What made you a "firearms enthusiast"

[OneHarryMess]

I'm sure this has been done a thousand times before but Im stuck inside sick as a dog and bored as all heck so per the title what got you into guns or if you were born into a gun family what kept you shooting?
Firearms were and still are a big part of my life, I was raised in a rural community where everyone shoots and hunts, a common daily past time was to watch over the garden and pop any lil critter trying to tear up the family garden, and I can't remember a time my brother and I didn't have a shotgun or rifle slung over our shoulder once we reached 12 and became "young men", hell we even got paid a dollar for every coyote we shot.
Aside from the utility and self defense aspect I guess what keeps me target shooting and collecting was growing up watching reruns of gunsmoke and western movies with my dad and grandpa, which still heavily influences my choice of firearms!
Did movies or tv influence your particular choice of firearm? How old were you when you started shooting? Do you shoot often?

 

[bradmedic04]

Shot one once, that was all it took for me.

 

[red_zr24x4]

I was born into a gun family. I think I've been shooting since I was 5.
As with you, I was raised in a small community. My dad got us started, but he died when I was young. Most of my experiances where with an Uncle and cousin, thats where I really learned marksmanship.
What kept me interested then and now was the skill it takes to shoot small groups at a distance. Even with .22's we would see who could hit the smallest things the farthest.
Like you westerns were a favorite, who doesn't like a nice SAA? And the Duke?
I'd say war movies played there part also, M1 Garands, M14's, AR's.
I shoot as often as I can, it might be every weekend for awhile, then I might go a month or two without firing a shot.

 

[Bigtanker]

My dad had a rifle and shootgun. He didn't shoot a whole bunch but he did a little. I grew up playing with toy guns, and home made toy guns with my neighborhood friends. It seems it was a natural progression to a BB gun. Once I was out of highschool, I had bought a 22 rifle of my own and my first handgun right after I was 21, along with my LTCH.

After I found INGO, I started getting more involved in training, shooting, equipment etc.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Born to it. Cleaning patch diaper baby.

 

[rob63]

I had an uncle that owned a bunch of guns (a number of them from my grandparents), but not my immediate family. I think my mother was somewhat anti-gun, not necessarily the "ban them all" type, but the "not in my house" type. I have always been fascinated by military history; I had a co-worker that introduced me to guns in my early 20's and it truly came as a revelation that I could personally own the same guns that WWII was fought with. That got me hooked.

 

[Frosty]

My dad had a couple guns, always had a couple.22's. He got a black powder revolver and rifle, those were fun to shoot, and from about 8 on I always ran around with a pellet gun, just fun to go out to the woods and hunt around for chipmunks and explore.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Video games. Started with Medal of Honor, Counter Strike, etc.

Learned more about them, based a lot of my purchases on guns I liked in games.

 

[ScouT6a]

I was born into a gun family. My grandfather had long since given up on hunting, but he always had firearms as tools. They protected the farm animals and the family. He taught my brother and I to shoot at a very early age. (He was also a WW II veteran) When I was old enough to ask him to teach me to hunt squirrels, he was more than happy to.
My father and mother always had firearms in the house and dad hunted, when his work schedule permitted.
Then I joined the Army, and it was all over. LOL Twenty-two years in combat arms (17 1/2 Infantry and 5 in man portable air defense -Stinger missles) I shot everything I could get my hands on. Went through a Light Weapons Specialist course that covered 50 different weapons from .38 revolvers to rifles, light machine guns, recoil less rifles, flame throwers to grenade launchers. I was in heaven. Became a firearms instructor, range NCOIC, and shot pistol, rifle and light machine guns on an Army shooting team. Went through school to learn to deliver long range, precision fire on key targets. Then had the opportunity to apply all that training, several times, on the two way rifle ranges.

 

[bstewrat3]

Born into it. I remember getting a 50 box of 22lr more than once on my birthdays after I turned 10 and being given my Winchester 67 and told to go to the woods and have fun.

 

[KagA152]

I had always had friends with guns and would go shooting with them occasionally. Slowly got a couple after "check out this good deal, you should buy one" from my friends. Still didn't shoot much. Then when I moved to Indiana I needed to find something to occupy my time, so I started doing some shooting sports with the basics I had (yeah I shot a high power match with a Mosin, didn't do too well for some reason). Then I shot my first steel match, then USPSA, and now multigun. Not sure why I've been broke the last couple years...

