Beginnings
I didn't. I grew up with parents who had the "not in my house" attitude toward guns. I kept a series of BB guns hidden from them over the years and shot them in the basement.
It wasn't until I was grown, had a family and moved to that pariah of gun ownership cities - New York, Brooklyn to be specific - that gun ownership and shooting competition became a reality
One day after moving into our new digs, I was walking about the neighborhood and came upon a building with the sign "Metropolitan Rod and Gun Club, est. 1934". It was and is in the middle of two historic residential districts. Who would have thought? A pistol range in a brownstone neighborhood in NYC. The mind boggled
That's when it occurred to me that maybe it was not impossible to own firearms in the Big Apple. I applied for a pistol permit. After a wait, it was issued (if one is not a felon, they have to give it to ya.) Then I joined Metro R&G which had an active group of Bullseye competitors shooting in a city-wide pistol league. I had found a shooting home. Lots of matches - galleries, 900s, 2700s, air pistol, International, rifle - followed and continue.
Pete