RECIT wrote:I was a city boy dumped in the country when I was 5 or 6. I got real acquainted with the country real quick though. In the first year or so my Dad bought a small .22 pump rifle and taught my brother and I gun safety and shooting proficiency. I also had a neat little pump BB gun with a scope on it and I used to give my matchbox cars heck off of our front porch. By the time I was 10 or so I had a Marlin bolt action .22 with a scope on it and was able to shoot whenever my Dad would buy me ammo. Since then I have purchased many firearms rifles and pistols. My Dad was a hunter in his younger days, but I never did take to hunting. I always liked target and marksman type shooting over killing an animal. I have no problem with hunters at all, its just not for me. I have eradicated my fair share of hogs and varmints, but that is part of living in the country. My parents still live in the same spot and I love to go out there and bring my toys so my Dad can shoot without making a huge investment. He still has that same .22 pump rifle and my old .22 Marlin. I have since bought him a Sig Mosquito and he is looking to purchase his first handgun an HK P30 and my Mom and him both are going to be taking their CHL classes in the near future. I was raised to respect guns but also shown how much fun they can be. I'm proud to be a pro gun American in this day and age.
just throw in some blue bell ice creme , and i would call that the american dream
I did not grow up around guns. When I was about 10, my rebel Uncle taught us to shoot on my grandparents land up near Temple. Then I always dreamed of being a cop. In 1981 I became one. Got involved in SWAT and havent been the same since. I am not involved in police work at this time but I love my guns and shoot whenever I can.
I finally got my CHL a few years ago because I figured it was time to be legal. I have been out of police work since 94 or so and some habits never left me! I am lucky in that my wife loves to shoot and whenever I say I want to buy new gun, she typically agrees! ( Just got to buy her a diamond once in a while!)
I grew up with guns and have ALWAYS been PRO 2A. My dad just handed down to me his very first gun. The first one he shot, I shot, my sister shot and both my kids shot. I have always been a hunter so naturally I have always had guns. It was not until I returned home from Iraq that I decided I needed to own and carry a pistol. Within the first 4 weeks I was home there were 5 murders in the town we lived in. It just got me thinking that it can happen to anyone and I want to be able to protect my family if we are ever in a situation like that. So the wife and I went to a gun show the next weekend and I picked up my very first pistol. 2 weeks later I took the CHL course.
I've always been pro-2nd Amendment and politically conservative. I was in the Boy Scouts and did some skeet shooting and plinking with a .22. My dad always had a shotgun, but he didn't prefer hunting (or fishing) as much as just camping, so we never went. I graduated, but never thought to buy a long gun. I turned 21, but never thought to buy a handgun.
I had a lot of conversations with guys from work who owned handguns, but I'd never taken the plunge to buy one. Why? Because I knew jack about them. I knew about 12-gauges, 16-gauges, 20-gauges, and .410s. I had no idea about handguns beyond a .22. It was hard to find how to immerse myself into the calibers, brands, styles, and all of the other variables without guidance.
Finally, in 2003, I got married. Now I had somebody (besides myself) that I felt responsible for protecting. There's impetus to action. About six months later, my sister married a LEO. Finally, a chance to actually go shoot! I started reading online forums, talking to guys at work more, and went to shoot with my brother-in-law (a .40 Glock). Within a couple of months, I bought my Kimber 1911.
I decided to exercise my rights to the fullest and get my CHL after I saw how much resistance I got from fellow conservatives (in the suburbs) at actually buying the gun. They all agreed in theory with gun rights, but became nervous, skeptical, and negative when I actually decided to act on it.
A year after I got my CHL, my wife and younger sister got theirs.
On the day that I found our firstborn was going to be a little girl. . . I bought my Sig Sauer P229 .40 and a Remington 870 pump action 12-gauge. They weren't really related, but I like the coincidence.
Since then I realized that I needed to be a little more practical and approach gun buying from a carrying perspective, so I've added a couple of J-Frame Smith & Wesson .357 magnums and a tactical shotgun.
Rifles were my last challenge. I was as unlearned about them a couple of years ago as I had been about handguns back in 2003. I decided that first I wanted to get an AR-15 in late 2007 and set about learning everything I could. In November, Obama was elected and the liberals pulled away in Congress, so I put my order in. Once again, the interest had been there, but I lacked the catalyst to move.
While growing up in Southeastern Massachusetts my Dad used to bring my brother,
sister, and me to go shooting on a regular basis with a .22 rifle. We used to primarily
shoot at bottles and cans at some pretty good distances. I was a pretty good shot,
but the rifle we used had a fussy bolt action to it. Dad never took it to a gunsmith,
or got a better rifle, so we were always picking spent shells out of the rifle in order
to get to the next round.
Of our 2 shooting spots, the first turned into an industrial park.
Then the 2nd one, rural, became off limits when some guy who used to be a chef
at the White House bought a house about a half mile away and started complaining
to the local gendarmes. That ended that.
Metro Boston is not very gun friendly. The cops consider anyone with a gun to be a
criminal. Poor 18 wheelers passing through Mass get stopped for speeding, the next
thing you know their handguns (used for protection when they have to park overnight in
who-knows-what-kind of deserted parking lots) are found, and they are arrested for a felony.
Moving to Georgia in 1988 opened me up to a whole new world where guns were everywhere,
and cops patted citizens on the back for shooting bad guys, and holding escaped convicts at
bay. How refreshingly logical!!
