Proud gunower? That's a hard one to answer, since it seems a little arrogant to take pride in one's God-Given right to life, libert and pursuit of happines.
Do I have guns I'm proud of? Well, yes!
Am I proud when I shoot well? Hell, yes!
Do I shirk from others knowing I own guns and avoid them? Hell, no!
Each in our own little way can help those who have been programmed to think of guns (whether used as self defense tools or for sport) as evil to break out of their mind traps.
Before I left corporate America my boss and others in the office would often say thing like "She shoots; better not piss HER off!" (How's that for hate speech?)
Finally the day came when my Chicago bred -liberal boss pulled me into his office, shut the door and kinda whispered. "Say, I've got squirrels in my attic (he was referring to his home
and they are chewing up the wiring. Can you lend me a .22 to shoot them with?"
I told him no, and advised him to trim any trees that that were giving squirrels access. He replied that he'd rather just shoot them. Again I said no, that it would be irresponsible of me to lend him a firearm to use in a densely populated area without the proper training; and wouldn't feel right putting at risk all the children in his neighborhood.
Then the kicker! He said he used to be Chicago Cop and knew how to use guns.
(Using a .22 in the attic of a high dollar housing development?!)
That floored me; but the answer that came out was still "No, if you are not willing to invest the money, time, thought, and responsibility for firearms ownership then I'm not going to lend you one at your whim. I told him to call the government agencies set up to protect him from squirrels - and tendered my resignation shortly thereafter.
Anyway, these days the UPS gal, mail carriers, the well digger, the carpenters, the plumbers, the Fed Ex guy and all our neighbors have gotten used to seeing firearms on my person, and most them have turned out to be "closet shooters" just waiting for someone to show them it was socially acceptable.
I'll take any little victory in gun & liberty education we can get.
My favorite so far is when the guy at the corner store (with the big NO GUNS ALLOWED sign) called me up and told me had something to show me...what he pulled out from under the counter was an old Colt he had bought at the flea market!
Found out that the "NO GUNS" sign was to comply with some state signage law, and is totally irregarded by both the owner and the patrons.