The 25 and under crowd... There's not too many of us

[The Tourist]

It could just be demographics.

If you\'re about 30, that means your parents are baby-boomers.

The culture of boomers is tinged by the Vietnam War, violence and guns in general.

There is also a regional bent. In Wisconsin you can actually get time off from your job to hunt deer or go to a Packer game. We have a truck plant in Janesville that actually shut down early so that its workers could drive to Green Bay in time for the game.

The bright spot in this is that the boomers were the last of the 'real bikers.'

We probably fathered most of you, anyway.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[rfurtkamp]

I think it's partly regional - here in Idaho everyone and their brother and mother and cousin have firearms. The 4H shooting sports program has several dozen kids at minimum every year here locally, and that's only some of the kids - there's also the Boy Scouts, church shooting groups, etc.

For me, I decided to get proactive and teach the kids to shoot. It's 4H so it's all bullseye and happy silhouette stuff but I let the kids see and shoot some of the more fun 'evil' guns if they're responsible and safe with other things.

Those eight and twelve year olds now will be voting soon enough - and I'll be the guy who let them shoot the Uzi and be the first on their block to blast away with the Sig. :)

This way they learn about both sport shooting and the fact that guns themselves aren't bad even though some of the older folk here look evilly at me for having autos.

I don't even really like children a whole lot - my kids in the program are well-behaved and an exception because they're motivated and want to be there.

As I expressed it to a local parent when I was running the firing line a few weeks back, "Sure, your kids can shoot the guns they've been looking at for an hour if it's OK with you."

I told the oldest who promptly threw a few mags through the Uzi that come Monday he'd be the coolest kid in his class.

And people wonder why I love Idaho.

[The Tourist]

Rfurtkamp,

Do you own the SIG pistol in your avatar?

I own the exact one.

http://p077.ezboard.com/ffirepowerfp10forumfrm57.showMessage?topicID=10.

[SGeringer]

I turn 23 on 21 February.

[ccm-tim]

For what it is worth, I am working on the next generation right now. I sit down with my 2 oldest kids (6 & 4) and have the \"gun talk\" about once a month. I bring out a few handguns and teach them how to hold and aim them. I also drill into their heads that guns are GOOD. That they protect us from bad guys. They love it. I am proud to be raising my kids the way they should be raised.

[rfurtkamp]

Originally posted by The Tourist
Rfurtkamp,

Do you own the SIG pistol in your avatar?

I own the exact one.

Yeah, have for a long, long time.



I recently got its brother, but it doesn\'t have the battle scars.

Apparently my body chemistry doesn\'t get along with the K-kote on that particular model.



Looks like hell, shoots like a dream. :)

[BassDaddy777]

BTW don't ever tell a woman you like guns if you're looking for a date.:(

I brought my wife home to meet my snake!

As far as the younger generations go, I am teaching my two girls about guns on a regular basis and my 14 year old has been in the local marksmanship program for 2 years. I want to get her a 22 revolver or pistol to do some handgun training as well. My 3 year old is always wanting to go shoot bad guys. The other day I told her that we only shoot if we have to. She replied "Well, can we shoot bubbles at them?"

[APachon]

Happy Belated B-day Clipse.

~A

I am 22 years old. I turn 23 on Jan. 25th. Very very few people my age feel comfortable around guns. The ones that I now that do are only comfortable around deer rifles and the others are cops. I have one friend that keeps joking that I will go postal one day. Todays youth in general is quite low on the common sense totum pole.

clipse

[rocky]

Here in northern MI we have many more hunters ,many younger folks. Heck we have public schools closed for the opener of gun deer season. I do feel less young people than when I was a teen are into shooting and hunting though.

[APachon]

With such Hollywood stars as Pam Anderson and Angelina Jolie supporting PETA and other Anti-Fur Campaigns, hunters and gun toters alike have been viewed in a sense as some sort of social pariah. Our CCW/CHP/CPL or hunting licenses have been now viewed as a sort of Scarlet Letter. The times have changed greatly. I hunt and am proud to do so just to think out overpopulation as well as I love the taste of wild game. Most of my friends are hunters or at the very least do not frown upon hunting. At some social settings the topic comes up and Hunters are then in turned bashed. I do my part to make an eloquent educated argument for why hunting is a necessary activity. But the looks I get afterwards are not welcoming to say the least. God forbid the argument turns to Concealed Carry. I go to the coat check and know it is time to leave.

They always say why do you need to hunt with a super market within a 5 or 10 mile radius of whereever you are in the Vegas area.

Such is life for sheeple.

~A

[Euclidean]

I thought I'd update this a bit in light of some of the comments made.

I've been getting more settled in to my new job/location now that I've been here several months and I'm slowly trying to meet people, find a church, etc.

My goodness. I've learned not to talk about my hobby or talk about it very carefully with my own peers. I always thought I was a pariah in college but the real world is even worse.

And I'm in Texas.

TEXAS.

What's funny to me is they all say the same thing "Well I wouldn't feel comfortable with a gun, I've never had a gun, and I don't have time to learn about guns. So I don't think it's a good idea for me to have one."

And I always say: "Well the most important part is learning the safety skills and that's more diligence and mindset than anything. You have to learn how to be safe with a gun and how to clean and maintain a gun before you ever worry about marksmanship, and you never get away from improving your safety and handling skills. But you have to start somewhere."

And they always say: "Well I don't think I should have a gun."

Then I always say:"Well then I have to agree with you if you think that."

And then they look at me funny, like I'm supposed to say "You know what that tears it. I'm going to go throw all mine away and never even look at one ever again."

[RandyC]

I think there's also a significant difference in the attitute of city folks versus country folks. Did you ever see a breakdown of the last election by counties? Blue states aren't really blue states as much as having big blue cities. Cities were blue; the rest of the counties were pretty much red. I think the same goes with gun ownership attitudes.

It's also a reason coyotes move into the suburbs, plenty of food and no one to hunt them.

If I were you I think I'd get to know some local LEOs and develop a couple of shooting buddies. Either way, good luck. Texas is choke full of shooters. You're bound to run into a few sooner or later.

[Prospector]

A bit late getting into this thread, but back on the topic of younsters and oldsters and guns. The range I go to has, admittedly more over 30 people than younger, but I am pleased to see that among the younger gaggles, that there are more girls. I'll hit 54 this year and I've had/been around guns since I was 11. Maybe it goes without saying, but I would advise all you "youngsters" that have or will have a family, to make a point of bringing up your kids with a sound knowledge of firearms and get them interested at an early age, then, when they get into the "brainwashing" environment of liberal university life, they'll have built up an immunity to stave off the illogical propaganda that they'll be bombarded with. I've said it before, but a firearm is a tool, and the sooner you learn to use and respect it, the safer you and those around you will be.

[Euclidean]

You know what's funny Prospector?

I'm going to make sure I shave and get a haircut for CCW class next Saturday.

Last time I checked 10 people had signed up and 8 of them had female names.

hehehehehe...

[Zach S]

lol. That reminds me of Home Ec in high school. I was one of three guys in a class of 20-something people.

But anyway, we're out there. I'm 23, however most people guess that I'm in my 30s, so you may be guessing ages wrong, but the under 30 crowd is quite a bit smaller.