When did you realize that you were a gunnut?

[mnrivrat]

Snake Eyes --

That Scares the crappolla out of me also !!

I was born with the right to defend myself and the obligation to defend my country . Being a gun nut just makes me better at it !

I had the privilage of genitic incoding for this trait .

 

[Hardtarget]

GUNNUTS!? You mean these things grow on TREES!?
I'VE been buying 'em ....I'm gonna' get sick....nobody told me...
I've always been a gun nut, at least since about '58.
Mark.

 

[sm]

I was born this way.

Seriously I was brought home and put in my "crib"...actually a dresser drawer, and the High Standard Sentenial , in the room was mine from get - go. I never really played with the autographed boxing gloves hanging in up on the wall...but I teethed the hell out of the leather holster. Word is mom or dad would toss the gloves, holster on the floor and I went for the holster everytime. Dad didn't get a boxer...sired a shooter!

Somewhere in a hat box is a old black and white photo of me mom says at age 2 maybe 3, sitting on maternal Grandma's knee shooting that High Standard...I was helping. Grandma, mom and I shot a bunch...at 6 introduced to a Singer Gummit 45 ACP...the rest is history. Yep Born this way.

 

[D.W. Drang]

Maybe the question should be "How many of us were ever NOT a gun nut?"

 

[fallingblock]

Since 1954......

I was playing in the yard and Dad brought out a kitchen chair, then the Remington 241

We set up a row of cans and he steadied the rifle for me while I knocked (some of) them over.

I was five, and he said that was old enough to learn how to shoot.

After that, I pestered him so often to go shooting that he may have wished he'd left it for later .

 

[wardog]

thorbry, ditto!

It's amusing to go into a small shop and find the shop has less guns than I do!

When I was about 10 I somehow convinced my mom to buy me a Guns & Ammo magazine. Read it cover to cover about 20 times. Still remember one article was on a Randall .45 "LeMay" model, and another article was on a high quality stainless P38 (or possible P08) reproduction.

 

[Majic]

I am not a gunnut. I am a gun fastener.

 

[stevelyn]

When I could barely walk, I remember my dad getting ready to go hunting and bringing out the appropriate gun for the occassion. I became fascinated with it. Then the Herter's catalgues showed up. I think I was reading Herter's before long before Dr. Seuss. I miss the Herter's catalogues. I read or at least looked through all the outdoor mags I could get my hands on. I also had a facination of the military and military weapons. Probably started from watching Walter Cronkite on the evening news narrating the latest battles and seeing images of what was happening in Vietnam.
As a little kid I started a lot of conversations and asked a lot of questions about guns. Some in my family thought I was nuts. Later in life I realized it their political leanings that dictated their attitudes.
I must have been born this way. I have always associated guns with a free and independent lifestyle.

My wife said it was me or the guns, I still have the guns.

The first issue that gets cleared up immediately upon meeting new/potential GFs. Most have been pretty cool with it. And the current one is in marksmanship training. She graduated from Colibris in the living room to long rifles on the range. And has expressed interest in shooting my new .54 Lyman GPR.

 

[rick458]

I got my first clue in the Marine Corps, I would shoot all the extra rounds the other guys didn't want to, (we went through 3 IG inspections while I was in and the rifles had to be REALLY clean) in fact I blew the gas tube of my M16A1 at the range one night during a FPF drill.
then when I took my Hi Power to the range for the first time I wasn't even done shooting, when I was planning on how soon I could get back.
then I discovered (really discovered) 1911s. Many Pistols rifles and 2 Dillons later I think I may have a slight obsession with them.

 

[Bainx]

When Did I Realize That I Was a Gun-Nut?

...when I started attending the second day of the gunshow purely for entertainment value!

 

[Hillman]

Although it may have been a premonition of becoming a "gun nut", I remember it vividly.

I had never shot a pistol before, but wanted to. So I stopped at a local range and rented a 9mm. The counterperson gave me a safety talk, showed me how the gun worked, then sent me back to the range.

I was alone. It was dark. I loaded the magazine, racked the slide. The tension building .... safety off .... pulling the trigger. ***BOOM***. It was as if the heavens parted.

It was then I knew it was destiny.

 

[one-shot-one]

when..........

when i was 8 or 9 (back in the late 1960's)
one saterday afternoon took down my granddads gun digest/ shooter bible and memerized all the rifle and pistol muzzle velocities from the ballistics charts in the back.....................

 

[Stoney]

About two seconds after I fired my dad's .22 for the first time. That was in 1967 or 1968.

 

[GigaBuist]

Well, like others have said, I was pretty much born one. Never turned down a chance as a kid to go shooting. That all stopped around age 9 I think though due to a split in our extended family.

As an "adult" at 21 I got an opportunity to shooting again -- I jumped on it. Ended up buying some pistols within a couple of weeks of that IIRC.

