Greetings to everyone...
A friend told me about this website, and after reading it for the first time, I wasted no time in joining.
As one can see from my handle, I hail from the deep south - specifically, the great state of Georgia, where I was born more years ago than I like to count. I am presently stuck living in a blue state north of the Mason-Dixon line, but hope to head west or south again before too long.
Coming from my background, it would have been more remarkable to have been uninterested in firearms; all those clichés about rednecks and good old boys and things that go "bang" ended up being true in my case. My late father, a WWII veteran, taught me to shoot as a boy - I can still remember getting my first BB gun, my first pellet gun and finally my first real "adult" gun - a Browning 22 lever-action that I still own today.
My very first formal instruction in firearms came from the NRA and I still belong to that organization; I also belong to GOA as well. I view ownership of arms as a fundamental and unalienable human right.
Didn't end up being in the military. Wanted to be a pilot as a young guy, and tried joining the USN on that basis, but you had to have 20/20 vision in those days to be an aviator, and I was slightly near-sighted - so that didn't happen and I walked out the door of the recruiting office and got on with life. Much later on, I tried joining after the 9-11 attacks, but was 6-8 months over the age cutoff and couldn't get a waiver. Tried very hard to get in over the course of a couple of years, but no dice. I am especially surprised that I wasn't waived in because I am a trained medic - and at the time, the Marine Corps needed FMF corpsmen pretty badly - and the army needed medics, too. I didn't - and still don't - agree with recruiting policy on that score (and some others, too), but I don't write the rules.
When I failed to get in, I decided to throw myself a bone in the form of getting my blackbelt in the martial art of my choosing (which I have done) and also in learning to shoot as well as I could - which is a work in progress, but coming along nicely. I've already gone further than anyone expected - least of all me.
Far as interests and hobbies go, love history, the outdoors and hiking, and martial arts - in addition to target shooting, self-protection and hunting (one of these days, I hope). Own a variety of long guns, as well as a few collector's items - classic 20th century American military rifles, etc. - as well as several pistols and a shotgun or two. I am also an NRA-certified reloader and long-range rifleman. Spent a fair number of years in the late 1990s and early 2000s doing IPSC-style pistol training and events, but lately most of my time has been devoted to riflemanship and long guns. Been through CMP and Appleseed, too - and have also received a lot of instruction from ex-military and ex-LE types. In addition to enjoying sporting firearms use myself, one of my goals is to help pass along the American tradition of a free citizenry proficient in the use of arms - to those interested in learning it, and also to coming generations.
About the only downside to this hobby is that it can become a tail which wags the dog, and darned quickly. I am reminded of that old hot-rodder's (another of my expensive hobbies) saying, "The answer to the question 'How fast do you want to go' is 'How much money do you have?'" Well, guns and shooting sports aren't so different.... but I do enjoy very much being around fellow enthusiasts. It's been great...