How guns entered my life
Okay, I was just reading some more about Ted Nugent and taking young children hunting. That got me to thinking about growing up with hunting and guns and all that came with it. And low and behold, here I am with nar a scratch.
Thinking usually does get me in trouble, but we will save that for another survey.
So here is the question, How many of you grewup in a home with guns, or had nearby family that had guns and were exposed early in life, versus how many came into it later in life either by friends, job, or some other source or desire.
Thinking usually does get me in trouble, but we will save that for another survey.
So here is the question, How many of you grewup in a home with guns, or had nearby family that had guns and were exposed early in life, versus how many came into it later in life either by friends, job, or some other source or desire.
1 - 20 of 34 Posts
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My uncle was a hunter and he exposed me to the safe use of firearms, as well as taking an NRA Safe Hunters course, as well as through the Boy Scouts of America.
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29,447 Posts
Hunted with long guns as a boy and young man. Double barrel 12 GA. and a 22 rimfire. Girls intervened, then college, then a wife, two kids, ya da ya da ya da.
My wife and I started considering CC last year due to environmental changes, began last fall. Training, shooting, CC class, CHL (Texas), more guns, ya da ya da ya da. I needed a "Hobby"!!!!
It's not an obsession.....yet..............
My wife and I started considering CC last year due to environmental changes, began last fall. Training, shooting, CC class, CHL (Texas), more guns, ya da ya da ya da. I needed a "Hobby"!!!!
It's not an obsession.....yet..............
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25,596 Posts
I almost needed multiple choice. Chose #2 but could have had #4 also.
I said military because it was when I was an army cadet that I got into long range rifle shooting for the shooting team. Also a bit of handgun and smallbore rifle - this was back in '60 thru '63.
That kicked me off but did not to do a whole lot for quite a long time, except for some trap shooting now and again, plus aquiring quite an assortment of air weapons.
Eventually late 70's got right into again smallbore rifle, and pistol, and soon went on to centerfire and started my gun collection. Shot competitively every 2 weeks for many, many years.
Now reasonably well back up to speed!
I said military because it was when I was an army cadet that I got into long range rifle shooting for the shooting team. Also a bit of handgun and smallbore rifle - this was back in '60 thru '63.
That kicked me off but did not to do a whole lot for quite a long time, except for some trap shooting now and again, plus aquiring quite an assortment of air weapons.
Eventually late 70's got right into again smallbore rifle, and pistol, and soon went on to centerfire and started my gun collection. Shot competitively every 2 weeks for many, many years.
Now reasonably well back up to speed!
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10,867 Posts
I grew up with guns, but maybe a little differently than others. My parents ran a small country store/gas station and my father always had a pistol close at hand. By the time I was 8 or 9 I had gone with my parents to an old gravel pit and fired the pistol. There were always hunters around as well. Though I never was a hunter myself I often went out with customers especially rabbit hunting.
Boy Scouts, ROTC in college, and the Army continued my interest. In ROTC I became familiar with the M1911, the M-14, and the M-60 MG. In officer basic at Ft. Knox (Go Armor :banana: ) I used the M-16, 7.62mm coax machine gun, Ma Deuce .50 cal in the TC turret, and my personal favorite the 105mm main gun on the M60 tank.
After the military I sort of let my interest lie dormant for about a year. In July 1974 my parents store was robbed. My mother was the only one in at the time and one decided it would be cute to slap her around. They also took my father's pistol in the robbery. By the way the one who did the slapping is currently serving 7 consecutive 20 years sentences as a result of the robbery. We in Alabama do not take slapping a 55+ year old women lightly. My father said the day it happened, "They may get the money, but they will not get out with it." He started immediately to arrange so that there would be a weapon within reach where ever he was in the store. He also applied that next day for a concealed carry permit. He bought a little High Standard .22 magnum derringer to carry in his pocket. He borrowed a 12 ga. pump with an 18" barrel and had his own 16 ga. cut down. He borrowed a .38 revolver from his sister. Her late husband had been issued the revolver as a B17 crew chief during WWII and when it was replace with a .45 M1911 he was able to keep the .38.
