You can find me in St. Louis rollin' on dubs...

[LaraCroft10]

Yo!

I met some of you all here but now I'm poking my head out and looking at the rest of the forum.

I'm a 24 year-old female from St. Louis, MO. When I say St. Louis, MO, I don't mean a tiny town an hour away. I live very much in the City, and I love it.

However, STL is notoriously battling Detroit year after year for the coveted Most Dangerous City in America title, and in the wake of a girl my age getting shot and killed over an attempted robbery of a cell phone two minutes from my apartment (in a bustling, but supposedly SAFE neighborhood that I frequent), I've decided it's time to obtain my CCW. I have always been terrified of guns, so I'm coming from absolutely zero knowledge, but it has been exhilarating. I'm enjoying all there is to learn and subsequently have gained a lot of respect towards firearms as tools. It's fascinating to me. Right now I'm in the research phase of purchasing my first firearm, and then I'll go for the licensing class.

Concealed carry within this city is pretty rare, let alone someone of my demographic (a young, urban, liberal female in the gun-world is some serious Twilight Zone shiznit), so this has been an interesting experience for me. But everyone so far has been very welcoming and I appreciate all the advice I've gotten so far. I am trying to absorb it all the best I can and I'm loving it. So thank you, and nice to meet you!

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[SpencerB]

Welcome from Mesa, Arizona via Fort Bliss, Texas

[mlr1m]

Hello form Oklahoma.

Michael

[archer51]

I know I welcomed you in my first response to your gun questions, but let me say welcome again.

[ClutchSR9C]

Welcome from southern MO!!

[siber]

Welcome from Texas,

I visited STL back when I was in High School some 20 years ago, and then got a chance to visit again last year. I have to admit I was shocked at how the city had changed from what I remembered.

All I can say is I can see why you feel the need to get some protection. Sad!

[sid1]

Welcome to the forum.

[JonOxds]

Welcome from St. Louis. Quite a few of my friends have been talking about getting their first guns and ccw. I started looking & learning two months ago & I'm going to the ccw class tomorrow. I've been to pretty much every gun shop in St. Louis and a couple of ranges now.

[Ben Hennessy]

Lived 50 years in St. louis southside. Now I live an hour and half away. Yes all of St. Louis is getting dangerous. When I visit my family, I'm packing. St. Louis is not what it used to be but I have been in worse cities. The new casino will hopefully bring life back into Lemay.

[rstickle]

Welcome to the forum!

[retsupt99]

from Central Florida!


ret

[msgt/ret]

Welcome from North Carolina. Some years ago I was picking up a load at the P&G plant down by the river. Since the load was not quite ready and I had some time to kill I decided to find some lunch. I bobtailed back to a KFC I had seen on the way in, imagine my surprise when I went in and saw the entire counter behind bullet resistant glass. I ordered my meal and paid for it and received it by way of a turnstile. I had a strong feeling that was not a part of town to hang around in.

[LaraCroft10]

Thanks for the warm welcomes, everyone!

Welcome from St. Louis. Quite a few of my friends have been talking about getting their first guns and ccw. I started looking & learning two months ago & I'm going to the ccw class tomorrow. I've been to pretty much every gun shop in St. Louis and a couple of ranges now.

Which range is your favorite? I've only been to Top Gun, but I enjoyed it. I've heard negative things about Bullseye, and when I called inquiring about a price of a gun, it somehow turned into an unsolicited rant about Obama (apparently they don't have "any guns" right now "and it will only get worse if he gets elected." What?). I've also looked at Ultimate Defense, but haven't been there yet. Thoughts?

[JonOxds]

I went and checked out bullseye and wasn't impressed. The range was small and the people there pretty much ignored me. Metro shooting supplies looked nicer, I didn't shoot, just there getting a holster. On Target had a nice range, small gun selection though. Top Gun in Arnold looks really good. Big range, lots of different guns to rent, and good selection of guns to browse through.

I ended up buying a Springfield xds from Mid America Guns. Couldn't be happier with that place. South side Guns & Ammo is right next door and they've been very helpful also.

I've been to Jay Henges range four times now and it's been great! Run by the MO Dept of Consevation it's only $3 an hour. It has some quirky rules; no fast shooting, breaks every 10 min to go out to your target, etc. Most people right now are out there setting up their deer rifles. The breaks let you get to know your neighbors, everyone seems excited to be out there, and we'll shoot each others guns. Shot a .38 revolver last week, didn't do so good. I live in the city and it's a half hour out there on 44

[F350]

Laura-

First; welcome to the world of firearms from a former Show Me stater; there's a bunch of good people in that world.

Second; when you are ready for training and getting your CCW may I suggest John Ross for an instructor (John Ross Concealed Carry Training and Author Unintended Consequences Henry Bowman Missouri). A few here might recognize the name, as said in the link he is the author of "Unintended Consequences" a cult classic of the gun culture. His classes are 2 part, classroom first then the shooting qualification is at his private stone quarry. John is a class III FFL (machine-guns) dealer and brings some of his demo units for the students to play with after qualifications, including his GLOCK 18 (full auto 9mm pistol) classic Thompson etc I hear it is a real blast (rumors of Tannerite ).

Third; check out MSSA Forums - Powered by vBulletin you will find the most knowledgeable people on Missouri gun laws there; some even helped write many of them, gun ranges, instructors etc. if you have a question there are people there that will gladly help you. Tell 'em Transplanted Hoosier sent ya.