About 1994 I took a citizen handgun course given by the Cobb County, Georgia Police Department.
We had a 1/2 day classroom on GA law regarding handguns and citizen responsibilites, then we
went to the range and the cops handed out revolvers to anyone who didn't bring their own gun.
I was assigned some model of a ginormous Smith and Wesson revolver, then we blew off 50 or 100
rounds of ammo. I never would have bought my assigned gun since the grip just seemed designed
for someone with much larger hands than mine.
I moved to Texas in 1995 but still hadn't really embraced the fact that I could go the next step and actually
get a gun. Unfortunately the visibility of CHL laws is very low in the media.
A friend from Hawaii moved here about 2007 and got his CHL right away. When he explained the CHL process,
I knew I had a clean record and could get one. He had shot a variety of handguns while he was a private
security guard for the US military in Hawaii, a similarly "anti" state like my native Mass. His primary
weapon at work was a Beretta M9, but he has owned Glocks, Tauruses, and an XD .40 of his own too.
I'm not into rifles or shotguns since I'm not a hunter, don't have a deer lease, or would know how to prep
a deer if I did go hunting. But I am an NRA member and support anyone's right to enjoy whatever part of
shooting they enjoy.
My primary reason to have a CHL is because I like to stop on the highway at any time of day to help
stranded motorists, and also to defend myself at work.
Handguns are a great equalizer and to all the critics who don't like CHL, they have NO IDEA the responsibilites
we assume when we arm ourselves. Having a gun is not all fun and games. It's serious business to own deadly force.
N. Texas LTC's hold 3 breakfasts each month. All are 800 AM. OC is fine.
2nd Saturdays: Rudy's BBQ, N. Dallas Pkwy, N.bound, N. of Main St., Frisco.
3rd Saturdays: Golden Corral, 465 E. I-20, Collins St exit, Arlington.
4th Saturdays: Sunny St. Cafe, off I-20, Exit 415, Mikus Rd, Willow Park.
surprise_i'm_armed wrote:
Handguns are a great equalizer and to all the critics who don't like CHL, they have NO IDEA the responsibilites
we assume when we arm ourselves. Having a gun is not all fun and games. It's serious business to own deadly force.
longhornmike wrote:living in houston , what got me started was i just wanted to be able to defend myself and my family if any punk started any crap with us.
I learned on a .22 when i was a kid at the ranch my dad bought when i was about 4 years old, and since then, i have had many coming of age tales there, i shot his SW .357, Springer 1911, my 3030 i got for my 8th birthday, my brother's 243, 30 carbine, and anything else between those calibers .
My dad always taught safety and responsible ownership. Now i have the beginnings of a nice collection, winchester 94, beretta 92FS, and as of yesterday i put a XD9mm duty in layaway. Next on the list is a remington 870 police pump.
First time I shot a gun was when I was 10. Skeet shooting. Didn't touch a gun again until 7 years later, when my friend brought out his bb gun and the shotgun his grandpa got him for his birthday. Fast forward 3 years. I'm bored, hangin out with my friend. We visit a gun shop, and are amazed at how "cheap" they are. (This was before I knew the obama scare pushed gun prices up, I used to think all guns were at least $1000). I go home thinking about guns. Return later, buy a Sig mosquito sport. Shoot, fall in love. Brought Pops over to shoot with me the next week (he had never shot a gun before and was almost anti- gun). He enjoyed it. The story continues.
My dad always had guns (rifles and shotguns) in the house and like Skippr they were in the back of his closet, no safe. We just knew to not mess with them, but if we asked to see them he would always bring them out. He never had a handguns in the house though, his cajun mentality told him they weren't useful for hunting so he didn't need them.
Needless to say I never shot a pistol until I got my first home in '95, and I have been hooked since. I don't remember if I told my wife, I think I just bought one from a pawn shop and brought it home. My wife's not against guns she just thinks they cost to much! I have 2 boys who are 12 and 4. I have had to ease my 12 yo into shooting. He will shoot his .22 rifle but doesn't want to hunt because the deer rifles scare him. Now my 4 yo will shoot anyhting you help him hold! He loves to go hunting. The first time he heard my 30.06 go off he jumped to the back of the blind (he had on ear muffs) and his eyes were as big a half dollars. He looked at me and just said "cool". He's been asking me to buy him a pistol already, brings a tear to my eye!
RR
Para-Ordnance 1911 SSP .45
Colt 1911 Government Model (1913)
My Father always had a deer rifle and a 22 as long as I remember. For my 8th birthday I got a BB Gun and 10th birthday a Pellet Gun and 12 bithday a 22. It just snow balled from there. Killed my first Deer at age 9. My Grandfather owned land and whenever we went to check cows or whatever at least a 22 would go with us.
Wayne - not necessarily in that order.
.
I have 2 boys who are 12 and 4. I have had to ease my 12 yo into shooting. He will shoot his .22 rifle but doesn't want to hunt because the deer rifles scare him. Now my 4 yo will shoot anyhting you help him hold! 
He loves to go hunting. The first time he heard my 30.06 go off he jumped to the back of the blind (he had on ear muffs) and his eyes were as big a half dollars. He looked at me and just said "cool". He's been asking me to buy him a pistol already, brings a tear to my eye! 