What sparked your interest in guns?

[FlyboyJS]

Combination of family and friends...After talking with some of them, it was apparent that I had no other means of protection, so I sought out some training and purchased a firearm.

 

[Clifford]

My dad shot competitivly for 20 years. I literally grew up in house that smelled like Hoppie #9. Dad started teaching my brothers and I proper gun handling skills at the age of 3 and hasn't stopped teaching us to this day.

He never pushed guns on us. Neither of my brothers showed much interest in firearms. As for me, I'm into anything mechanical so the inwardness of the devices allways fascinated me. Nowadays I'm into hunting and IPSC syle competitive shooting.

 

[bja5006]

Other. Got burglarized one fine night. Decided to arm myself incase it happened again. Just couldn't stop at one! Now collecting/shooting is my primary hobby. I guess things happen for a reason.

 

[stewart51]

Like others that have answered there are many reasons that I appreciate guns. What sparked my interest though was the cowboy shows on TV while growing up in the 1950's and 60's. Colt 45's and lever action Winchesters in the hands of the good guys fighting for justice against the bad guys. When I was old enough I bought a 22 single action revolver and a variety of others since then. I admire steel and wood in guns, I haven't quite got used to plastic and aluminum though I do own a few of those too.

 

[Kleanbore]

Early television and comic book westerns, followed and reinforced by having an older friend and a neighbor with gun collections.

 

[mljdeckard]

I can't remember ever not being fascinated by them.

 

[Digger Odell]

I grew up around guns. They were not treated as any thing special, it's like they just belonged as part of the household. My grand dad & my dad both hunted to put food on the table & of course I wanted to be included. Upon reaching 13 years old my dad passed his Ithaca 16 ga. on to me, & I have since passed it on to my oldest son. As a kid the best cowboy gun was the 1860 Colt Army. It took a few years but I finally have one.
Now many years later 3 of my 5 boys & my daughter still maintain an interest in firearms & my grand kids have the ability, confidence, & interest to carry on.
We just find it fun!!!

Digger.

 

[therewolf]

This is going to sound sooo stupid, but hey! It's me, right?

I had a couple BB guns when I was a kid, and enjoyed them immensely. After I joined the Armed Forces(yeah, go figure) I just sort of forgot about guns and shooting. It appeared I had worked out the itchy trigger finger in my youth.

I was looking around a pawn shop, and there in a display case with the other
guns was a Stainless Steel S&W 500. Just sitting there, humorously large and imposing.

It's been on my mind ever since, and has led to getting my NRA courses, certs, CWP, and a couple smaller caliber pistols. I do a lot of shooting at the range. I'm not really interested in getting a S&W500, because it's a cannon, and rounds are @3$ each. I just realize that even if I owned one, it would never be all that practical, or enjoyable.

But that particular S&W 500, which I never even priced, BTW, got me back into shooting, after a 30 year absence.

 

[jeepguy]

other, i have liked firearms since i was a little kid. before i had even a toy gun my friends and i would pick up a stick pretend it was a gun and play cops and robbers or cowboys and indians. it just came naturally.

 

[TH3180]

I picked other. I really don't want sparked it for me. I was walking through the gas station saw a gun magazine, bought it and that got hooked. I am 30 years old and have been shooting since March. My Grandpa gave me a Colt New Frontier to get started and now I have four pistols. I also reload 9mm. The deal was made with the wife that any gun I buy has to fit in the safe. I am hoping to get a big safe next summer so I can start buying rifles. A friend has offered to take me Dove hunting next fall. I can use a gun of his and his ammo. All I need to do is get my DNR safety deal and a small game license. I am already excited.

Growing up I wasn't exposed to guns. It's not that my parents have anything against them or anything like that. My Dad doesn't hunt so he doesn't have any guns. I took him to a friend's place this summer and let him shoot my .22s and my 9mm. He is talking about buying a pistol or two this spring. Usually it is the father getting the kids involved in shooting. In my case it is the other way around. I can't wait until my son and daughter get a little more mature so I can take them shooting. Then I can have myself, Grandpa (My mom's dad), my Dad and my kids all shooting. Four generations all killing paper together. Does it really get any better then that?

 

[Stevie-Ray]

I learned early on that my dad had a pistol, and that sparked my interest. It seemed huge to me back then, though it is tiny now. (Colt .32 Pocket Auto) We were taught never to touch it and obeyed. Later on, my brother in law took me shooting with him at the age of 11, and I shot my first .22, a Mossberg 352. It was awesome and I was hooked, at least on .22s. The 12 ga? Not so much. I got my first gun, a Stevens model 34 less than a year later for my birthday.

