Posted: 9/6/2012 10:58:03 AM EDT
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I thought maybe we should take the time to talk about the person or act that got each of us individually into shooting. I know some of you just happened to get into it but if there is a special person (husband, brother, sister, friend, dad,mom, grandpa,etc) that helped you along the way why not tell a little about it. Or maybe something happened to you personal or you read about something happening to someone else that changed your mind and you want to tell others about it.
Mine is sort of obvious. My husband, cowboy, got me into shooting. I've said it before but when we meet I had only shot one gun in my life. An unknown shotgun that my uncles pretty much gave to me and said pull the trigger. It scared the shit out of me at such a young age. Being raised with 3 older brothers and my dad I was around guns used for hunting my whole life. No one ever asked me if I wanted to try. When I met cowboy I was introduced to farm life. That meant being around animals that need a bullet like snakes, armadillo, possum, coyote, etc. So he always had one on him when we were around the farm. I think it took years for me to even try a 22 revolver. I liked it but was terrified to try anything more powerful. I gradually moved up to a 22 rifle, then larger pistols, larger rifles, etc. He coached me along the way with positive reinforcement. He never chastised me for backing out or shooting once and done. He was VERY patient. Just in the last 3 years did I really start to take shooting seriously. I now see why its important to have and exercise the right to protect myself. All along the way Cowboy was there pushing me little by little. If I had a question he was there. He helped me build my first AR. No matter how many times I pointed to a part and said "Whats that?" he always answered. He always set me up for success in shooting. Now that we are a training family we have grown so much closer. I know that he is there for me in every aspect of my life and I am there for him. I am very thankful for his guidance. |
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I was raised in a "only bad guys have guns" home so it took me a long time to realize that good guys can have guns too. Mentally changing the way I viewed guns was the hardest part of this journey.
My husband's first gun was an AR15 and I thought it was the scariest thing I'd ever seen. I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. I wouldn't touch it, would barely look at it and though I was trying to be supportive of my husbands new hobby, I wondered why he had to choose one that involved super scary looking guns. He started to talk about gun stuff all the time and I'd half listen; who knew that it was all sinking in slowly. Eventually, more guns followed him home and like stray puppies there was no getting rid of them. I just learned to accept, but not necessarily like, this whole gun thing. Then came the H&K P2000. There is no logical reason why I absolutely fell in love with this gun. It was almost love at first sight. When I picked it up it felt so natural in my hands. I shot it well right off the bat and could take it down almost instinctually. I liked the reassuring glow of the night sights as it slept on the night stand beside the bed. I love everything about this gun. I even took it to my first (and only so far) IDPA shoot. That, I think, was a set back for me. I did not have a lot of training, was the only girl in our group and I cried. Yep, I cried after almost every round because the atmosphere was so emotional charged. It was so overwhelming to shoot in that environment for me. I did not have the confidence that I needed to be apart of the competition at that time. I came in last place and did not pick up the gun for almost a year. Around the same time that guns were following my husband home, I was running quite a bit by myself and taking our (not very protective) dog on daily walks. I'm a small girl and was constantly getting harassed. I started taking pepper spray with me just to give me some advantage and I was wholly against carrying a gun at the time. I kept telling my husband I did not want to "gear up" to go for a run. That went on for a couple of years before I saw the light, so to speak. At some point in the last year I began to casually read about self defense which led me to some great blogs and book written by women shooters which led me to a different perspective on gun ownership and their use in a self defense scenario. The mental block of me accepting guns was the hardest part for me to overcome. My reading along with my husbands constant encouragement and open dialogue on guns is what got me to where I am at today. I'm so grateful to him for this knowledge, for this lifestyle, for the hobby that we now share. His patience and encouragement have been instrumental and he has known when to push me, when to challenge me and when to just let me be. He is a great coach and teacher and I am so appreciative of his guidance. I am a better person because of him and I am most certainly a better shooter because of him. Thanks, babe! |
| My best friend, Steve. I owned a few guns when we met but sucked at shooting. I still have no natural talent for it but over the years, I've become fairly competent, mostly because of him. He's an incredible teacher, as well as shooter, and a great guy in general. |
Yes, all that, too, but I think they were talking about gun stuff.
