Why not "pass it on" now? What do you think?

[FireInCairo]

I suspect that 50 years ago it would be uncommon for a 20 or 30 something woman to own a handgun for self defense. Today, I think it's quite common and I know a lot of women who own a gun for self defense.

As for passing them on, one of my girlfriends got a Ruger 9mm from an older co-worker as a gift. I thought that was really cool. Sort of a pass-it-on thing.

That's awesome. I'm glad to hear so many stories. It sounds like this is something a lot of older shooters would be agreeable to.

 

[Sol]

Im way under 55.

I've gotten a bunch of friends into shooting and buying guns.

....and doing their own oil changes and stupid small automotive upkeep repairs, home improvement repairs, basic plumbing, beginner cooking, lawn care and garden stuff, correct use and application of tools. Even given away basic hand tools I had extras of. Who the hell owns a house and doesn't have some screwdrivers and a damn hammer?!?

I bringing it back, the lost art of being a.......man.

 

[FireInCairo]

Im way under 55.

I've gotten a bunch of friends into shooting and buying guns.

....and doing their own oil changes and stupid small automotive upkeep repairs, home improvement repairs, basic plumbing, beginner cooking, lawn care and garden stuff, correct use and application of tools. Even given away basic hand tools I had extras of. Who the hell owns a house and doesn't have some screwdrivers and a damn hammer?!?

I bringing it back, the lost art of being a.......man.

Yeah, it's awful what this culture has done to young men. Thanks for doing your part.

Please share my blog page below on social media to get the word out:

 

[hso]

Dandy idea.

I'm not sure that giving them away makes them the same treasure as "selling" it at cut rate prices the young person can afford so they know you "gave it away" as a gesture, the idea is a good one.

 

[DHJenkins]

I don't have anyone to pass anything on to.

 

[Ibmikey]

I have been actively sharing firearms with selected friends and relatives for a number of years including a half dozen AR 15's, many Colt SAA's, Winchester levers and on and on. I enjoy the response i get when making the transfer knowing that my life long enjoyment of the weapons is passed on to a appreciative person. Several .22 rifles have been found by grand kids under the tree at Christmas time and two others passed through their parents as i believe a kids first rifle should come from mom and dad or at least a family member and not the guy down the street. My problem is my friend gives me more firearms than i can give him consequently the inventory is not diminishing as rapidly as it could. Hopefully when near the end of the off ramp of life but before the stopsign, i will have time to distribute the rest of my toys.

 

[VoteforCookies]

Can't argue with that logic. Guns need to be handed down that way other can use them and exercise their right.

 

[another pake]

I've been thinning out my collection for some time now. Presenting/ gifting pieces to kids and grandkids who've participated in hunts with me or at my place. I endorse the practice.

But I disagree that youngsters aren't as interested and I certainly disagree as to the average age of gun owners. The average age can only come from what info is made available from 4473s and that isn't supposed to be public. Other than that, information comes from what we tell people. How many folks here have already gifted a rifle or shotgun to a grandchild? That info is not known, and shouldn't be. Believe me when I say that the average age of firearms owners is lower than 50 or whatever is claimed.

Younger persons may not be able to purchase their own pieces yet but that is a far different issue from how many are interested or own them.

 

[Ron James]

I have been " passing on " for several years now. I decided several years ago to divest myself of my good guns by giving them to my three kids to " keep for me ". in other words they are theirs but they can't sell them until I'm having dinner with the devil. I have seen so many posts in reference to inherited firearms, well I didn't want that to happen to mine. With each gun or set of guns I also include the background and history. I still have a handful of ' shooting guns ' that I enjoy plus about 5 milsup guns. They can fight over those. JFI, I just gave my oldest an BCD 1943 bring back Mauser 98K, The thing looks almost new. Oh Well, as it has been said, take them with you and they would just rust.

 

[Nuclear]

I've bought duplicates of the guns my son has expressed interest in and given them as gifts to him for significant milestones in his life. The rest will go to him or a few friends / relatives on my death. Any left over my wife can sell for the real value I've documented & updated every few years. I'm the gun guy in our circle of friends and I'm always taking people shooting or giving advice. Don't know about giving guns to people unless I know them REAL well.

 

[USAF_Vet]

I don't have anyone to pass anything on to.

It doesn't need to be a family member, just someone of a younger generation who will appreciate the gesture.

I have to disagree with the premise stated in the OP, that gun ownership is an old mans hobby and that the shooting sports are dying.

I'm only 35. I've only been buying guns since I was 28. I've filled one small gun cabinet and just got another over the weekend, with hopes to start filling it, too.

I see more younger folks interested in buying guns at the LGS than I do the older generation. And by young, I mean my age and younger.

Information sharing technology is fast and easy, which is a young persons forte. Gun/ shooting related videos can be found all over YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr and other social media that I'm unaware of. Video games, as much as Fudds hate the idea, bring the younger generation into shooting the same way Roy Rogers, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, the Rifleman and the Lone Ranger did for their generation. Mainstream media is very obviously anti-gun, but this is nothing new, and not all young people are stupid enough to swallow it lock, stock and barrel. Most of them don't even get their news from the TV anymore. It's all from blogs, social media and various independent media websites. If anything, MORE young people are getting into guns, shooting and pro 2A than ever before. The demographics from any poll can be skewed to support the pollsters desires, and each and every poll is skewed so the data does so. I don't trust polls, regardless of their source or whether or not I personally share their desired outcome.