In July 1975, almost exactly one year after the other robbery, another attempt was made. This time my father was in the store. A man came up to the counter (this was an old country store with a counter where you placed orders), pulled a snubby .38, and ordered my father away from the cash register. As my father moved to his right down behind the counter he started to reach into his right pants pocket. A second robber was at the door and shouted to the first robber, "Look out he's got a gun." My father dropped to the floor instantly and the robber killed two jars of jelly up on the shelf behind where he had been standing. My father was now behind a store safe that weighed about 900 lbs. and also had a commercial freezer between him and the robber with the gun. Old country stores often had just bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling for light. Ours did and one hung just in front of the counter. When the robber stepped back from the counter his head brushed the light (He was tall and the light hung fairly low.) My father had at that time been running this store for 29 years and he knew every inch of it. When the light moved my father knew where the robber was so without looking the raised his hand with the derringer in it and fired at the place he knew the robber had moved to. The robber tried to shoot two more times and the gun only clicked. My father then stood up with the .38 aimed and fired two shots. The armed robber fell and the second one fled the scene.
It was shortly after this I got a call that there had been a shooting at my father's store. I lived about 10 miles away. I took off to the store and met and ambulance on the way. By the time I arrived the floor was clean except for the outline of the body. While I was there the state crime lab people and the sheriff's deputy who had responded to the shooting returned and said that the dead man had only three holes in him. BTW two of the holes were made by the .22 mag derringer rounds and one by the .38. One of the .22 rounds had gone into the right cheek and broken some teeth before exiting. The second round had hit in the right side of the neck and had ripped the jugular vein in two. The .38 round had hit squarely between the eyes. A new dent was found in the base of an old table fan and since the round could not be found in the wall next to the door it was assumed that it had ricochetted out the door and was lost.
About a week later the head of the crime lab ,who also taught at the community college where I was employed, came by and wanted to talk to me. He said, "George, I don't want you to misundersand this, but I wanted to tell you that was the prettiest head shot I have ever seen." He said that my father could not have centered the shot between the robber's eye brows if he had waited until the man fell and then placed the barrel between the eyes and fired. He also said that the robber was already dead by the time the .38 round hit him. He had bleed to death from the .22 round that went through the jugular. The .38 only knocked him down and there was no bleeding from the .38 wound. The man had fallen during the time it took my father to fire the second round so the second round went through the empty space where the robber had been standing.
As an asside, 10 days after the robbery attempt the second man was picked up in Atlanta and sent to our county jail where he died refusing medical treatment for a large wound in his right kidney. The autopsy revealed that the wound was from a very badly flattened piece of lead that weighed exactly what the rounds in the .38 my father was firing weighed.
My cousin, the son of the .38 owner, bought my father's business in 1979 and still runs it. One robbery and one attempted in one year has been followed by almost 31 years without a single attempt. My father gave my cousin the .22 derringer as part of the store furnishings when my cousin bought the business. After my father's death my cousin gave me the derringer. I still have it and fire it occasionally. My cousin has the .38 and, though I have offered more than it is worth, refuses to sell it.
After the shooting my interest in guns was restored and because of that and a few other things there has been a gun in my house since then. Within the past year or so some things have happened that caused made me consider concealed carry and as a result both my wife and I have concealed carry permits. I carry anytime I am awake except in the shower. There are guns within easy reach wherever you are in my house. My wife is still trying to decide how best to carry her Bersa .380. We both have taken pistol training and of course she is the better shot. She has been invited to shoot in some competitions but hasn't decided whether she wants to or not.
You now have more than you ever wanted to know about the origins of my interest in guns. :redface:
Boy Scouts, ROTC in college, and the Army continued my interest. In ROTC I became familiar with the M1911, the M-14, and the M-60 MG. In officer basic at Ft. Knox (Go Armor :banana: ) I used the M-16, 7.62mm coax machine gun, Ma Deuce .50 cal in the TC turret, and my personal favorite the 105mm main gun on the M60 tank.
After the military I sort of let my interest lie dormant for about a year. In July 1974 my parents store was robbed. My mother was the only one in at the time and one decided it would be cute to slap her around. They also took my father's pistol in the robbery. By the way the one who did the slapping is currently serving 7 consecutive 20 years sentences as a result of the robbery. We in Alabama do not take slapping a 55+ year old women lightly. My father said the day it happened, "They may get the money, but they will not get out with it." He started immediately to arrange so that there would be a weapon within reach where ever he was in the store. He also applied that next day for a concealed carry permit. He bought a little High Standard .22 magnum derringer to carry in his pocket. He borrowed a 12 ga. pump with an 18" barrel and had his own 16 ga. cut down. He borrowed a .38 revolver from his sister. Her late husband had been issued the revolver as a B17 crew chief during WWII and when it was replace with a .45 M1911 he was able to keep the .38.
