and fishing gear while my mother could buy one or more pieces of Johnson Brothers English Blue Willow china - it came packed in sawdust in barrels. The 3-story store was built in 1895 and sold seed and clothing and even housed the town's first telephone exchange.

 

About 10-11 years old there was a pawn shop downtown so we could ride bikes there, half of it was tools and stuff like that and the other half was guns it was awesome as a kid to go in there.
The first gun i bought with help from parents was a 20 gauge shot gun at a grocery store that had a sporting section and that was when i was around 13-14 years old.

That was almost 30 years ago wish i still had that shot gun ,that was the start of it all.

 

I grew up in my great grand daddy's gunshop (Rajo's Gun Shop in Evansville, IN). Can't ever really remember a time when I didn't eyeball and fondle guns.

Great memories, all his old guns.

 

In the 70s and 80s the Ace Hardware and Lawn and Garden sold guns and ammo. My barber shop even sold ammo! Sears had them in the sporting goods section also.

 

I started looking at guns in stores when I was 12-13. Got my first at age 14, I believe (9th grade) via my Dad doing the paperwork. Second was when I was 16 with my older Brother doing the paper work. Of course these were all "gifted" Never really had any money to buy guns other than for hunting until I was 21 or so. Had to have a darn good reason to buy a gun back then. I was cheap cheap cheap.