So how did you first get into shooting/guns?

[TonyNorCal]

How did you first get into shooting/guns?

Do you come from a family that wasn't very gun friendly? Influenced by friends or just found the hobby on your own?

Influenced by film?

Come from a family with a tradition of shooting? Learn while young?

What's the genesis of your involvement?

[Stanze]

I've been fascinated with firearms since I was a kid in the 80's(never went shooting with direct family members), actually shot in the early 90's, a friend took me shooting out a few times. I bought my own shotgun and pistol for home protection shortly after. Collected for a while, but sold off my collection during hard times. Been getting back on my feet and rebuilding my collection since then.

[The Soup Nazi]

I'm a huge WW2 and Russian fanatic. At first I wanted a Mosin Nagant M91/30 so I could be like Vasili Zaitsev. Then when I walked into the SJGE there were abunch of Russian SKSs that I couldn't resist. But I will one day get my hands on a Mosin Nagant and maybe a reproduction sniper rifle and dress up in a plash palatka and have my friend shout out, "Watch out for the Major Vasili!"

[Sydwaiz]

My dad put a .22 pistol in my hands when I was 2. It was a Ruger .22 Bear Cat which he still has. That was 30 years ago and yes it's true. Of course he helped me hold it while we fired it. How do I remember this if I was only 2? My mom remembers all too clearly and wasn't too happy at the time! I then grew up bird hunting with my parents and here I am today.

[Vigilante]

I've been shooting since I was only a lad. It's a family thing.

[Screehopper]

As a young lad, I lived out in the open country. From there I was acquainted with a rifle BB gun. It basically progressed from there.

[Pulsar]

I was just a kid who was fascinated by guns, and was lucky enough to have a father willing to indulge in my fascination. Didn't really come from a gun family, my dad kept a revolver (and later a glock) around the house for protection, but never really went shooting. When I started showing interest in guns he got a marlin .22 from a friend and it was pretty much over from there. I think he figured if I was gonna have an interest in guns he might as well make sure I learned about them properly.

[Patriot]

My mom's mildly-pro gun. My dad - influenced, I think, by being a doctor - is mildy anti for practical (read accidents) rather than political reasons.

As a child I was taught that guns were dangerous. Of course, as a kid I also thought toy guns were awesome. When I matured intellectually, I became strongly pro-2a for philosophical and practical reasons.

Ironically, if it were for the antis I probably wouldn't be so h**-bent on acquiring guns. Nothing makes you want something like the possibility you might not be able to get it in a few years.

[Tweak338]

it all started when i was about 7... the first time i saw a firearm in person.. a marlin 30-30.. then I started to play online first-person shooters when i was 12.. it kinda went from there... i can identify most popular firearms on the spot now

[Patriot]

I started to play online first-person shooters when i was 12.. it kinda went from there... i can identify most popular firearms on the spot now

It's amazing isn't how we can spend hours studying and only retain and little bit; but give a kid a video game and they'll know every weapon inside out...seriously, video games are expanding the general population's legitimate interest in firearms. Maybe that's why the antis don't like video games

[Santa Cruz Armory]

Cherish the memories...

I've been around guns my entire life. We were one of those families that had a gun rack (that my Dad made) in the den. I learned to respect guns and my Dad from an early age.

I first went hunting at age 5, my Mom said that she got me for the first 5 years, my Dad had me for the rest of his life. (I was the only boy and the last kid) We would spend two weeks hunting every year. Those were some of the most memorable times of my life, sitting in a remote place sometimes 20 or 30 miles off the pavement. Arriving late at night, waking up in the truck in the morning with 3 feet of snow on the ground and then having to set up camp...I enjoyed listening to my Dad's stories and listening to the stories of his friends that hunted with us while sitting around a campfire.

I enjoyed hiking around remote areas of California, Nevada, and Oregon. Learning new areas, seeing the new small towns. Alot of the kids in my family learned to drive in the mountains above Jackson CA, we learned to drive in a modified '57 Volkswagen.

I took the hunters safety course at the police station in Scotts Valley at 8 years old, then got my hunting license at 12. I remember carrying a .22 rifle for years before my Dad let me carry the .35 Remington (man that thing was heavy) which I still have.

I remember reloading ammo in our shop until early in the morning. (I just today removed the reloading equipment from my Dads shop) And then going to Eagle Rock Gun range to sight our guns in before every trip.

I could go on....but yea, I've been around guns for a while, and I cherish the memories they have brought me.

[Tweak338]

It's amazing isn't how we can spend hours studying and only retain and little bit; but give a kid a video game and they'll know every weapon inside out...seriously, video games are expanding the general population's legitimate interest in firearms. Maybe that's why the antis don't like video games

meh it wasnt so much the games... i reasearched firearms via books/internet

i think i still have "small arms of the world" that i never returned to the library.. had it for 4 years?

[anotherone]

I grew up in one of the least populated counties of Michigan. I was hick... still am to be honest ! When I was about 5 GI Joe was my favorite cartoon. My grandfather (a WWII Veteran and former CIA agent who was very pro-2nd amendment) came over one day and said, "I'd like to take my grandchildren for a ride". He took my brother and I to a gun show... and man was it cool back in those days too. This was before the 1986 ban on full autos and the 1994 fed ban so as you can imagine gun shows kicked serious butt back then! I was hooked. The old man started me out with rubberband guns hunting bugs and then graduated me to BB guns and .22s. Ahhh those were the days! Heck sometimes I still varmint Racoons and Squirrels with my Winchester pellet gun just to relive those days !

[Patriot]

meh it wasnt so much the games... i reasearched firearms via books/internet

i think i still have "small arms of the world" that i never returned to the library.. had it for 4 years?

Aha, so that's what happened to my interlibrary loan

"Small arms of the world" - I'm pretty darn sure I've read a book by that title.

I was a real bookworm as a kid - lack of tv had a lot to do with it - so I read everything the library had on guns and military topics. I got weird looks from the librarians

[MonsterMan]

I've been around guns my whole life. I have been shooting as far as I can remember back. I grew up on a Buffalo ranch in Northern Arizona. We shot lots of different guns. Almost exclusively hunting type rifles and pistols. I am new to the AR world. I had a mini-14, but that was the extent of my high powered semi's. I was on deer and turkey hunts as a baby. Every halloween I can remember growing up was in Unit 9 by the Grand Canyon hunting deer. As a kid growing up I did shooting drills like military style stuff. Pretty crazy, but it was fun. My dad was always of the mind that you shoot once and kill it. None of this semi auto or full auto stuff. If you need more than one shot, you need more practice. Also he is a big fan of iron sights. He loves em. So, yeah, I grew up in a gun family. My dad is not nuts or anything. He was in the military and law enforcement. He just wanted us kids to know how to shoot and to hit what we were shooting at. He still can out shoot me. He has trophy's and stuff. I guess I shoot for the fun of it and for the nastalga of it all now. Living in L.A., it's like it's a little taste of home.


MM