I think that I am not alone for those that are of my advanced age (68).lol I had my first exposure to firearms from my dad and grandfather at around eight years of age. I would tag along when they went hunting and often got to shoot with their supervision. It was always safety first, well it was always safety first, second, third etc, etc, etc and last!!!
I got my first firearm at age twelve, a 22 short rimfire Gallery Rifle like they had at the shooting galleries at the county fairs (real guns were used back then) and I still have it today. It was purchased at a Western Auto store and we walked out with it the same day we purchased it. My first shotgun at age fourteen was a single shot .410 shotgun, that single shot shotgun made me a great shooter as I only had one chance to hit my game (rabbits, quail, dove, squirrels., pests). It was not unusual for a boy twelve to fourteen years old to go out shooting or hunting after school or during the summer. No one was upset seeing someone carrying a gun out in public. We would often go to the county dump when it was closed and shoot Rats and Crows and we got quite good at reducing the population of the pests and always more came and took their place.
In high school during hunting season myself and other classmates often had our shotgun or rifle in our car in the school parking lot and went directly to where we were going to hunt from school. No school shootings and no gangs ever, it was a different time! When I was in the ninth grade a classmate’s older brother was killed in a Duck hunting accident with a friend and once again reinforced the importance of safety first an always.
Let’s just say that I have a number of both pistols and rifles and shotguns. Rimfire, centerfire, small caliber and large caliber, break open, pump action, bolt action and semi auto configuration. Some are modern firearms, some were customized, and some are collector and curio weapons. Several belonged to my father, grandfather and one from my great grandfather. All of them are secured in a safe that only I have the combination to. Several of them have not been fired in many years because their value as collectables has gone up exponentially and they have become safe queen’s, several are taken on every trip to the shooting range. Just as I tie my own flies for fishing I reload my own ammo for shooting as do many other shooters.
Each of these weapons has a special memory and story of its own. From the Hopkins & Allen break open .32 cal revolver that my great grandfather carried as a Town Constable at the turn of the century (1900), the pistol my father concealed carried when he and his brother owned a jewelry store. An early Red Ryder BB gun that was my father’s first gun as a small boy, my first gun, the revolver that I used when I won my first pistol competition and two hunting rifles, one that brought down a Black Bear in British Columbia that I could not afford the taxidermy fee to have mounted. I found that while I generally like wild game to eat, Bear is at the bottom of my list and no amount of seasonings or spice would help it. The other rifle brought down a Wyoming Antelope and it is my favorite wild game meat, I think it is better than Venison, Elk or Moose and I like them also. Oh and BBQ Dove breasts wrapped with bacon, fried Squirrel and Duck Gumbo is da bomb.
On two occasions one of my shotguns gave several feral dogs a dirt nap when a dog pack attacked my children’s Shetland Pony many years ago, once late at night and the other time when the survivors came back during the day looking for seconds. On one occasion a gun held a peeping tom at an elderly neighbors and another occasion I held two guys that had attempted to break into my home while I waited for law enforcement to arrive. Living semi rural as I do when seconds count the Sheriff is most often 30 minutes or more away.
My firearms have given me the comfort of safety and security, pleasure in shooting them at the range and given me many fine meals and hunting memories. They were all legal to purchase or acquire at the time of acquisition and have never harmed a human being while in my control. Let no one doubt for a moment how seriously I take “MY RIGHT” to own and use these firearms. My great great ancestors were Native Americans that had property and land taken forcibly from them and were relocated to a reservation by OUR Government. I will put on war paint before it will ever happen to me or any of my family again.
Diane Fineswine can suck"my Glock".