Is your reason for owning guns evolving?
- Thread starter Saddlebag Preacher
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rogerjames
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Oops, originally posted this in another thread, thinking it was this one. Anyways...
I never grew up around guns. My father was a Vietnam vet and being around guns and hearing gun shots wasn't exactly fun for him. He had an old 12 gauge that I shot once or twice and he gave me an old .410 shotgun on my 16th birthday that his father had passed down to him. I shot .22 rifles at Boy Scout camp once a year and that was about the extent of my exposure to guns for the majority of my life.
I'm 43 and bought my condo 11 years ago in a nice middle class neighborhood in South Florida. About the second year living there, my girlfriend (now wife), came home from work in the middle of the day and walked in on a robbery in progress. Fortunately, the 2 guys in our bedroom walked out with a pillowcase full of our stuff, but didn't lay a hand on her. I immediately wanted to get a gun, but her sister had been murdered by an ex-boyfriend, shot multiple times and she was afraid of guns and didn't want any in the house. Not knowing much about guns myself and respecting her wishes, I ignored the gun thing and installed an alarm system.
Several months later a nosy upstairs neighbor noticed a stranger lurking around our front door and acting suspiciously. She confronted him about what he was doing and he was looking for and when he couldn't give her any names, he took off. Turns out my wife left the house late that day and saw him sitting on the steps outside our door and thought he was waiting for one of the neighbors or something. After that incident, I made up my mind that I was buying a gun and because she knows I tend to do my homework before jumping blindly into something, she reluctantly conceded.
I started reading this forum and others, read a couple books, and went to a gun show so I could hold and handle multiple guns. I chose a Ruger SP 101 as my first gun because of the simplicity and reliability of a revolver and my wife and I have both have relatively small hands and that had a comfortable trigger length.
My first trip to the range I was nervous as hell. I knew about all the RULES for safe handling but I had never done with a bunch of other people around and my first time at an indoor range with all the noise and activity was a little intimidating. I managed fine but wasn't sure if gun ownership was really for me. I soon went back again, was less nervous this time and actually had some fun.
Eventually took my CCW class and got my permit. My wife went to the range a couple times but she wasn't really thrilled but at least she had a basic familiarity of how to load/unload, aim, shoot. The SP 101 was a tank and not ideal for CCW in hot South Florida so I eventually sold it (shouldn't have, I miss it) and got an XD.
Well, it eventually became a hobby, and I soon recognized the importance of 2A rights (something I had previously been ambivalent and ignorant of), and joined the NRA. I eventually added a 1911, a snub .38, an AK, a couple Mosins, a Garand, and an AR.
My active participation in the hobby has been quite dormant for the last 3-4 years due to the birth of my son, but now that I'm kind of figuring out the daddy thing and learning when and where money is free, I'm starting to try to become more active shooting and gradually adding some more toys in the future. My wife is still not very interested in shooting and has no desire to carry, but she allows me to be a responsible gun owner and she has expressed on more than one occasion that she felt much more comfortable knowing I was carrying.
I still feel like a newb on many gun topics, but I've definitely evolved.
I never grew up around guns. My father was a Vietnam vet and being around guns and hearing gun shots wasn't exactly fun for him. He had an old 12 gauge that I shot once or twice and he gave me an old .410 shotgun on my 16th birthday that his father had passed down to him. I shot .22 rifles at Boy Scout camp once a year and that was about the extent of my exposure to guns for the majority of my life.
I'm 43 and bought my condo 11 years ago in a nice middle class neighborhood in South Florida. About the second year living there, my girlfriend (now wife), came home from work in the middle of the day and walked in on a robbery in progress. Fortunately, the 2 guys in our bedroom walked out with a pillowcase full of our stuff, but didn't lay a hand on her. I immediately wanted to get a gun, but her sister had been murdered by an ex-boyfriend, shot multiple times and she was afraid of guns and didn't want any in the house. Not knowing much about guns myself and respecting her wishes, I ignored the gun thing and installed an alarm system.
Several months later a nosy upstairs neighbor noticed a stranger lurking around our front door and acting suspiciously. She confronted him about what he was doing and he was looking for and when he couldn't give her any names, he took off. Turns out my wife left the house late that day and saw him sitting on the steps outside our door and thought he was waiting for one of the neighbors or something. After that incident, I made up my mind that I was buying a gun and because she knows I tend to do my homework before jumping blindly into something, she reluctantly conceded.
I started reading this forum and others, read a couple books, and went to a gun show so I could hold and handle multiple guns. I chose a Ruger SP 101 as my first gun because of the simplicity and reliability of a revolver and my wife and I have both have relatively small hands and that had a comfortable trigger length.
My first trip to the range I was nervous as hell. I knew about all the RULES for safe handling but I had never done with a bunch of other people around and my first time at an indoor range with all the noise and activity was a little intimidating. I managed fine but wasn't sure if gun ownership was really for me. I soon went back again, was less nervous this time and actually had some fun.
Eventually took my CCW class and got my permit. My wife went to the range a couple times but she wasn't really thrilled but at least she had a basic familiarity of how to load/unload, aim, shoot. The SP 101 was a tank and not ideal for CCW in hot South Florida so I eventually sold it (shouldn't have, I miss it) and got an XD.
Well, it eventually became a hobby, and I soon recognized the importance of 2A rights (something I had previously been ambivalent and ignorant of), and joined the NRA. I eventually added a 1911, a snub .38, an AK, a couple Mosins, a Garand, and an AR.
My active participation in the hobby has been quite dormant for the last 3-4 years due to the birth of my son, but now that I'm kind of figuring out the daddy thing and learning when and where money is free, I'm starting to try to become more active shooting and gradually adding some more toys in the future. My wife is still not very interested in shooting and has no desire to carry, but she allows me to be a responsible gun owner and she has expressed on more than one occasion that she felt much more comfortable knowing I was carrying.
I still feel like a newb on many gun topics, but I've definitely evolved.
Capybara
Member
I am a rare creature, a SoCal native who has recently received my CCW, largely due to the Peruta ruling. The past few years, my guns were mostly for fun, plinking and clays shooting. Now that my dream of having a CCW has come true, my focus has grown to include more self defense. There have been robberies and home invasions within a few miles of my home recently, there are some of the most vicious gangs in the state within 40 miles of my home.
I still enjoy plinking, clays and I may take up IDPA and or Three Gun this year but I am also going to take some more defensive pistol classes as well. CCW really is a lifestyle and I am glad to be exercising my civil rights, but is time consuming (five visits to the Sheriff HQ, LiveScan, CCW class and qualifying and about $500.00 out of pocket) but it is worth it.
I still enjoy plinking, clays and I may take up IDPA and or Three Gun this year but I am also going to take some more defensive pistol classes as well. CCW really is a lifestyle and I am glad to be exercising my civil rights, but is time consuming (five visits to the Sheriff HQ, LiveScan, CCW class and qualifying and about $500.00 out of pocket) but it is worth it.
I started out shooting for fun after a friend and his father invited me skeet shooting. That continued for years until I ended up in a job that required me to keep and qualify with a particular handgun. Going to the range started to feel like a chore for a while.
Recently, between buying a gun I've always wanted and a friend who's interested in going hunting this year I've shifted back towards "fun" again as a reason for owning firearms, although defense remains a much higher priority than when I was younger.
Recently, between buying a gun I've always wanted and a friend who's interested in going hunting this year I've shifted back towards "fun" again as a reason for owning firearms, although defense remains a much higher priority than when I was younger.
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