It's always been a young persons world, and they are the generation we need to influence to preserve what liberties we have left, and instill in them the will to fight to retain and regain liberty. It's more than just passing down tools. A chest full of Snap-on tools or a safe full of firearms is nothing but scrap metal if we don't also pass down the skills and knowledge of how, when and where to use them.

 

[jeepnik]

Not going to be a problem. The boys are already claiming dibs. But I've explained they will not get a single one until I'm either incapacitated (read brain dead) or just plain dead.

 

[Sol]

Give away guns.....lol.

Not me, but knowledge and taught experiance is free, sans ammo cost.

 

[Ironicaintit]

I bringing it back, the lost art of being a.......man.

My BFF and i refer to it as, "caveman arts".
Rebuilding carbs, tying good knots, marksmanship with iron sights, etc...always good to share "old school" knowledge

 

[EIB0879]

Already handing some down to my kids. There are some that are to stay in the family no matter what and they understand that. I will buy them back before those go to strangers. There are others that I don't care as much about but I'm 56 and not through shooting them.

I have accumulated enough ammo to keep the kids shooting for a long time.

 

[goon]

Relative to inflation the cost of guns and ammo is cheaper today than at any other time in my 57 years on earth. Younger kids have more disposable income to buy guns and ammo than I did at their age, they choose to spend it differently.

Yep, our generation spends our disposable income paying student loans that haven't led to the jobs we thought they would lead to.

No offense to you older ladies and gents though - you had your challenges too. But it's not like we're just out having some wild free-for-all either.

The idea of passing guns on may have some merit, and the idea of passing some ammo (especially .22LR) also sounds pretty good. But at some point, a person is also going to have to take some initiative and start making purchases for himself (or herself).

But passing a gun on may also help pass gun culture on. Maybe gift a 10/22 and 500 rounds to someone who shows promise, then let things take their course?

 

[FireInCairo]

Yep, our generation spends our disposable income paying student loans that haven't led to the jobs we thought they would lead to.

No offense to you older ladies and gents though - you had your challenges too. But it's not like we're just out having some wild free-for-all either.

The idea of passing guns on may have some merit, and the idea of passing some ammo (especially .22LR) also sounds pretty good. But at some point, a person is also going to have to take some initiative and start making purchases for himself (or herself).

But passing a gun on may also help pass gun culture on. Maybe gift a 10/22 and 500 rounds to someone who shows promise, then let things take their course?

The college culture of the past 30 years has surely been a boondoggle, and not for the young men and women who enrolled.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I love to take new shooters shooting and supply the ammo. However, I don't see me passing any guns to them, especially before my expiration. If I lose interest, I will sell them and enjoy the money elsewherem....If the new shooters want guns, they can get a job and buy them like I did.

 

[MedWheeler]

Passing 'em one is all fine and dandy, but the reason young people aren't "getting into it as much" isn't because no one is handing them guns. It's a simple cultural change that makes a larger percentage of younger people less enthused about the same "hands-on" mechanical things we are.

Take driving, for instance. Every one of us could practically taste the driver's license a year or two before we could get it, and many of us got practice behind the wheel even younger. We were truly into it.

Now? Teens barely want to learn to drive. And why should they? They ride to school with a parent or on the bus. They don't work because they don't need to (only expense is their monthly cellphone bill, which Mom picks up for them), and their friends are all on Facebook. They just don't need to go anywhere or do anything to be as happy as we were doing nothing but going anywhere and doing anything.

 

[FireInCairo]

I love to take new shooters shooting and supply the ammo. However, I don't see me passing any guns to them, especially before my expiration. If I lose interest, I will sell them and enjoy the money elsewherem....If the new shooters want guns, they can get a job and buy them like I did.

Do you care about the preservation of the 2nd amendment? Don't you think this would have a huge impact on the next generation? I'm not really talking about giving a gun to someone who is already on board. I'm talking about getting someone who is not a gunowner, but interested, on board.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Sorry, but I don't see me giving away stuff as a way to preserve the 2nd. I figure I have done my part by introducing people to shooting, allowing them to use my guns and supplying ammo. I figure if the they want to preserve the 2nd and enjoy it, they will work hard to get their own. Too many people look for a reason for a handout.

 

[FireInCairo]

Sorry, but I don't see me giving away stuff as a way to preserve the 2nd. I figure I have done my part by introducing people to shooting, allowing them to use my guns and supplying ammo. I figure if the they want to preserve the 2nd and enjoy it, they will work hard to get their own. Too many people look for a reason for a handout.

I believe your thinking is all wrong on this.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

We all have our opinions..

 

[FireInCairo]

Fair enough. It does seem a lot of people here do get it, and others will agree. Really, for people with a safe full of firearms, it's just old iron collecting dust and has no real impact on sustaining the civil liberties for the next generation just sitting there. That's my point.

 

[USAF_Vet]

Do you care about the preservation of the 2nd amendment? Don't you think this would have a huge impact on the next generation? I'm not really talking about giving a gun to someone who is already on board. I'm talking about getting someone who is not a gunowner, but interested, on board.

I really don't see how just handing a gun, ammo and even the skills down to the next generation is going to preserve anything other than the entitlement mentality, of which we already have too much. Teach them history, take them shooting, teach them skills. If it's your own kids, maybe even a gift of a gun on their 18th/21st birthday or Christmas. Maybe pay for a CPL class or certified training course.

But a gift of shooting iron is irrelevant and does nothing to preserve the 2A if the gift ends with the gun.
Gun ownership in itself does not preserve the right to gun ownership. This seems like an attitude of "I did my part" without actually doing much of anything.