My 4 grown children (2 boys and 2 girls), all enjoy shooting. However, I have noticed that many of their friends don't seem to share this interest. My younger daughter's latest boyfriend had very little exposure to firearms, but thoroughly enjoyed himself when I took him shooting recently. He even talked about purchasing a gun. My youngest son owns an AR15 and 1911 .45 ACP but says his friends aren't interested in shooting with us. We live in a rural area which is extremely gun friendly and most households around here have at least one firearm in it. I'm beginning to think that the greatest threat to the future of gun ownership is lack of interest. We owe it to the next generation to make efforts to expose them to the fun and importance of gun ownership. I think most would put down their electronic gadgets for a trip to the firing range if given the opportunity.
Firearms and the next generation.
- Thread starter AL45
- Start date
It sounds to me by the age of your kids that you are a bit older than I am.
I started shooting later than a typical hardcore, lifelong gun nut-- I fired my first shots when I wasn't quite yet 16yrs old. That was 1988 and for sure, at the time, most of the kids my age were -NOT- shooting recreationally. Grew up in a small town and there were some kids who lived in the sticks that went hunting, but I had pretty much nobody in my (large) school to chat about guns with.
It sure seems to me like there are more recreational shooters currently and in the past 3-5 yrs than there EVER was in the late 80's/early 90's.
I suppose it's just how each of us tends to see it...
But since I didn't grow up in the golden age (let's say 1950s when kids had .22's in their locker at school so they could shoot on the walk home), I would say that shooting is as popular right now as it EVER has been in my lifetime.
These days, young people post pics of themselves shooting on social media. I have had co-workers in their early 20's show me Facebook pics of their MOM taking their first range day!
I think there is more interest now than in a long, long, LONG time.
I started shooting later than a typical hardcore, lifelong gun nut-- I fired my first shots when I wasn't quite yet 16yrs old. That was 1988 and for sure, at the time, most of the kids my age were -NOT- shooting recreationally. Grew up in a small town and there were some kids who lived in the sticks that went hunting, but I had pretty much nobody in my (large) school to chat about guns with.
It sure seems to me like there are more recreational shooters currently and in the past 3-5 yrs than there EVER was in the late 80's/early 90's.
I suppose it's just how each of us tends to see it...
But since I didn't grow up in the golden age (let's say 1950s when kids had .22's in their locker at school so they could shoot on the walk home), I would say that shooting is as popular right now as it EVER has been in my lifetime.
These days, young people post pics of themselves shooting on social media. I have had co-workers in their early 20's show me Facebook pics of their MOM taking their first range day!
I think there is more interest now than in a long, long, LONG time.
g.willikers
New member
The public ranges sure are more crowded than in the past.
These days... I own more guns and ammo but shoot less.
Shooting has become more of a scheduled event, that I have to plan for. Public ranges are crowded and more require that you use their ammo.
For me, rural shooting areas are now further away than when I lived in a small west Texas town.
There are more gun owners than ever, in my opinion.
The divide between pro-gun and anti-gun has become larger and more passionately argued.
I do believe that in our children's lifetimes, gun rights will be whittled away or become socially unexceptable to a point that gun owners will hide in the shadows with the smokers. Even though that at the moment stronger pro-gun laws are being passed.
When I was a young adult, being able to carry a handgun was a right only given to a privileged few; now, for the most part, much of the country can carry.
So, who really knows? Could go either way; I feel interest will decline. I feel the right to own firearms will get chipped away.
Shooting has become more of a scheduled event, that I have to plan for. Public ranges are crowded and more require that you use their ammo.
For me, rural shooting areas are now further away than when I lived in a small west Texas town.
There are more gun owners than ever, in my opinion.
The divide between pro-gun and anti-gun has become larger and more passionately argued.
I do believe that in our children's lifetimes, gun rights will be whittled away or become socially unexceptable to a point that gun owners will hide in the shadows with the smokers. Even though that at the moment stronger pro-gun laws are being passed.
When I was a young adult, being able to carry a handgun was a right only given to a privileged few; now, for the most part, much of the country can carry.
So, who really knows? Could go either way; I feel interest will decline. I feel the right to own firearms will get chipped away.
When I was in High School in the late 70's/early 80's, it was a common sight to see a rifle or shotgun in the rear window gun rack of a pickup in the school parking lot. Occasionally, guns were brought into shop class so the stocks could be refinished. I took a hunter's safety and archery class when I was in Junior high and I remember going to the fairgrounds and shooting .22's during school hours and shooting bows on the football field. The town I grew up in had a population at that time of around 10,000. Certainly not a major city, but not a "blink and you miss it" town. No way this is happening today. I remember hunting with .22's when I was about 10 and shotguns at about 12, with no adult supervision. I can tell you that we never had so much as a near accident. Safety was hammered into us from the time we were born. Nowadays, I would shutter at the thought of most 10 to 18 year olds I know carrying a firearm in the field. I'm glad to hear that the ranges are full. Maybe there is indeed hope.