In July 1975, almost exactly one year after the other robbery, another attempt was made. This time my father was in the store. A man came up to the counter (this was an old country store with a counter where you placed orders), pulled a snubby .38, and ordered my father away from the cash register. As my father moved to his right down behind the counter he started to reach into his right pants pocket. A second robber was at the door and shouted to the first robber, "Look out he's got a gun." My father dropped to the floor instantly and the robber killed two jars of jelly up on the shelf behind where he had been standing. My father was now behind a store safe that weighed about 900 lbs. and also had a commercial freezer between him and the robber with the gun. Old country stores often had just bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling for light. Ours did and one hung just in front of the counter. When the robber stepped back from the counter his head brushed the light (He was tall and the light hung fairly low.) My father had at that time been running this store for 29 years and he knew every inch of it. When the light moved my father knew where the robber was so without looking the raised his hand with the derringer in it and fired at the place he knew the robber had moved to. The robber tried to shoot two more times and the gun only clicked. My father then stood up with the .38 aimed and fired two shots. The armed robber fell and the second one fled the scene.
It was shortly after this I got a call that there had been a shooting at my father's store. I lived about 10 miles away. I took off to the store and met and ambulance on the way. By the time I arrived the floor was clean except for the outline of the body. While I was there the state crime lab people and the sheriff's deputy who had responded to the shooting returned and said that the dead man had only three holes in him. BTW two of the holes were made by the .22 mag derringer rounds and one by the .38. One of the .22 rounds had gone into the right cheek and broken some teeth before exiting. The second round had hit in the right side of the neck and had ripped the jugular vein in two. The .38 round had hit squarely between the eyes. A new dent was found in the base of an old table fan and since the round could not be found in the wall next to the door it was assumed that it had ricochetted out the door and was lost.
About a week later the head of the crime lab ,who also taught at the community college where I was employed, came by and wanted to talk to me. He said, "George, I don't want you to misundersand this, but I wanted to tell you that was the prettiest head shot I have ever seen." He said that my father could not have centered the shot between the robber's eye brows if he had waited until the man fell and then placed the barrel between the eyes and fired. He also said that the robber was already dead by the time the .38 round hit him. He had bleed to death from the .22 round that went through the jugular. The .38 only knocked him down and there was no bleeding from the .38 wound. The man had fallen during the time it took my father to fire the second round so the second round went through the empty space where the robber had been standing.
As an asside, 10 days after the robbery attempt the second man was picked up in Atlanta and sent to our county jail where he died refusing medical treatment for a large wound in his right kidney. The autopsy revealed that the wound was from a very badly flattened piece of lead that weighed exactly what the rounds in the .38 my father was firing weighed.
My cousin, the son of the .38 owner, bought my father's business in 1979 and still runs it. One robbery and one attempted in one year has been followed by almost 31 years without a single attempt. My father gave my cousin the .22 derringer as part of the store furnishings when my cousin bought the business. After my father's death my cousin gave me the derringer. I still have it and fire it occasionally. My cousin has the .38 and, though I have offered more than it is worth, refuses to sell it.
After the shooting my interest in guns was restored and because of that and a few other things there has been a gun in my house since then. Within the past year or so some things have happened that caused made me consider concealed carry and as a result both my wife and I have concealed carry permits. I carry anytime I am awake except in the shower. There are guns within easy reach wherever you are in my house. My wife is still trying to decide how best to carry her Bersa .380. We both have taken pistol training and of course she is the better shot. She has been invited to shoot in some competitions but hasn't decided whether she wants to or not.
