Who Was/Is The Most Inspirational Firearms Person In Your Life

[sidebite252]

Lucas McCain

 

[SURVIVOR619]

+1 for "my dad".

Marine Vet
Police Officer
SWAT Commander

Gave me my first .22 Bearcat at 7. Hooked ever since.

Thanks Dad!

 

[zackmars]

My Dad. He really didn't even teach me to shoot, but he did get me into guns

 

[BRD@66]

My dad.
BTW OP, this is a great topic.

 

[pronstar]

My new gun addiction drug me into politics with the expiring of Clinton's AWB. My new interests in politics and guns fueled each other and here I am now.

Honestly it pissed me off that my brother was a LEO and could buy full capacity mags even though he only shot to qualify. I could only get 10 rounders that I was constantly reloading. I just couldn't understand why so it fueled a fire to push back.

Living in CA had a similar effect on me. It pissed me off that the state lost its moral compass, and had a two-tiered legal system.

The more gun laws they enacted, the more I wanted what I couldn’t have.

And the more I asked “why?”, the more pissed-off I became.

Celebrities and wealthy donors have no problem getting CCW, but us plebes weren’t worthy.


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[Sam7sf]

And the more I asked “why?”, the more pissed-off I became.

This is why I can’t stand most folks. Most people are just drones.

 

[Charlie]

Most inspirational in my life was my father and my grandfather starting when I was about 12 or 13 years old!

 

[pronstar]

If we drill this down so events that impacted me, it would be the LA Riots and 9/11.

For the riots, I remember seeing how the LAPD pulled-back and setup to protect the wealthy areas of the city, while they let the rest of the city burn.

Rooftop Koreans became heroes.

Then the National Guard was called-in, and they arrived with weapons but no ammunition.

This really hit home - I wasn’t going to rely on anyone to ensure my safety.
We were conditioned to think the .gov would protect us, but when the SHTF we were left to fend for ourselves.


9/11 was similar. I had my G19 and maybe a box of ammo. Store shelves were completely sold-out.

I felt helpless and that’s a shitty feeling.


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[ecastillo219]

David, the range officer at Dietz. He taught me the basics of firearms and safety, and just an all around great guy when you get to know him.

 

[lightflyer1]

In 1966 my family moved to Alaska in the Fairbanks area, dad in the Air Force. Family friends were the Sprage family. We went camping with them. Everyone carried guns everywhere. First I learned about handling them and shooting. You didn't go anywhere without being armed.

In 1973 we had a range in the basement of our high school (Wichita, KS). We met in the mornings before class for instruction and target practice. We used old bolt action military .22's and ammo IIRC. We had multiple instructors and can't remember their names. Some of the best times I had in school.

Entered the US Army in 1977. Learned a lot about shooting, when to shoot, who to shoot etc. Also learned about how to blow stuff up. Just as much fun as shooting if you ask me!

 

[just country]

morning, do not know David at Deitz, but did know Heintz
and Doug. very good people. Heintz was from germany.
Doug was retired Navy. Heintz had some custom made
rifles he produced himself. justme gbot tum

 

[Whistler]

My dad and his best friend since before I was born I call my Uncle to this day. They hunted everything, every season and when we weren't hunting we were fishing. They built a hunting buggy from an old IH and that expanded our hunting even more.

His son and I pulled the handle on the reloader for hours filling foot lockers with shotgun shells for dove and ducks. Got my first gun for Christmas when I was 10, an H&R .410 'Topper Jr.'.

My other uncles (mom's brothers) were big hunters too and I shot many squirrels with them. As a teenager no rabbit or coyote was safe from us. I was lucky to be raised around guns, hunting and continuous safety lessons.

ETA: that reminded me of the ass chewing I got for leaning my gun against a fence and starting to climb through...

 

[Whistler]

morning, do not know David at Deitz, but did know Heintz
and Doug. very good people. Heintz was from germany.
Doug was retired Navy. Heintz had some custom made
rifles he produced himself. justme gbot tum

Thank you for taking the time to type that out legibly, I for one appreciate it.

 

[satx78247]

For me it was a nameless Border Patrol Agent on temporary assignment to the Border Patrol Academy as a firearms instructor, who took the time & effort to teach me how to shoot while I was in the Border Patrol Academy. He took the most miserable shooter in my class and turned me into a pretty good shot with a passion for firearms and shooting that has lasted a lifetime and that I passed onto others on the job and eventually to my son. Of course, he had/has a name, I just cannot remember it. Wish I could remember his name to be able to track him down and tell him how it all turned out.

GlennB,

For me, it was TX Ranger Robert M. "RED" Arnold (1915-79), who was my Sunday School teacher for 3 years. = "Red" was known as "The Law in East Texas" & he definitely lived up to that name, as vicious criminals of all sorts FEARED his technical expertise, tenacity & bravery.

Truthfully, I'm sure that what I had, reference Ranger Arnold, was nothing less than HERO WORSHIP.
(I likely would not have ever become a career LEO had it not been for his good example to, patience with & helpfulness to a young lad.)
Note: His daughter, Joan, was one of my classmates from 3rd grade through HS.

yours, satx

 

[Woohog1]

Dad grandpa and Uncle( dad's brother)
Both Grandpa and Uncle had a gun store, and Uncle was/is a gunsmith.
They all taught me about guns, and how to shoot.

 

[Riksors]

My father. His stories and adventures got me in.

 

[MetalCutter]

Believe it or not it was my Mom. Don’t get me wrong, my Dad is the greatest man I’ve ever met but he was never a “gun” guy. It was my Mom who made sure I always had plenty of BB’s for my Daisy rifle. After she saw me nailing dragonflies out of the air, she took me down to the Woolworths on Canal Street in downtown New Orleans to shoot in my “first” match. Imagine a time in history when an urban department store would hold a BB gun match in the store! Didn’t win but held my own against older boys, I couldn’t have been much older than ten or eleven. An ember became a flame as I got older and had enough time and money to shoot and compete a lot more. Thanks Mom!

 

[jrbfishn]

I was 6,1963, when pop got transferred from Germany to Georgia. One of the first things he bought when we got back was a JC Hggins .22. Stopped several places between NY, Arizona, Louisiana and Georgia to shoot it. Pop help us kids that where big enough to shoot it. Then Papaw would takes out in the swamps around Lake Charles to shoot. Some shooting and instruction from the AMUs on several posts helped also.
After HS I was an asst manager at a local DQ for a retired 1st Sgt that had 10 acres and a lot of guns of every description. I would help on his land on my day off. His wife, German and an excellent cook, would feed me and after dinner he furnished guns and ammo for us. If I wasn't hooked before that, I absolutely was then.

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[BRD@66]

......

ETA: that reminded me of the ass chewing I got for leaning my gun against a fence and starting to climb through...

Yikes! I lost a friend during the summer between 6th & 7th grades to this scenario. It was a .22 - probably a single shot bolt action, IIRC.

 

[satx78247]

Yikes! I lost a friend during the summer between 6th & 7th grades to this scenario. It was a .22 - probably a single shot bolt action, IIRC.

BRD@66,

About that same age in my life (1959), a friend/classmate lost his right arm above the elbow, while trying to cross a fence & after he propped a single-barrel 12 gauge shotgun against the fence.

yours,satx