Now, when I -realized- I had become a "gun nut": I was out shooting with a buddy at his parent's house. When we got done I packed up whatever I had brought (probably a CZ-75, Glock 21, AR-15 and AK-47 clone), and the "extra" ammo we didn't shoot, which was around 200rnds left in an army surplus ammo can. I actually said to my buddy, "Ya know those guys you hear about that everybody thinks is crazy because they've got a buttload of ammo and guns all the time?" ... "Yeah." ... "I'm pretty sure I've become one of them. Oh well." We kind of laughed about it.

Few months later (didn't shoot during the very cold winter much) I was at a gunshow with the same guy, my brother, and another friend. We just sorta "stopped in" since we were coming back home from watching a wrestling meet. Weeelll.... I saw myself a Soviet M44 wrapped in paper and twine with explicit instructions on it to NOT remove the paper. I asked if they were unissued/unfired, sales person said yep... so I said I'd buy one. Brother looks at me (not a gun guy) and says, "Why are you buying THAT.. you can't even see it!"... my reply was something along the lines of "It's a nice gun... trust me." He just rolls his eyes. Solidified, right there.

 

[Kim]

Dad gave me my first firearm at age 18. Wasn't really a gun nut then but I carried it for self defense. Then at age 35 I started hunting. Still was not a gun nut. Got a computer and started just checking out gun sites. Found out about the Emerson case in the 5th Circuit. Read about a 5 foot stack of legal law articles. When I read that Clinton (the fricking president of the USA) went to court and flat out argued I did not have a constitutional right to own a firearm I got really mad. Now I own many just because I can and I like them. Everytime an anti-gun politician gets under my skin I buy another one because it makes me feel good. I'm pursuing my happiness that way. I also preach to everyone I know although I've toned it down a bit. Give money to many pro-gun groups and write and call my reps and senators. Yep I am a full blown female GYN NUT and proud of it!

 

[BluesBear]

KIM,

Welcome to THR ! We're damn glad to have you here!

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Around 1965 or so. A while ago my wife said, when I reported my intention to buy another gun, "You don't need all these guns!"

That was about 5 guns ago.

 

[Prodigalshooter]

Let's see, ummm, when I woke up, I guess.

 

[c_yeager]

I realized i was a gunnut when i found out that there where people out there who really wanted to take away my meager collection of firearms (late teens) and it really really pissed me off.

 

[redneck2]

In my youth...

when I had subscriptions to G&A, Field & Stream. Used to about memorize Elmer Keith's articles

The real "point" was when my uncle took me to one of the local gun shops. I could answer questions for the customers that guys behind the counter didn't know

I think I had the MV of every round memorized...wish I'd have been that good at math and history

 

[Willard]

Since before I can remember. I was always playing cops and robbers and Army when I was a kid (like before 5 years old). About half of our neighborhood worked at Colts making M-16's and the rest at Pratt and Whitney making jet engines for military aircraft.

Dad took me shooting at when I was five (summer of 1970), a little Remington rolling block .22 that I still have. Downhill ever since

 

[Brian Williams]

When I found a Stevens Little Scout 14-1/2 in my parents closet I was 8. I made a new firing pin from a nail and a bolt pin from a machine screw, formed a new trigger guard from an aluminum pot.

I got my first shooter when I was 16 after 3 years of begging, it was a Sears bolt with a weaver 4x scope.

Stupid me I got in to booze and recreational drugs and left guns for a few years, then just forgot guns for about 20 years and my son wanted to go hunting and I recieved a little cash from a relative who died and I got started again woohoo what a ride. I now have 6 long guns and 11 handguns.

 

[foghornl]

Hmmmmm.......

Almost 40 years ago, when asked what I wanted for Christmas, I said "Bullets!"

 

[Brian Dale]

The first time I touched a Stevens Crack Shot .22 rifle, shooting with my Dad at age 4 or 5. It was a long time before I realized that not everyone was the same way - my mother and a few relatives aren't enthusiastic shooters, but my brother, sister and most of the family (aunts, uncles, 1 pair of grandparents, most of my great uncles...) are, or were.

My GF's not a shooter - in her words, it's "not her cup of tea" - but she does put ammo in my stocking every Christmas.

 

[Captain Bligh]

I became interested in shooting sports at an early age, as soon as I was big enough to follow my Dad in the woods and keep up. It's been a life-long hobby, sometimes practiced more intensely than others.

But, I don't consider myself a gun nut. No wish to offend anyone, but I consider gun nuts to be folks that have "pry my cold dead fingers" bumper stickers, are one issue people that can't talk about or enjoy anything besides guns, are constantly rah-rah in-your-face about their beliefs and interest, and wear camo to the mall. Uh, hello? Camo doesn't work in the mall. I can still see you!

I know some folks I consider to be "gun nuts" but I have about as much in common with them as I do sheeple.

Not a gun nut,
RJ