So how did you first get into shooting/guns?

[FatKatMatt]

My mom is adamantly anti-gun, she hates guns for no particular reason, just that they have the capacity to kill. My Dad is fairly pro-gun, but doesn't like me using them. It took some conniving to persuade them into letting me get a rifle.

[ElBandito]

my dad took me shooting when i was 12. beretta 92f which he bought the same year i was born, and now its in my name. growing up my dad always showed me the gun when he cleaned it and from the get go taught me to respect all firearms. im thankful for the way he brought me up...not just in shooting too.

[Pryde]

I'd never shot or handled a gun until week 6, phase 2 of boot camp at MCRD san diego.

[rocketboy]

Dad put a .22 in my hand when I was 6, and told me it's time to learn one of life's most important skills!!

[JimAmentler]

My father was a hunter and target shooter. He started me shooting his .22 rifle at a young age. Eventually he took me hunting, which I enjoyed and continue to this day. I have repeated the above with my daughter. While she doesn't care much for hunting, she loves to go to the range. Hopefully when she is married and has kids, she will continue the cycle.

[ivanimal]

I grew up in San Francisco the youngest of 6 kids. The only time the 3 boys and dad got out alone was to hunt. I took Hunters safety at Roos Atkins on Market street and got to go with my dad and brothers hunting at 10. I had already been a shooter for 4 years or so by then. My dad had a funny way of showing us respect for guns. He made us carry a broom handle around and treat it as if it was a loaded weapon for a week. We had to take it to school and everything. I had to ask permission to lock it in the closet in the morning and unlock it after school. Muzzle control was his biggest pet peeve.

[xrMike]

First shot a rifle in the Boy Scouts, at a really young age, at summer camp. I loved it. Made me feel like a man in some way... ???

Later, growing up in the suburbs in Virginia, we'd go out to visit my parents' friends who lived out in the country, and part of the ritual of going out there was shooting their shotguns and .22s in the woods behind their house.

Then I joined a local shooting club and shot .22LR indoor at Quantico for several years, eventually earning my NRA Expert patch.

Then we moved to CA and I shot another couple of years in the shooting club at Ft. Ord. That was back around 1980, I think...

Then I stopped shooting altogether until I turned 41 or so.

It was like finding a long lost friend!

[NRAhighpowershooter]

sort of a ong story.... I was 10... my parents wanted to get rid of me on Saturday mornings..they took me to the davis st. range and got me in the NRA Jr. small bore program... I wsas hooked the forst day!!! came home with my first badge (Pro-Marksman) 4 yrs later I was top dawg (Distinguished Expert) I then got bored with it mainly because ofa lack of family moral support.... I then got back into shooting when I was 18 but it took a back burner as I delved in semi-pro drag racing (Super X bracket 12:50 heads up)Theh when I was 25 I really got back into shooting a when I was 28 I got involved in NRA High Power Silhoutte made AA class with my HK-91 I also got involved in PPC matches in '90.... then in '99 I got started in NRA HP shooting. and I currently run the HP and Garand matches at Chabot.

[Comstock Lode]

kansas

well, when dad said we we're moving to kansas... from Redwood city... age 14... Turns out there taint much to do in good 'ol kansas. racing dirt bikes, shooting guns, football, girls... the movie "Friday night lights" the scene out at the gravel quarry shooting clay pigeons or whatever, that was kansas. dad gave me grandads old parker side-by-side, my son gets it now, next week, 18th birthday

[xrMike]

I wsas hooked the forst day!!! came home with my first badge (Pro-Marksman) 4 yrs later I was top dawg (Distinguished Expert).

Damn you! I was working on my Dist. Expert and was about halfway through it when I went off to college and then kinda lost interest in shooting for awhile. I regret that I never finished and earned that ranking...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v84/xrMike/guns/Img_0195b.jpg

[Satex]

I started with my High School shooting club at age 15. They taught us the basics with a .22 Mouser, and then we switched to the Olympic grade Anschutz .22 - what a fine rifle. Later on, I joined the armed forces and shot anything and everything I could get my hands on. Even later on I realized pistols are much harder than rifles so I joined a practical shooting club - and it was great!

Oddly enough, this 21 year long love of firearms didn't cause me to kill people. It did however teach me a great sports skill, technical skills, patience, respect for safety and human life.

[rod]

I really haven't thought about when or how I became involved with guns. It's like a natural instinct with me, just like walking and breathing. I guess I owe my dad and grandpa the credit for getting me involved with guns. My dad taught me gun safety as soon as I was old enough to understand it. My dad and grandpa took me hunting with them all the time so when I was old enough to get a hunting license, I was more than ready. Now, I can't think of a time in my life that I didn't own at least a few guns.

[icormba]

GOOD TIMES!!!

[30Cal]

My dad. I knew I was left eye dominant when I showed up for kindergarten. I got a Colt SAA (44Spl) for my 6th birthday. When I entered highschool, I was allowed to go shooting unsupervised, and I'd ride my bike across town with a Smith & Wesson in my backpack. That was in 1987.

My friends' parents were a little taken aback that I had a pistol, but they got used to it pretty quick.

I shot junior NRA smallbore in middleschool (Expert, I think). I shot five nights a week for four years on the UofMich smallbore rifle team and the NROTC pistol team. I started highpower in 2000.

[Thrillbilly]