I think the interest is potentially there in each young person, but social/political movements have been active for a long time and joining those "causes" is still popular. Kids (and their parents) are kept in the dark about firearms, or the firearms are demonized as being "the problem". The opposite - pushing for more outdoors activities, hunting, and gun rights is not quite as celebrated in the news these days.
People brag about being vegetarian, gluten free, kale-smoothie drinkers.
As the agricultural scene becomes less celebrated/desirable in pop culture it makes sense that what is fashionable to do as far as hobbies go would change. Any main stream Prime Time shows about loving families hunting/fishing/shooting together being responsible and making good choices? Wouldn't make the cut. The anti-hero is still popular in movies - the man who is rude, law breaking, perhaps murderous, but is still the "good guy" How popular is it to be safe and follow rules? - that, I think is not new.
As far as safety/responsibility, it's not just with firearms but popular culture tends to say it's the arrow not the indian so *everything is more restrictive. Or "safe". That way less are sued and even the most un-trustworthy child won't have the chance to do himself/herself harm. Until they are not children anymore.
There's nothing intrinsically noble about the shooting sports. But there is a lot that can be learned, experienced, and gained through participating - just as there would be for any sport or discipline. And there's some good folk involved.
Strangely, although most boys have been exposed to firearms in their video games, I don't see every young male seeking to learn to shoot when they come of age. Perhaps the game stays a game in their mind, which may be also a way to keep some with extreme violence from affecting them as well. So far every young person (mostly post graduate age) I've taken shooting has liked it, but just didn't have the uncle/dad/grandpa who taught them to shoot on a family farm. Families are physically spreading apart too, and there's only so much you can do by video phone. Also different cultures/nationalities of course be less likely to have a family background in firearms.
People brag about being vegetarian, gluten free, kale-smoothie drinkers.
As the agricultural scene becomes less celebrated/desirable in pop culture it makes sense that what is fashionable to do as far as hobbies go would change. Any main stream Prime Time shows about loving families hunting/fishing/shooting together being responsible and making good choices? Wouldn't make the cut. The anti-hero is still popular in movies - the man who is rude, law breaking, perhaps murderous, but is still the "good guy" How popular is it to be safe and follow rules? - that, I think is not new.
As far as safety/responsibility, it's not just with firearms but popular culture tends to say it's the arrow not the indian so *everything is more restrictive. Or "safe". That way less are sued and even the most un-trustworthy child won't have the chance to do himself/herself harm. Until they are not children anymore.
There's nothing intrinsically noble about the shooting sports. But there is a lot that can be learned, experienced, and gained through participating - just as there would be for any sport or discipline. And there's some good folk involved.
Strangely, although most boys have been exposed to firearms in their video games, I don't see every young male seeking to learn to shoot when they come of age. Perhaps the game stays a game in their mind, which may be also a way to keep some with extreme violence from affecting them as well. So far every young person (mostly post graduate age) I've taken shooting has liked it, but just didn't have the uncle/dad/grandpa who taught them to shoot on a family farm. Families are physically spreading apart too, and there's only so much you can do by video phone. Also different cultures/nationalities of course be less likely to have a family background in firearms.
Where do you shoot?
I grew up with a range at the YMCA. Also 30 minutes on a bicycle would get me out of town far enough to shoot gophers with a .22.
Now days a kid on a bicycle with a rifle would bring down law enforcement and from where I lived it would be more like two hours of pedaling to get to a rural area.
That said, take a look at what is happening today in MN. High School trap shooting!!!
http://mnclaytarget.com/
Shooting is fun! We should spread the word on that!
I grew up with a range at the YMCA. Also 30 minutes on a bicycle would get me out of town far enough to shoot gophers with a .22.
Now days a kid on a bicycle with a rifle would bring down law enforcement and from where I lived it would be more like two hours of pedaling to get to a rural area.
That said, take a look at what is happening today in MN. High School trap shooting!!!
http://mnclaytarget.com/
Shooting is fun! We should spread the word on that!
Video games are selling a ton of guns to young adults.
Some kids will grow up around guns and never want to see one as an adult. Others will come from a family sheltered against them, and the kids will grow up into hunters, collectors, shooters, etc.
Generational hunters are dwindling. Most young people don't care about hunting. (I certainly have no interest in it), but we buy and shoot guns at a significant rate. And we are also very vocal advocates of 2A rights. Which is fine, as the 2A has about as much to do with hunting as the first has to do with mowing your lawn.
Some kids will grow up around guns and never want to see one as an adult. Others will come from a family sheltered against them, and the kids will grow up into hunters, collectors, shooters, etc.
