Who are you working on converting?

[DRMMR02]

What are your current projects for the RKBA? WHo do you know that you are trying to get into shooting, or at least, OK with guns?

As for me, it's my girlfriend. I have finally got her to hold one of my pistols(the P99, unloaded, no magazine). She was already OK with guns when we started out, she knows I have them, and she understands that guns in the hands of good people can be useful tools, so she's not an anti by any means. She just kinda had an "eewww guns" feeling about them. Well now she is up to be OK with holding them and such. The next step is seeing if she wants to come to the range and try out the P22.

 

[Chrontius]

My mother and friends. Two are lining up for CCW classes, actually; she's considering it. This is incredible progress

 

[Handgun Midas]

Almost all of my friends; but I'd wager only a handful would actaully come shooting with me.
The hell of it is that every one of them plays shooting-focused videogames.

I don't presume to change the minds of my family (of which I am the youngest), but by getting a CCW I am making firearms much more commonplace and removing the unspoken agreement that they should be out of sight.

My twin nephews are my most important job. I haven't been allowed to take them shooting yet, but when the time is right I'll be there in force.

 

[QuarterBoreGunner]

Ooooooooh... I have the trump card here:


Shhhhhh! I live in San Francisco.... even better I work for MSM.... you ready?... the San Francisco Chronicle.

I feel a little like Luke Skywalker when Obi Wan describes Mos Eisley: You will never find a more wretched hive of
scum and villainy. We must be cautious.

I'm starting verrrrrry slow.... started by mentioning that I had gone shooting last weekend. Wore my H&K staff shirt and had a co-worker ask me if the H&K stood for Heckler und Koch, to which I replied "uhm.. yeah?" Then he asked me if I owned any H&Ks...




heh. I'm in.

 

[daysleeprx]

I don't know if this counts as "converting" but when most of my friends find out I'm into firearms, their first response is "wow...can I come shoot with you sometime?" Of course, I'm more than happy to oblige. (After all the requisite safety talks and whatnot, of course!)

In fact, one of my friends liked it so much the first time, she made her boyfriend buy her a SW 4506! (She finds the .45 easier for her to shoot than the 9mm USP I cut her teeth on).

Another friend of mine recently bought himself a 10/22 and then ran into me at the range. After shooting my 1911s and my CZ, he said "I want a handgun now!" So not too soon later, he became the new owner of a CZ 75B in Satin Nickel.

Right now, I've got a friend who recently found out about my hobby. He became REALLY interested and started asking me tons of questions. I took him to a gunshow too so he could see what there was to see. Now he's chomping at the bit to hit the range with me and wants to purchase a handgun for himself now too.

I guess the moral of the story is...if you ever become my friend, you're gonna end up spending some money

 

[Alex45ACP]

My dad.

I've already converted my mom. She used to be a hardcore anti gunner. Now she carries a SW 642

 

[Snap]

A girl I periodically hang out with when she isn't two states away at college. Got her reading corneredcat.com and asking to go to the range the next time she's in town. Of course, I'll happily oblige. Many thanks to Pax, her site made the whole deal seem less "boys only" than some.

 

[WayneConrad]

I don't want to be converted, so I don't try to convert people.

But some people I know have taken up arms. You'd have to ask them if I had anything to do with it. I dunno.

I carry openly daily. I like to imagine that the supermarket checkers, fast food clerks, etc. that see me be friendly, kind, and generous (or, at least, as good a facsimile of friendly, kind, and generous as I can manage) make some connection between my demeanor and the sidearm. Or, at the very least, weaken whatever thought they had that the carry of a sidearm must make someone rough and scary.

 

[Stickjockey]

I made an abortive start with my wife, having been somehow under the impression that she was, while not anti, kind of ambivalent about the subject. My attempt was abandoned when she asked me if I would pick her up a Mak if I foundone at the gunshow for decnt price, and how would she go about getting her CCW? Last night I caught her in bed reading my latest issue of GCA Journal. she held it up and said, "They're pretty!"

 

[QuarterBoreGunner]

I don't want to be converted, so I don't try to convert people.

And I agree with this completely and it should apply to any and every belief, preference or predilection.

I suppose a better way to put it would be to say I'm not trying to convert anyone, rather I'd like to educate and inform people that are open to differing opinions.

 

[Majic]

Who are you working on converting?

Why can't someone have their beliefs like you have yours even though they contradict yours?

 

[tinygnat219]

No one

Not actively working, but will invite non-shooters out for an afternoon at the range. If nothing else, it gets the blood flowing, and gets them thinking. If you can give a positive range experience, it's like lighting a fire. I haven't had one person go "this was a waste of time". I tend to start slow, and work them up from a .22 Revolver, 32 S&W Long, 38 SPL., 9MM, then the 45 ACP.
Let them keep the target(s) as a reminder of how they did, I have found that when you take new shooters in, take them in slow and steady. I always let them fire one round first so they have an idea, then I let them rip through a magazine or two.

 

[Gordon Fink]

I’ll educate anyone who is interested, but I’ve given up on converting anyone to anything. Firearms enthusiasts can’t even be converted to right-to-arms supporters.

~G. Fink

 

[Big Calhoun]

No one

It's a personal choice. I wouldn't want someone trying to 'convert' me from my beliefs, so I'm not going to do that to others. Tacky, IMO.

Now, I will take a non-shooter shooting and I will engage in a civil discussion about firearms and gun-control. But my job is to investigate revenue leakage for a Fortune 10 company, not exert mind control.

 

[Black Majik]

I have a few lined up.

Beetle Bailey, iGSR96, Moonclip and BamBam-31 graciously recently help me convert a friend this past sunday. Thanks a bunch guys.

 

[Eyesac]

Keep up the good work Quarterboregunner. You're a brave soul.

 

[69Chevy]

I have been working on two people. One likes guns but agrees with the Democrats that we don't "need" assualt weapons. I think he is a lost cause. I took another friend shooting and he loved shooting my AK and afterwards said, I would really like to get good with a pistol. Good deal. When I buy a handgun, ill take him out again. I personally like taking new people out to the range. The first gun I gave him to shoot was my M38 loaded with the big machine gun type ammo. To most people (including me when I first started at 18), shooting a gun is a foreign concept, and it really shouldn't be.

 

[Thefabulousfink]

I have finally gotten my mother (not anti, just nervous) to realize that she might want a pistol to protect herself when she goes on her walks. We'll be signing her up for a CCW class after Christmas.

 

[AndyC]

My wife. I'm not yet allowed firearms because I'm still waiting for my permanent residence to come through, but once it does, we're off to the range... "Er... if that's ok with you, dear..."

 

[cloudedice]

My fiancee. She's not against guns, but she's a little afraid of them. She's given me a limit for when we're married: I can have 'one'. Luckily, I know her well enough to know she wouldn't stop me from getting more.

On the plus side, i may have someone to go to shooting with. Her mom expressed an interest in learning to shoot. So for Christmas, we're signing her mom up for a Basic Pistol course. (My fiancee's idea actually) I think I can get my fiancee to sign up also. Mother/Daughter day.