How did you get introduced to firearms?

I know this is how we were introduced to firearms but I wanted to share this my 4 year old daughter was able to hit a target 7 yards away with my old Daisy BB gun. I had her shoulder it, find the target, turn off the safety, then squeeze off the shot. All I did was hold the end of the barrel to stabilize it. To say the least I am one proud daddy. I hope she remembers this as positively as I will.:D
 
I grew up in the cattle ranching Sandhills in Nebraska in the 1930s and there was a concerted effort to wipe out coyotes completely. Never happened, of course, but the reduction of coyotes for those years gave me a great increase in rabbits and prairie dogs to shoot with the 22 single shot I got for my 6th birthday - got a well used Winchester 94 in 32 special the next year since I thought coyotes should be given at least a humane one shot kill - and a 22 wasn't up to that -

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My dog helped me but somehow wasn't in this shot.

I was an adult before I got a BB gun - Daisy Red Ryder
 
I was lucky to grow up in a house full of guns. My Dad gave me my first rifle, a Remington 514, when I was seven years old. He was in the USAF and we moved around alot but when I was nine, he got me involved in competive indoor match shooting, in 1963. It was the Chanute (AFB) Junior Rifle Club, we shot 50' indoor match with heavy barreled, bolt action, 22LR target rifles. I don't remember for sure but I believe that they were all Remingtons (owned by the Air Force and supplied to the club).

I've been addicted to guns, shooting, hunting, and handloading ever since.

My brother is also a shooter, as well as my son, nephews and 4 out of 5 brothers in law. Number 5 is a rabid anti-gun/hunting guy. What she sees in him?....
 
I forgot to mention, in high school Junior ROTC, I signed up because they furnishied us 22 rifles and ammo to shoot - free of charge - :)
 
An interesting question for me because I have no idea how I ever got interested in firearms. Nobody in my immediate family shoots or hunts nor gives a hoot about guns. Yet, at a very early age (guessing around age ten or so), I became very interested in firearms (all kinds; from air guns, to black powder to AR-15s) and, at age seventy, have never looked back. It's just in my blood I guess (there have been times when I've wondered if I might be an adopted child...:)).
 
OJ said:
I forgot to mention, in high school Junior ROTC, I signed up because they furnishied us 22 rifles and ammo to shoot - free of charge -
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Same here. We had quite the rifle team. I elected to wear a rifle team letter pin on my school jacket in lieu of baseball or football.

Heck, we had to shoot for score once a semster as a test grade in NJROTC.

Easiest A I've ever made.
 
I was raised in a home back east, without guns.

When I was 28 I ran away from a scary boyfriend (if you're reading this, K, how's jail?) I moved to a small town in Wyoming. One day I called the sheriff and asked him if he would be able to get to me in time if I needed to be rescued. He thought about it for a couple of seconds, and then replied "well, we could get to you in time to notify your parents."

I went down to the sheriff's office the next day, and took my first gun lesson.
 
I grew up in a gun-free house, because my Mom had an intense dislike for them, having found her mother's body after she committed suicide with a pistol. I wasn't even allowed toy guns for a long time. My first gun, therefore, was made of Construx (like Legos but better) and of my own design. This is indicative of the fascination they always held for me. Still, my first real gun didn't come until I was in college... my younger brother talked me into going in a local gun shop, and I was tickled to find some interesting old rifles that were not expensive. Among them were Mausers, an m59/66 SKS, Mosins, and an SVT-40. I grabbed the neatest looking old rifle of the bunch that didn't cost a fortune... the SKS. I didn't know ANYTHING about it, and had to ask some pretty dumb questions. I walked out with a few boxes of Golden Tiger ammo, leaving behind a shop clerk who I'm sure though he would read about how I accidentally blew myself up a few days later. The milsurp world had opened to me, and being fanned by my love of history, that flame still hasn't gone out. While I have other sporting-style firearms now, I still have that (modified now) SKS, along with an M91/44 and K98k.

Better still, my interest spread to my family! My Dad has a safe of Mosins, a Persian Mauser, a K31, and a handful of modern rifles and pistols. It took a number of years, but my Mom even got in on it, purchasing a "Mare's Leg" in 22 LR this past fall! Guns have done nothing but good for me, I'm very glad my brother talked me into going in that gun shop. :)
 
My father was anti gun and tried to stop my uncle and grandfather from teaching me about guns, and how to shoot. But it didn't work. I think my mother stepped in and sided with them, or with allowing me to make my own decision.
My uncle had a Colt .38 and my grandfather a bolt action .22. So that was where I started 50 some years ago. I was young, but I don't remember my age.
I had forgot all about the bb gun til I read this thread.
dc
 
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Got this .22 single shot rifle for my 6th birthday - we lived WAY out in the country - I was nearly 16 when my folks moved to the city and I found out there were other ways to make a living besides being a cowboy. Before I got my own gun, I was shooting my mother's .410 double barrel shotgun.

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My wife gave me this one for our twenty-fifth anniversary eight years ago -

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Life continues to be good -
 
I don't remember the first time I shot a gun. My dad used to take us out plinking with the 22. When I was older I got a 410 and wounded birds all over the farm.
 
coey 22 single shot when 5 told to shoot the pack rats that were getting in the eaves of the house 30-30 when i was 10, 725 270 at 13 hunting was for food and to kill pests and for the cash brought in by guiding european and American hunters first big game was a moose when my father would not get out of his cot told me to shoot it or waik him when coffee was ready i was 9 he drove through town telling everyone i was hooked still have the coey and 30-30 wish I had never got rid of the 725
 
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