Generational hunters are dwindling. Most young people don't care about hunting. (I certainly have no interest in it), but we buy and shoot guns at a significant rate. And we are also very vocal advocates of 2A rights. Which is fine, as the 2A has about as much to do with hunting as the first has to do with mowing your lawn.
Several years ago, a second generation member of a family that ran a high volume gun shop commented to me about guns and the younger generation. He was a younger guy himself. He believed that the gun business was dying out because the younger people didn't care about guns. This shop's inventory was about 2/3 the latest black guns that so many of the younger generation seems so attracted to,that is if they have any interest in firearms at all. Video game influence I guess. I suspect that ultimately, he was right. It seems to me that the overwhelming majority of the next generation is completely uninterested in putting down whatever electronic gadget they are interacting with to go to the range. I have spent most of my adult life in LE. For years, most younger officers I have worked with seemed primarily interested in electronic gadgets and/or sports as recreational pursuits. For most, firearms were just pieces of equipment that they are required to train, carry and qualify with. This is not to say that some aren't quite competent in the use of that equipment. Many are. But, firearms as an interest outside the job, not so much. I use LE as an example because that is a segment of the next generation that I interacted with daily. I have little doubt that their attitudes mirror those of their younger generation peers....ymmv
I think that hunting has been in slow decline for years, as has been rural culture in general, but young people today are far more exposed to positive examples of pistols for defense, and military rifles. It's simply a matter of what they grow up seeing as normal and acceptable. In the 70's or 80's, if you saw a man with a pistol in a non-hunting setting, he was either a cop or a criminal. Anybody who is over 50 would likely agree that the general atmosphere for accepting private carry for defensive purposes is much better today than ever before, except for pockets of urban dwellers in areas where they are anti-gun and less tolerant of individual freedom.
One could say there is nothing intrinsically noble about ANY sport.
Many would disagree.
Earlier generations got into cars, or guns, (and the lucky few, aircraft) as hobbies. Today the majority are getting into something on a video screen, instead.
Appreciation of skilled craftsmanship (along with skilled craftsmen) is fading. The respect for someone who could turn out something not only useful, but esthetically pleasing out of wood and steel is now given to someone who "writes code".
On the other hand, I think respecting someone who writes code, is better than idolizing someone who's talent begins and ends with "throw the ball good".
44 Amp,
Agreed, nothing intrinsically noble about any sport in and of itself. Each sport or field of interest/occupation *can be an outlet for a person to persevere, perfect, create, and grow in skill, push boundaries. In the process, there's a potential for character traits to develop - patience, courage, etc...
But that doesn't always translate into transforming someone as a whole. Some competitors might be diligent with their own training but not give their own family the time of day.
We just happen to like the shooting sports and related subjects, and all we can do is show others how much it could mean to them, should they be open to learn.
I'm sure there is skill and dedication plenty to be admired in more popular sports like football, baseball, golf. But I usually am on guard regarding those areas simply because they are very popular and I remember that millions of dollars are involved. Greed and fame can be a strong motivator.
Agreed, nothing intrinsically noble about any sport in and of itself. Each sport or field of interest/occupation *can be an outlet for a person to persevere, perfect, create, and grow in skill, push boundaries. In the process, there's a potential for character traits to develop - patience, courage, etc...
But that doesn't always translate into transforming someone as a whole. Some competitors might be diligent with their own training but not give their own family the time of day.
We just happen to like the shooting sports and related subjects, and all we can do is show others how much it could mean to them, should they be open to learn.
I'm sure there is skill and dedication plenty to be admired in more popular sports like football, baseball, golf. But I usually am on guard regarding those areas simply because they are very popular and I remember that millions of dollars are involved. Greed and fame can be a strong motivator.
Grocery stores and fast food destroyed hunting long ago. Have you ever actually thought about how utterly absurd it is to stroll around in a warehouse with a basket on wheels throwing boxes and cans of processed food, and wrapped packages of meat in it? You pull up to a check out line, wait your turn and go through the following drill:
"Did you find everything alright today?"
"Yes, thanks"
clerk scans boxes and packages of food
....I slide card
....wait....
"Here's your receipt, have a nice day"
"Thanks"....take thin plastic bags of food and walk away.
That is what has replaced hunting and farming. Not video games, not the apathy of this generation of kids. Not even drugs, marijuana, crappy music, or mindless TV. No, it was our parents and grandparents that killed hunting and farming, all in the name of progress. We are stuck trying to preserve a way of life that didn't even exist in most of our parents' lifetimes.
Haha, you must mean that those evildoers have quashed subsistence farming, right? I can't see where the term "absurd" belongs in the conversation. Even the Spam, Nutella and aerosol cheese cans come as a result of farming.
The only way I can see any of that as absurd is if you can agree that it is absurd that we have the ability to have this conversation on an internet discussion forum. Does your computer run on coal or fuel oil?
