What sparked your interest in guns?

[gunnutery]

Just curious how everyone got started in the firearms hobby. The catagories were as general yet specific as I could think of so forgive me if I forgot some.

I'd have to say it was a friend that got me interested in guns when I was 16. He borrowed his dad's shotgun and we shot a bunch of birdshot at some paper targets. I was hooked.

 

[chevyman097]

I voted other....because it just seemed natural to me. I was raised shooting 22s and shot guns. But when I got old enough to buy I just went crazy on hand guns and rifles. : )~ It just seemed like it was ment to be.

 

[Vicious-Peanut]

Wish the poll would allow multiple choices. For me it was family and the magazines they had around the house. Flipping through and seeing all the neat rifles and pistols, and having shot them before. (and being taught properly by said family)

From there I saw one I really liked (.22 magnum, neat cartridge) and asked for it one Christmas and it snowballed from there.

 

[glock36]

I voted other, I can't remember a time in my life where guns in general were not a part of my upbringing. I have always had a strong devotion for this one of many tools.

Good luck
God speed

 

[Rail Driver]

I voted other as well. A lot of things combined have fed my interested in guns.

 

[jon86]

I voted other. The need to protect myself and my family sparked my interest.

 

[gunnutery]

I would attribute "up-bringing" to family. But if you'd rather say "other" that's fine too.


Yeah, that's a good one Jon, sorry.

 

[Deus Machina]

My dad taught me when I was young, but it was a rare and utilitarian thing. They were for putting food on the table and in the worst possible scenario, home defense. He still doesn't understand my CC, because he's a no-nonsense man at more than 6'6".

What started me into them is the utility, the freedom, and, as an engineer in mind and mid-education, they fascinate me in the same manner of motors and all sorts of mechanisms.

Putting holes in paper aside, any tool that routinely withstands 52000 PSI pressures and works as well for me as it did for Ivan in 1944 is something to be admired.

 

[CoRoMo]

Grew up in a family that frequented shooting and killing critters for food. Then came adulthood and I realized that I was in charge of my own security as well as putting meat in the freezer.

 

[rbernie]

Boy Scout camp.

 

[JoeMal]

I was raised around guns and had my first 12 gauge at a young age. Once I was old enough to buy my own arms and ammo, my interest really took off. This is a lifetime hobby that I will surely pass on to my children

 

[Mike J]

Although my Father always owned guns he wasn't really a hunter or a shooter. I always liked them & was interested in them from an early age. I still remember begging for a Daisy Red Ryder until my parents finally gave in. I didn't really get to do much about my firearms interest until I was grown. So I voted other. Friends & family have played a part but it was just something I was always interested in.

 

[okespe04]

I checked other. First it was my family, I had a .22 and had shot guns quite a bit in my younger years. But what got me really into guns was shortly after GWB did not sign the AW ban. AK 47s with 3 30 round mags for $300! Now I have a safe full of guns.

 

[g.a.stahle]

I checked movies, mainly because when I was a little kid all I wanted to watch were cowboy movies/tv shows/cartoons, etc. I wanted to be a cowboy until I was about 16, and then decided if I wanted to actually make some money, I'd have to pursue other venues.

When I was probably 8 or so my father bought me a couple of different .177 BB guns (a 1911 styled single shot piston and a revolver that shot both SA/DA, and a rifle). He taught me how to shoot, he taught me about gun safety, and basically indoctrinated me into the hobby. Now that I'm in my mid 20s and a broke college student, I don't have much of a collection but when I graduate from school and get a "big kid" job, I'll keep going with it. I fully intend to teach my kids about firearm safety and hope that they'll get into the hobby as well.

 

[Bubbles]

I didn't grow up with them and didn't touch one until just after I'd graduated college. This was in the early 1990's, Clinton got elected, the news was full of stories about the Brady Law and the AWB, so I decided to take a basic firearm safety course to see what all the fuss was about.

I found that 1) shooting is fun, and 2) I'm a naturally good shot, so I kept up with it.

So, in a way, you can blame Sarah Brady. Without her efforts I wouldn't hold a license to make machine guns.

 

[awgrizzly]

I voted 'Books, Magazines', actually cowboy comic books. But then it may have been cap guns and holster sets. I'm not sure, I was really young and it was many years ago. Then I got a BB gun, a .22, and started hunting. But my interest in collecting them really got kicked off when I bought my first handgun, when the government was about to pass the Brady Bill. It was an act of defiance and an effort to stock up before they were outlawed. (I guess Clinton did me a favor.)

 

[BADUNAME13]

Born this way

 

[TrakHack]

Other, specifically a horse trailering accident where the horse was severely injured but not killed. Not my horse (but I knew him) and not my rig, but I don't ever want to have to wait for the vet and chemical euthanization if my horse is in that kind of situation.

 

[huntsman]

Family

my dad was a gun-nut
I'm a gun-nut
my son's are gun-nuts.

 

[swagner89]

Other. came home from movies with GF and caught a couple dealers stashing their crack in my parking pad in back of the house. when i yelled at them to get out and pulled my cell to call police, the leader said, "imma come back and git you." 20 mins later when the cops showed, one said to me, "the likelyhood that he'll actually come back and kill you is small." bought my mossy 500 and a GP100 for GF as soon as could get 'em.

 

[skwab]

I grew up with them - my dad introduced me to them at an early age, but as I grew older and he travelled more my interest kind of waned, then in grad school a buddy of mine took me to the range to shoot a few of his pistols and I was hooked again. From there my interest has grown for a variety of other reasons, but most of all because unfortunately, our rights to gun ownership is like learning a foreign language in the sense that if you don't use it you may lose it. So IMO, the more gun owners there are, the more CHL holders there are, the healthier the industry is, the less the politicians are going to mess with our rights. In short - i picked family but other was also appropriate.

 

[MonthOfAngle]

Law enforcement.

I carry because they are unable to be there ontime.

 

[Big Boy]

The fact that they go BANG! and make bright flashes. Makes me go OOhhoooOOh.

 

[Lonestar49]

Other

...

I voted "other" as with our 7th German Shepherd nearing the age of 7 or 8yr (rescued) and knowing how fast time was moving for him to remain with us and that we decided, after his loss, no more Dogs for awhile. As the loss of the last one, also rescued, at the young age of 3yrs old, was put down at the age of only 7yrs because of Bladder Cancer - that it was time I started (plan ahead) into handguns, semi-auto, get trained up and have a better means of SD/HD than just the 2 shotguns I had since I was 18yrs old..

To my sad, unknown delight/decision to buy a handgun for future protection, Bear had to be put-down in less than 3 months, after, to Cancer, after I had bought my first 2 handguns and had gone thru my first 2 stages of training.

For me, personally, I'd give them all back (except 2) if we could get another German Shepherd and the piece and security they "always" gave me, us, from the time I got my first one at the age of 20 and had them all thru my adult life except, now, for the last 5yrs..

But the wife's heart can't bear the pain of another loss as the last 2 early losses really occurred much to fast as both Dogs lived only 4yrs with us before losing them by Cancer, one 7yrs, one maybe 8yrs old. As the other 5 all lived long, natural lives to 12yrs and 13yrs and one, my biggest boy, 16yrs..

Handguns are trustworthy to do the job but they don't bark and give advance warnings nor will they act on their own if necessary like all my fallen hero's would do, and one did do.. and saved my life, literally.


Ls

 

[ShaiVong]

Rainbow 6!