I Was A Gun Owner When... Poll

[boomer34]

Well, M08, I can't quite tell you about the Mayflower, but I can tell you about playing "War" during WWII. As kids we were able to buy replica wooden guns, both the M1 and the Carbine and divide up sides. The big argument was who was the "enemy" (Japanese or German) because the "enemy" ended up scattered over the neighborhood "dead". You did not want to be one of the first ones "shot" because you were out of the game. Similar to Paintball now I guess but a lot less messier.

I remember my best friend and I built a pretty good replica of a .50 cal macnine gun out of wood and set up a "pill box" in his parents garage. They could not park the car in the garage for two months while we were fighting our version of WWII. 

[martin08]

Those war games were still being played out in the 1960's in rural Maine.  We had the usual suspects as enemies - Germans and Japanese.  Thanks for the memories. 

But I was referring to "King Phillip" for you, Boomer. 


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Philip's_War

[Hillbilly61]

They still play WWII games today - updated with the Internet. My son played Battlefield 1942 to no end. It was actually quite fascinating to watch him play. Lifelike battlefield (various battles - Normandy Beach, Market Garden, etc) and every character controlled by someone that is logged in. But we digress from this thread.

[thresher_593]

1965 was the year my father entrusted me with an old Stevens Favorite .22. He would take me out back of the house and set up tin cans for me to shoot at. He held the ammo, handing each round to me when I was ready. I kept the rifle in my closet and was responsible for it's cleaning and care. It was a couple more years before he allowed me to have ammo on my own!

[Danjal]

Since BB guns and Pellet guns don't count, my first was a Stevens Bolt Action .410. Parents gave it to me for Christmas around 1945. I was eleven at the time and hunted rabbits and squirrels outside my central Oklahoma hometown.  My Dad was a Policeman for many years so a loaded .38 revolver was always around the house. My younger sister and I were taught gun safety by him and it was never a problem.

Many guns of all sorts have passed through my hands in the intervening years. Now I am divesting myself of those I can no longer use because I can no longer hunt. The SKS fever is implanted and strong.   

Muskets count as guns, Boomer.  You can tell us about the Mayflower if you want.

Dear god... Boomer was on the mayflower?

[martin08]

Yes, Boomer was on the Mayflower with God.

[1mlt]

I though Boomer was on the Viking war ships that got here first or perhaps with Ponce de Leon.
Marcus

[boomer34]

No, it was on the Mayflower with God. Still don't know why the crossing was so rough.

[Hillbilly61]

All right, all right. Let's quit busting Boomer's chops on account of his age.

My grandfather taught me how to hunt. Dad did not hunt, so no learning there. Sheeet my grandfather was good hunter! It did not always involve guns either. On day we caught a rabbit that had climbed up a tree - no kidding. (If curious as to the particulars, PM me). My grandfather knew what to do and we caught the rabbit.

Plus, he hunted deer with a WWII M1 and was very good. Head shots were his favorite aiming point. Sometimes he missed and would blow the deer's jaw off. The next time he shot, the skull would go to pieces. Usually, the head would go to pieces the first time around and my grandfather was not into trophy collection either.... It was all about the meat.

If I could only be that good of a real world shooter. My grandfather was doing this when he was an old guy and I saw it happen, but he had been doing it for years.  

Yea, older guys know a lot!

[skcusloa]

I picked 1994. My grandpa gave me a lever action .22. I was 11 at the time. I had full access to it and ammo.

When did I buy my first gun? 2003. Why? I had money.

[ranger1968]

 1980....my very first gun, given to me by my dad, was a Remington 870....I still have that gun, in it's original trim, I am looking at it in the glass front cabinet as I write this.

[nhblaze]

Right to the top ranger  12 ga   

no .22 first   

[buds2]

Well i got my first gun when i was 18(2006). i had always wanted one, but have always lived in suburbia and my parents were very neutral on me getting one, so they basically said once your 18 we can't stop you. So day i turned 18 i went to the sports authority down the road and got a Remington 597 .22(which Ive put 1000's through). I had never even touched a gun till then. no specific event made me get one, I have always  just been fascinated by guns since i can remember. But sure am glad i own a few now (7).

[jlwilliams]

deleted

[smacneighill]

Hmmm . . I don't really consider that I "owned" any firearm until 1986. Even though, my dad bought a Remington Model 6 .22 rifle for me in 1978. I only had it for about a week, LOL. I accidently fired a shot as I was loading it. Luckily, the shot hit the road. I don't even think the debris had finished falling before my dad had grabbed the rifle from my hands and scorn the living daylights out of me. At any rate, it took me a little while to earn the privilege of handling a firearm again. The second time, my dad bought a 410 shotgun (I don't remember what model???). I only used it when we went dove hunting. Now, in 1986, my father took my brother and I to Sears. On sale, all three of us bought a Norinco SKS and a Russian Mosin Nagant M91 (for $70 each). These were the first firearms that I owned   . Here it is, 24 years later and, I still have them.