 

[snowwalker]

I was raised on a farm and hunted and my dad and uncle hunted. Always had guns in the house, but when I was shot eight years ago I really became a gun enthusiast and always carry one or two now. I started carrying a 44spl, but now a high capacity Glock.

 

[MCgrease08]

It pretty much started after I watched this...

 

[RustyHornet]

Not growing up in a firearm family, I had always wanted one, but it never occurred to me that I could go out and buy one once I turned 18. My best friend was going into law enforcement and encouraged me to get something. Bought my 10/22 in April 2012 before ever firing a shot. After shooting it I was hooked and a second followed soon after. After a brief stint later that year of debating whether the hobby was for me or not, obviously I still here. Now it may be my favorite hobby, I enjoy all aspects of it.

 

[BogWalker]

Video games. Dad had a rifle (10/22) and shotgun (Ithaca 37) used on the farm, but he wasn't a gun guy by any means. That shotgun hadn't been cleaned since the 1970's. Never really paid attention to them until the first Call of Duty came out for PS2. After that I got interested.

 

[LtScott14]

Raised on a small farm, my Dad had a 20ga single shot shotgun. We hunted a little, mostly worked on the farm all day. Dad fixed a neighbors furnace(oil fired), and as a part payment accepted a Remington 22lr Rifle.
We shot the Remington, learned marksmanship. My sisters even shot the 22lr rifle, they were pretty good at hitting targets.

Dad passed, Mom sold the farm, and moved to a modern ranch house. I got the Remington 22, so kept it clean, oiled and cased. Shotgun was gone.

Wife was involved in a "bump and rob" by three subjects coming home from work.(12:30 am). We bought 2- 38 Spec Revolvers. Applied for 2 LTCHs, and went to a training class to clean, maintain, and live range fire our firearms.

1989 applied for a part time Police job. 1990 got hired, attended LEO Academy. Fired my S&W M10, 4in, 38Spec, for qualification. Was issued a M66, 4in, 357 mag for the PD. Kept the 38Spec though.

Worked a ton of Security jobs, added a couple more firearms to my safe. Shotgun(Moss 500, Rem870), Glock pistols, 1911's.
Over the years have had ARs, AKs, M1 Carbine, Mosin Nagant(really liked that one- big rounds, easy maintenance), 30-30 Winchester, and others.

Retired from LEO work, sold off most to fund my son to College. Had them, shot them, cleaned them. Lot of good firearms out there. Learn a little from each one. Now a retired enthusiant.

 

[LoriW]

My dad forbid us from even having toy guns when we were growing up. Not BB guns. Even guns that we had to yell "bang". He later ended up buying a BB gun and then a 22LR rifle for possum control but we weren't exactly encouraged to have anything to do with them. I remember shooting the 22 exactly once, at a bucket.

Fast forward a few years and I married a soldier who decided that buying some guns would be a good investment. So we ended up with a few guns in a safe. I had a couple handguns that we never really did anything with. Then I got divorced. And I realized that I had no one but myself to depend on to protect me and my son. So I took a basic pistol class. And I liked it. But I really didn't know what to do after that. So I basically did nothing but own a couple handguns for a few years until I met my now husband. And we bought more guns and got a range membership. I got a job at Gander Mtn and eventually managed the gun counter for a while. We took another basic pistol class and then a pistol instructor class (I've also taken RSO/CRSO and defensive pistol type classes). I discovered The Well Armed Woman along the way and jumped into that with both feet. We are now instructors and own our own FFL and I'm a chapter leader for TWAW.

 

[GIJEW]

My first real experience with firearms was after I moved to Israel and later got drafted. I eventually returned to the US and decided to get a handgun for self defense. Like most everyone else here, more and more money and time got spent on guns, ammo, books, videos, classes...

 

[bocefus78]

I grew up in a "no guns in the house" family and wasn't even allowed to have a bb gun as a child. Once I moved out, and could afford them, I started buying. I haven't quit yet 20 years later, and don't plan to. I guess you could say keeping me from guns, made me want them even more. I got into shooting them lots more than usual about the time the 2012 ammo panic began. Then I got into reloading, which is even more addicting IMO.

 

[JettaKnight]

Video games. Started with Medal of Honor, Counter Strike, etc.

Learned more about them, based a lot of my purchases on guns I liked in games.

This is just how I imagined for you.