You now have more than you ever wanted to know about the origins of my interest in guns. :redface:
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49 Posts
I was introduced to guns when I was about 7 years old, my whole family is just good ole' country people and that's when I recieved my very own 4-10 shotgun, and I think I was first introduced to handguns at about age 14...and ever since then I have just been your regular right wing gun nut, I guess
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My dad taught me well. He was especially strong in reminding me to treat all guns as loaded. He had a real good reason for this. He was drafted by the Cleveland Indians baseball team as a pitcher when he was just 16 years old. His parents would not let him go until he finished high school. The fall before he turned 17 in Dec. he was out with his brothers squirel hunting and got warm. He took of his sweater and laid it on a stump. When he got home his mother asked about the sweater and then sent him back to get it. Rather dejectedly he turned around to go back and let the stock of his unloaded shotgun bump on the step going down. It went off. The shot ripped his entire right bicep out. The doctors said an inch or so left and it would have killed him instantly. He spent several weeks in the hospital and for the first several days they did not think that he would live. He still had shot visible in his shoulder until he died. You could touch the bone in his right arm where the bicep muscle was supposed to be. Needless to say he never got to play professional baseball. He was a great guy and a very good shot. There are two reasons why I never took up hunting. One is that my father never hunted again and the other that when you run a country store there is no time for hunting. I'm sure that knowing the story of my father's accident also sort of influenced me against hunting. I would go along for the dogs and walk for hours with others rabbit hunting, but never fired at one myself. Well, maybe being a geek might have had something to do with it.P95Carry said:
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10,365 Posts
My Mom bought me a sibsription to Feild and Stream, due to my interest in Fishing.........I saw many an add for marlin, Winchester, Savage rifles, and it took off from there...........I joined ther NRA Junior league at age 15, took the Hunter safety Courses, and was out hunting alone at age 16.. I bought my first rifle (on my own) at age 18.........then applied for my Pistol permit in ma (you may get one with parental concent) at age 19.........i bought my first handgun the day I turned 21...........and then I started the road down the path of no return............and quite happily I may add.......
In my family hunting is a very old, strong tradition. I had an air rifle before I had a bicycle! I was one of the few kids in my jr.highschool with several rifles. During 1994 I was the NRA jr.champ in N.Y.S., for 10m precision air rifle.
My famly isnt very big on handguns(even the family members who have permits). Most of my relitives believe "handguns are only usefull for shooting people. If you feel ya need one, take a good look at your lifestyle". Then again most of my family lives in an area where locks are not nessasary.
My famly isnt very big on handguns(even the family members who have permits). Most of my relitives believe "handguns are only usefull for shooting people. If you feel ya need one, take a good look at your lifestyle". Then again most of my family lives in an area where locks are not nessasary.
according to the brady bunch's web site i'm lucky to be alive.
i've been around guns my whole life.
my grandfather first took me rabbit hunting when i was 9. no, i didn't hit a thing my first trip.
after that, my dad started teaching me about them. he was in ww2 as an e.o.d. guy, plus he qualified as expert in .45 and m1.
the first time i got to fire his .45(13y.o.) was great. i got to try his m1 when i turned 14, but i'll always remember that first shot with his .45.:smile:
i've been around guns my whole life.
my grandfather first took me rabbit hunting when i was 9. no, i didn't hit a thing my first trip.
after that, my dad started teaching me about them. he was in ww2 as an e.o.d. guy, plus he qualified as expert in .45 and m1.
the first time i got to fire his .45(13y.o.) was great. i got to try his m1 when i turned 14, but i'll always remember that first shot with his .45.:smile:
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596 Posts
I was born and raised around guns, Living in a house that did'nt have them in it would seem weird to me. I started wing shooting with my dad and his Marine buddies, got my first shotgun @ 8yrs old, did the NRA smallbore competitions, etc. I passed this tradition on to my kids and now i look foreward to passing it on to my grandsons.
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54 Posts
One of my favorite events as a kid were the sunday afternoons me and my dad would go out to the woods and he would let me shoot targets with his Marlin 22. Then I didn't touch them until I got a job that required, and after the academy in 2003 I've just kept adding to my collection.
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1,163 Posts
Most of you older guys had it lucky in terms of firearms. I'm 20 and through most of my childhood everyone have become so parinoid. My father told me he used to strap his .22 to his handlebars on his bike and ride out to the dump to shoot rats. You would even dream of such a thing nowadays.
That being said we've always have firearms in the house and I've always had an interest. I was watching the history channel when other kids my age were still watching cartoons. I'm mechanical and love to see how things work. I remember getting phone calls at my house when I was 5 from my grandparents asking what the heck I did to their "TV clicker". Plus I love loud noises and sending a piece of lead downrange at 800-2500 fps.
That being said we've always have firearms in the house and I've always had an interest. I was watching the history channel when other kids my age were still watching cartoons. I'm mechanical and love to see how things work. I remember getting phone calls at my house when I was 5 from my grandparents asking what the heck I did to their "TV clicker". Plus I love loud noises and sending a piece of lead downrange at 800-2500 fps.
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