The only way I can see any of that as absurd is if you can agree that it is absurd that we have the ability to have this conversation on an internet discussion forum. Does your computer run on coal or fuel oil?
Huh? Specialization of trades to include raised cattle and butchers has been in place for in excess of 10 generations, maybe more if you include what would pass for ancient concepts of "urbanity". Hunting has long been the domain of the landed in European cultures for several hundred years. Hunting anything beyond small game has never been very common for the common man. The King's Beasts were not for you to eat. And catching even some small doe could get you locked up and unable to provide for your family.
Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. The people that actually enjoy hunting have unprecedented access and by your figure, an all time low of competing participants. While those of us "kids" can enjoy the fruits of modernity. But that was a cute attempt at calling us a bunch of drug and video game obsessed losers. Just keep in mind that it was your generation that got us here.........
But with an attitude like yours, you wonder why we find other things to do outdoors like mountain bike, kayak, low impact camping, etc, etc. Nature is pretty enjoyable when you're not trying to kill it.Back before I was married, I did partake on one spectacular Cougar Hunt at the Whole Foods Market. I definitely packed plenty of meat after that hunt. But these days, I just go for the Kale for my smoothies, some exceedingly expensive cheeses, and aged prime rib.
Also, I probably spend more time in the woods/nature than you do Elmer.
shootniron
New member
I see more young people with guns now, than I have at anytime in my 55yrs.
I grew up in this area, a very gun friendly area, and there are so many more guns around now, than when I grew up...I really have a hard time believing it.
Our local 4-H Project Safe skeet team has 100 members (all school kids) and they shoot regularly...certainly was nothing like that around when I grew up.
I grew up in this area, a very gun friendly area, and there are so many more guns around now, than when I grew up...I really have a hard time believing it.
Our local 4-H Project Safe skeet team has 100 members (all school kids) and they shoot regularly...certainly was nothing like that around when I grew up.
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I am probably just past the age that most people refer to as the “next generation”. I am 25 and fired my first shot out of a 9mm hipoint c9 when I was 21. Since then I have bought 43 guns and started reloading with earnest. It has become somewhat of an obsession.
I live in a mixed area where there plenty of support for gun rights and quite of bit of opposition as well. What I see in my generation and the next one is a lack of passion for anything shooting related. Even my friends that come shooting with me only do it as a “neat thing to do on a Saturday morning.” I think the way to cement a permanent position for firearms beyond their status as a constitutional right is to establish them in the minds of people in ways similar to footballs, baseballs, and soccer balls.
I believe that to capture the imaginations of the next generation, we need to raise the status the shooting sports to the same level that a non-firearms enthusiast sees football and basketball. I want to see kids hang posters and articles featuring pro-shooters the same way they may hang one of LeBraun James or Peyton Manning.
That is my point of view. Right now, our sport and hobby is protected and supported by constitutional rights and the widespread belief in a right to protect one’s self (though many disagree on the method). If we make our sport into something that ANYONE can appreciate and enjoy watching on TV on a Sunday afternoon, we then gain support by groups of people that have never even given gun rights a second thought.
Just my two cents…
I live in a mixed area where there plenty of support for gun rights and quite of bit of opposition as well. What I see in my generation and the next one is a lack of passion for anything shooting related. Even my friends that come shooting with me only do it as a “neat thing to do on a Saturday morning.” I think the way to cement a permanent position for firearms beyond their status as a constitutional right is to establish them in the minds of people in ways similar to footballs, baseballs, and soccer balls.
I believe that to capture the imaginations of the next generation, we need to raise the status the shooting sports to the same level that a non-firearms enthusiast sees football and basketball. I want to see kids hang posters and articles featuring pro-shooters the same way they may hang one of LeBraun James or Peyton Manning.
That is my point of view. Right now, our sport and hobby is protected and supported by constitutional rights and the widespread belief in a right to protect one’s self (though many disagree on the method). If we make our sport into something that ANYONE can appreciate and enjoy watching on TV on a Sunday afternoon, we then gain support by groups of people that have never even given gun rights a second thought.
Just my two cents…
Dragline45
New member
I am only 27 and live in MA, which is for the most part a pretty liberal anti-gun state. One of my favorite things to do is take new shooters shooting, and I have very rarely been turned down when I asked if they would like to go. Many of which were younger than I am, and I haven't had a single person not enjoy themselves or say they wouldn't want to go again. Several of those people went on to get firearms licenses after and get guns of their own. In the past 5 years there have been more new gun owners in MA than ever before, which we desperately need in this state.
Food markets have been around for centuries, and no one says you need to buy processed food. Processed food maybe makes up 5% of my diet. Not sure I follow your logic.
Food markets have been around for centuries, and no one says you need to buy processed food. Processed food maybe makes up 5% of my diet. Not sure I follow your logic.
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