Love of Firearms

[Lisa]

I am sitting here tonight as my husband and daughter make their way out the door to go practice air rifle and I have realized that we, as a family, spend a heck of a lot of time at a variety of ranges. Right now, at least two, sometimes all four of us head out the door to practice or coach, sometimes both. This happens a minimum of three nights a week. (Ya think I would be better, eh? )

This weekly ritual should be increasing in the not too distant future as the outdoor .22 and the long range full bore seasons reopen. Ahh…so much shooting, so little time.


Anyways, I will get to my point. I have no real memories of shooting with my father. I recall once him taking my brother and I out to the local garbage dump with a shot gun, and leaning over the car and shooting at cans. I was really young and the memory is not to clear.

My love of firearms and shooting competitively has only been ignited recently. After many many years of my husband shooting in a variety of competitive shooting disciplines and watching my daughters shoot since the age of nine in a competitive fashion and much earlier then that for fun with dad, I decided to get involved with what now seems to be a family affair. My daughters have told me that the fondest memories they have of time spent with their dad are the times they were shooting together and now how happy they are that I am shooting with them.

So, my gun enthusiast friends of the board, my questions is, was it your parent/s that ignited your love for firearms or was it someone else in your life. What ignited your passion and who do you thank for the fond memories you have and for your love of firearms.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Nice thread Lisa and it is really cool that it is a family affair at your house. My love of firearms started out pretty early watching my grandfather who was in every sence of the word a true out doorsman and a great hunter.

 

[Sukerkin]

Oddly, I can't account for where my love of rifle shooting came from. Noone other than me has 'shot' in my immediate family (other than wartime of course) so I'm at a loss. I suppose I am from a 'martial line', so maybe I'm a genetic throwback .

Sadly, with the laws being the way they are, I haven't shot since my days on the Uni Rifle Team .

 

[Lisa]

Nice thread Lisa and it is really cool that it is a family affair at your house. My love of firearms started out pretty early watching my grandfather who was in every sence of the word a true out doorsman and a great hunter.

What about your kids, Brian? Are they going to have fond memories with you and firearms/hunting?

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

What about your kids, Brian? Are they going to have fond memories with you and firearms/hunting?

You know last summer I introduced them to Archery and we went out to my range about thirty or forty times. As they both get a little older I will definately teach them how to safely and responsibly use firearms.

 

[tellner]

Even more than the love of shooting this is wonderful. You guys and your daughter actually share a hobby that all of you enjoy. You're spending time together engaging in it. This is increasingly rare in hyper-individualistic and increasingly insular American society.

 

[LawDog]

I started shooting when I was around three or four years of age. Once a month my father and his brothers used to get together on a Saturday for an afternoon of shooting. I was shooting on an NRA type junior rifle league when I was nine years of age. During my military years I developed a strong interest in military style shooting. After being discharged from the military I soon became active in the various types of combat shooting. I also became a member of a local long range rifle team, we shot at the 200, 300 & 500 yard events. I am a"distinguished expert" with a revolver, semi-automatic handgun and rifle. I have shot constant 100% at all of Instructors courses that I have attended including the FBI Instructors 50 & 25 yard police combat course and the Mass. Training Council's Firearms Instructors 25 yard course.
I am a certified machine gun instructor and I own my own Thompson, my fun gun .
As you can tell I like firearms and so do my two sons.
:shooter:

 

[wade]

WHOA.....Dude!

 

[Blindside]

I can't say I love firearms, they are more like the right tool for the right job for me. My early childhood was in BFE Alaska and firearms were a tool, I remember my dad rabbit hunting with the .22, and deer hunting with the .270. The Ruger .44 mag and the shotgun were for random encounters with bears (fortunately never used).

We later moved to suburbia in Washington state and the guns were put away. I'm fairly sure my sister doesn't even have my memories of firearms. I was reintroduced to rifles in Boy Scouts, both blackpowder and .22. I was introduced to pistols through Law Enforcement Explorer Scouts. But those skills got put away until about 8 years ago when my brother-in-law, a definate gun nut, gave me a Ruger P90 that he wasn't using anymore. That did it, I started shooting regularly and then started taking classes. Partially because I feel that if I am supposed to be able to teach self-defense I absolutely must understand firearms as an option, partially because I simply enjoy learning a new skill, and partially because I want the option should things ever turn truly bad. Mind you, this doesn't explain the AR I built last year or the FAL I just picked up today, I think I simply view it as the modern end of the martial arts that I like to study.

Lamont

 

[Grenadier]

So, my gun enthusiast friends of the board, my questions is, was it your parent/s that ignited your love for firearms or was it someone else in your life. What ignited your passion and who do you thank for the fond memories you have and for your love of firearms.

It certainly wasn't the parents. They were anti-weapon of any kind, even when it came down to those paper throwing stars that we made as children. Those were promptly confiscated, along with my crudely made nunchaku (created from two lengths of a broomstick connected with a swivelling chain), and even my crudely made bo (taken from a tree branch).

At least they relented once I was advanced enough in Karate to start kobudo training, since it was a requirement.

It wasn't until I started graduate school, that a couple of good friends, got me started with firearms. I ended up buying a few handguns, and a couple of long guns because of firearms envy. My friends taught me how to shoot, starting with a .22 LR pistol and a bolt action .22 LR rifle.

My first gun was a Ruger P89. Reliable, dependable, and solidly (over)built. Even though it only cost $289.00 new, it digested anything that I fed through it, from underpowered unjacketed lead reloads all the way to Corbon +P 115 grain JHP, and even got me through my concealed carry permit shooting exam. Eventually, though, it was getting very, very uncomfortable to carry that gun around, since it was big, bulky, and heavy, and that the Uncle Mike's shoulder holster that I bought, was really a piece of junk.

That's when I bought my first Glock, but that's a story for another day.

 

[Ceicei]

Well, my father hunted. My siblings and I would practice shooting in the backyard at targets when we were very young. Some of us also had firearm training with the Youth PAL (Police Athletic League). We also took up archery as well. I enjoyed competitive archery. When we grew up to become adults, I think I'm the only one who continued to remain involved with firearms.

A few years after we married, my husband and I got our CCW permits together.

My husband grew up in a family of avid hunters. We have four children and all of our children do go to the range with us for target shooting. My older two children (now 12 and 14 years old) have practiced with both rifles and handguns along with us over the past six years. My oldest enjoys hunting. My younger two children are still quite young (6 and 4 years old); however, they know what firearms can do. My six year old has tried shooting a few times with a BB gun. My youngest will eventually try her hand with the BB gun when she becomes old enough.

- Ceicei