There's No Way To Poll This... So Let's Get Real... Why Do YOU Own Gun... If You Do...

[hollowdweller]

33. I grew up in a gun family

My granddad was an avid gun trader, hunter and fisherman. So was my dad.

On Sunday's my dad would take me out to this old gunsmith's place that my granddad was friends with.

He lived in this huge hollow which is now, sadly a golf course and he had a range set up.

People would come and shoot and talk guns.

When I got old enough I got into hunting and used to go with my dad all the time.

A whole bunch of us would go out and camp out all week in a tent and deer hunt and laugh and tell tales and stuff.

Now, sadly the land we hunted on back then when I was about 27 was clearcut by the timber company that owned it and the hunting there was no more.....

I'd say of my dad, grand dad, and myself I'm definitely more of a collector than them. My granddad was into selling guns and making money he bought and sold all the time. My granddad was a huge coin collector though. My Dad had a few guns that he kept but he wasn't averse to selling them.

I think my first gun was an old bolt action 94 Swedish Mauser way overpowered for me at the time but I love antiques and old stuff. I still have it.

After Westvaco cut our hunting grounds and the old gunsmith had long since retired sold out his farm and moved to Florida my wife and I bought a bunch of land and now nobody can ever clearcut my hunting grounds. I have a gun range right by my house I can shoot at anytime I want.

My granddad is dead. My dad is really too old to hunt anymore so my wife and I are sort of it in the family. My brother still has guns but doesn't hunt anymore.

I have a gun for home defense but I feel safe without one. My state has concealed carry but I've never bothered to get a license because I feel safe. I'm not paranoid.

I just like guns. Shooting them, trying to do better than I did the last time. The satisfaction of harvesting some of your own food yourself off your own land. The history behind the old guns. The enjoyment of talking with other collectors or shooting with friends.

Some of my most fun times were shooting and camping with my dad, going to gun stores with him and my granddad and talking guns with all the old codgers there. So anytime I shoot or anything it's like going back.

I have a few semi auto guns but not many. No assault weapons. They don't interest me. They are made for a market no history to them like the old mausers or other old guns. Also to me there is a marksmanship aspect to it, so a semi auto because you have so many rounds you don't concentrate as much so you waste ammo.

I have an old Ruger Mark 1 semi auto .22 with a long barrel I like to shoot, made in 1964, but anymore I really enjoy revolver shooting and black powder because with the fewer rounds and the longer loading time you take your time shooting more and especially with the black powder gun there's a whole ritual to shooting it.

So there you go!