 

[Old krow]

For the most part it was hunting. As soon as I was old enough to handle a BB gun I was hunting. My family all had guns. My mom CC'd, my Dad CD'd, and my Grandmother had a shotgun in the house. The rest of the family had guns as well. I can only think of one person that has ever sat at my Mother's diner table (in all of my life) that didn't own a gun.

I don't hunt so much now. It can usually be measured in years between trips, but I shoot on a weekly basis now. I suppose that it was a combination of family, hunting, and magazines. I used to read hunting magazines for hours. The mil didn't do as much concerning my affinity for firearms, I'd have been the same way if I had never joined.

 

[330d]

I was never really interested when I was younger, but my Dad died and left me a bunch of sweet rifles, so now I feel a desire to carry on his passion. And now that I have started... I can't get enough.

 

[PT1911]

i believe it was the BOOM that did it... yup.. definitely the BOOM!!!

 

[AdamJaw89]

since I was a little kid I was just obsessed with firearms, just their beauty and ingenuity, and the power they withhold. My father nor mother were into firearms or owned any, I just sort of fell into it, they are my most favorite material thing in the world, I do not know why lol, I just have loved them for as long as i can remember. when i was around 15 i pretty much forced my mom to buy me guns lol i could not take shooting BB guns any more i wanted the real deal. So she purchased me a .357 and i got an SKS lol, my mom is sweet, she Has supported my gun obsession, but my dad on the other hand does not understand why i buy them and love them so much. anyways i got into firearms all by my lonesome.

 

[Hanzo581]

Family.

My cousin took me to the range when I was around 10, I had a great time, then at around 12 I took a trip with a family friend to Ohio where we shot various pistols, rifles and shotguns. I again had a great time. Then when I became an adult I took up the hobby.

 

[black_powder_Rob]

I voted for movies. Mostly Westerns and WWII movies.

 

[bradystrib]

my father was an at home ffl in the 80's to early 90's . Deal mostly in class 3 stuff and tactical stuff for LEO. I remeber being 4 or 5 and watching him shoot silinced mp5's. We had guns all over the house. He had handguns hidden in the piano, shotguns under sofas, m16's beside the doors and a street sweeper next to his bed. My youth was spent traveling the southeast on weekends to attend gun shows. I never once cared about guns until a few years ago though. I mean I liked them, but never wanted to own any. Then when I was 18 i went to a gun show with pops and built an AR from a stripped lower and parts kit. Now I own a good many but not nearly enough. Soooo, yeah there's my story

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

I can't remember NOT being interested in them, I think it's in my blood. My family name is very similar to that of a famous gunsmith/manufacturer of the 19th Century, I recall sneaking up to the attic when I was 5 or 6 to play with the M-1 Carbine my old man brought back from WWII. One of may favorite cap guns was a Hubley Trooper. My first revolver-a Colt Trooper.

 

[wep45]

my son got me interested in hand guns about 2 1/2 years ago. now i enjoy target practice, every few weeks, at a local range.

 

[mordyfinkel]

Like Riding A Horse

I did not grow up in a "gun family." Nevertheless, it was something I was always curious about. I figured it was a skill/life experience that would be interesting to have, like studying martial arts, speaking a foreign language, or knowing to ride a horse (go figure, lol).

A few years ago when I was 21, I went to a local gun shop after having some preliminary research, and rented a few .40 cal pistols (a Glock 22, XD40, and a Sig P226). Apparently I liked it enough that I bought the Glock, and the rest is history! Now my appreciation of firearms encompasses their history, craftsmanship, how they work, the skill involved in using them, and of course RKBA issues.

 

[Onward Allusion]

Targets. It was always about hitting the target for me -be it tin cans or paper. Secondary was protection.

 

[ZCORR Jay]

It all started when my father gave me a bb gun when I was 10. I loved hitting targets and it just grew from there.

 

[HGUNHNTR]

I grew up with firearms, and really cannot identify what sparked my interest. I guess it is probably the same thing that sparked my interest in eating food, wearing clothing, and living in a house.

 

[69Falcon]

I can't remember ever not being fascinated by them.

Ditto. I was brought up with them, and my [future] kids will be brought up with them too.