But yeah, forgot about that. I think Steve was more excited when I got my first deer than I was. He's moved onto Magpul and bigger and better things these days but still finds time to yell at me on the range every once in a while. |
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Quoted:
Yes, all that, too, but I think they were talking about gun stuff.
But yeah, forgot about that. I think Steve was more excited when I got my first deer than I was. He's moved onto Magpul and bigger and better things these days but still finds time to yell at me on the range every once in a while. He must get buck fever every year. |
I bought a Crossman BB pistol when I was 16, much to the chagrin of my parents. Probably thought I'd shoot street lights out like my brother did.  Never got in trouble with it, though, and shot cans in the back yard.
Then, I met -SSDG- (future dear hubby), and graduated to a Daisy 22. I bought him a 10/22 for his HS graduation. It's just kind of gone from there! We've both learned much along the way, and have not only grown closer in life, but became better shooters as well.
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My wife doesn't post here, but I want to tell her story through my eyes, if I may. We met while we were both still in the Navy, stationed on the same ship, started dating and I soon let her know that I was "in" to shooting a bit. Eventually, one of our dates was to a Charleston, SC gun show, and I had brought along my Beretta 84 .380, with the idea of a trade, if something caught my eye. Well something (an 8&3/8" S&W Model 14) caught HER eye and so the next thing you know, she (my girlfriend of a couple months) traded MY Beretta for HER Model 14! Needless to say, I HAD to marry her to maintain my equity in the Beretta. We sort of learned to shoot together, me trying to teach her, often poorly, and of course every other guy at any range trying to "teach" her, again with very crummy results (obviously, not because she was a lousy student, but because we were all crummy teachers!). She got it, despite our best (worst) efforts, and went on to develop quite a fine collection of target and fighting handguns, as well as older .22s and small gauge shotguns. She has tried Service Rifle, Bullseye (and cleaned my clock more then a few times  ), NRA Action Pistol and currently, IDPA (struggling, but still shooting, analyzing, correcting, shooting some more, etc...) I've said before, if the shit ever hit the fan, there is nobody I'd rather have my back up against. We will cross 25 years together next March.
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It was just part of life. I never thought about it, any more than the wind blowing. Dad always had guns. We always thought he was a badass. 
I didn't really realize there was so much to the gun world until I started working in the industry. I was surprised at how vast and detailed it all was. |
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Actually, this is ChickenDaddy's wife (tried to join but AR15.com didn't like my email address, for some reason)
My husband is the one who got me into shooting. When we first met online, he made it very clear that he was into guns. I wasn't bothered - my dad had a .22 and a shotgun, mostly unused. I always felt a little more secure, knowing that my dad had them, even if they were hidden in the back of my parent's closet. I went shooting with my dad once, punching holes in a cardboard box at an outdoor range with the .22. My husband was the one who took me shooting; one of our frequent dates was going to the range. When he "introduced" me to his Glock 29, he tapped me in the middle of my forehead and said "THIS is your safety!" His wedding gift to me was a Sig P232, one of the guns that I shot the best when we would try them out at the range. I really do enjoy shooting - one of the few things that I find challenging but enjoyable. I am, however, very much out of practice, thanks to work and motherhood. Maybe I need to insist on some more range dates! 
On a side note, we jokingly gave each of our children a "gun" name. There's daughter Cosmolina Beretta, middle boy Smith Steyr, and baby boy Ruger Remington! |
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When I was young, my parents met a fellow who became my "dutch uncle". Not really related, but he was such a close family friend, Godparent and all that, that he was "Uncle Don". He was an attorney, ran a 40 acre farm outside of Portland, Oregon, raised his own beef, made his own wine, did chair caining, made his own cheese, and in short was what would be referred to as Renaissaince man. He also had Multiple Sclerocis, and was the fellow who taught me to shoot, and got my interest in firearms going.
My Father had experiences in WWII that resulted in him not really wanting much more to do with firearms. But my Father knew it would be good for us to learn about firearms, so he often took us out to Uncle Don's place. Firearms ended up being one of my lifelong hobbies, and I was even a firearms instructor for a very large law enforcement training facility for a number of years in addition to being my agencies Chief Firearms instructor. Both men are long gone, but my love for both of them, and for firearms remains. Now, I'm the one teaching the next generation just like Uncle Don did. |
