There has been an influx of an estimated 10M+ new gun owners added into the mix over the last year/18 months. If you are one of them, I’m interested to know what got you interested in firearm ownership? Chances are if you are here on the PSA Forum, you bought a scary black rifle of some variant boogity boo . There’s a lot of theories and speculation; let’s hear it straight from the horse’s mouth! So what got you interested in gun ownership over the last year?
I’ve been around firearms since I was a kid but haven’t owned my own in a long time. Been wanting an AR for a while and both my brothers in law bought theirs a few years ago so once the civil unrest started my wife said I needed to get one of my own. I think I’ll keep her and my wife too.
I’ve been around firearms my whole life. About 5 years ago I decided to increase my knowledge base and experience level, and began adding to the small number of weapons I had.
When COVID hit the US and general unrest began to grow, I saw it as an opportunity to make a few bucks, so I began selling off some of my weapons (and ammo), but also took some big steps further into assembling ARs.
I’d say that this past year has definitely turned me into a new AR “builder” (I hate that term; I prefer “assembler”.) PSA has been a vital supplier of parts for me, and I’ve learned so much as I’ve been putting together different configurations of black rifles and pistols.
I’m also new to actually training with my weapons, instead of just plinking or doing some casual target shooting.
I find great value in the small local, and general broad, firearms communities. The saying may be overused, but still quite true, that gun folks are generally the nicest and most trustworthy people on the planet. I’m proud to be considered a “gun guy”.
I would love to see all the new gun owners that are Democrats answer these questions. I know a few guys that had no use for a firearm. Then all of a sudden they are calling me wanting some suggestions on what to buy. I asked each one of them what changed their mind. Pretty much the answer that I got was the deep divide in this Country that is causing the riots. Other than the riots the other big issue is LE letting people violate the law right in front of them and they do nothing to stop it. All the above has finally opened some people’s eyes to the fact that first and foremost you have a duty to protect your life and your family. This comes before any duty that LE has. It is better to be tried by 12 than to be carried by 6.
My best friend’s son is about 30 and lives in Seattle and when the mostly peaceful protests got near where he and his wife live and work, he bought a shotgun. They are liberal, but not anti-gun, but they would not have bought a gun if it had not been for the unrest.
Everyone has a right to defend themselves from any threats, even threats from people they may align themselves with politically.
I hate that it was a safety concern of widespread violence that got them into ownership; but in all reality a safety threat is usually what gets most people into it.
Others may try to minimize what a legitimate threat consists of, but each individual has the right to determine that for themselves.
I got to thinking… as things are going today (politically), if in 5 or 15 or 50 years (after 5 or 15 or 50 more years of steps of the 2A being ignored and trampled), We The People decide that it’s time to gather together to form up a militia, what would I or my children or their children be able to bring from home to do so? And I started telling other people the same.
this is an excellent question in my opinion especially with the current times. Unfortunately i dont think the question really pertains to those of us who have been around for a long time, but that said, in a way i can see how it does. That is because many of us start out like i did, as a kit shooting with our fathers or grandfathers, learning in scouts, or something of that nature, having been raised of a more conservative thought than that of the liberals. So we’ve had guns around some all our lives. but those of us that did have it all our lives, may have had our beliefs change over the years, due to the worlds political climate, due to personal experiences, or a combination of them. This then would mean that what may have started out as a leisurely thing used for hunting, or plinking with grandpapys 22 hand me down, changed, to a more OMG, i need to get more involved in protecting me and mine. which in a way, is what i think happens to many of us.
so before we knew it what had started out as keeping the family hierloom guns, may hav ebranched into collecting mil-surp guns… which then may have morphed into more of a protection situation, and thus needing to get into the AR/AK scene… and there you go… you get some of us older hands who have been around the block a bit…
maybe im just rambling… idk… did what i wrote make some sense?
You definitely made sense. I didn’t post here prior because I definitely fall outside the 18 month window in the OP. I didn’t really grow up with real guns in the house. I always liked them and grew up with plenty of good '80’s cartoon, TV, video game and movie violence, but never had more than BB/pellet guns growing up.
While I would occasionally shoot friends’ guns and got some trigger time in college with ROTC, when I started to show interest in actual guns, the Clinton ban came down and drove prices outside the budget of a poor college student. Then I moved to a more urban area and didn’t really think much about shooting because it didn’t seem particularly practical, besides paintball. I did a little of that through the years.
It stayed that way up until the social unrest and gun control rumblings of the Obama administration. At that point I felt I needed to get some firepower in hand, for protection and because they were threatening to take them away. I had a decent working knowledge of what guns were good for what purposes and had held onto my good hand/eye coordination thanks to my gaming hobby, so it just came down to hardware and live training.
So, in my 30’s, I finally jumped, in with both feet - my first gun was an AR. I then got a pistol and a shotgun soon after (the sickness came on quickly) and got my CHP. In the 10+ years since, it has fully set in now with many versions of many types. I can never keep up with the exact numbers though, with all those pesky boating accidents that keep happening…
As most of you know by my posts I grew up enjoying and respecting the outdoors by responsibility hunting and fishing. Both my Grandfathers were sportsman and loved the outdoors. They passed that love to most of my Uncles, cousins, my dad, my brother and myself. Mosf of those same men also served in the military and fought in every military conflict. I had a few uncles that were also in LE as well as myself for a few years. When you combine the experiences that I and many like me have had we love our old shotguns and hunting rifles but there also exists in me the realization that for security and protection more is needed. I have been a collector and a enthusiast for all my adult life. I have never limited myself to any one single area of collecting. I enjoy owning every single piece of my collection and every single piece has its place and function. The political winds will change as they always have during my life. The things that will always be apart of my life is my love of family, my love of the outdoors, my love of the the shooting sports and my love of collecting historic and modern firearms. If other people want to act crazy, be violent and vandalize other people’s property, the best advice that I can give them is to stay away from me and mine. I will protect what is mine.
. There’s a lot of theories and speculation; let’s hear it straight from the horse’s mouth! So what got you interested in gun ownership over the last year?
