I was exposed to firearms at a very young age, and started shooting when I was about 6 or 7. It was a very conflicted experience however. My paternal grandfather gave me a breech loading .22/20g over under when I was about 8. I have no clue what make or model and no way to find out but I would pay
dearly to have another like it. I think I would recognize it if I saw one. Adding to the mix, some of my fathers acquaintances were shall we say, less than wholesome charachters. They had some shall we say,
interesting, firearms around the house from time to time. My maternal grandparents while not anti-gun, didn't approve of my exposure so I got a lot of mixed messages. For about 15 years I didn't own any firearms and only occasionally would go plinking or rabbit shooting in the desert with friends. About 8 years ago I got back into shooting a little more and after my daughter was born I bought my first handgun of my own for HD. Things um, progressed, from there. My wife now barely tolerates me and considers me a nut. We trade gun purchases for diamond and emerald purchases.
It keeps the peace.
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I was born in North Texas and lived in Azle when I was young, so there was plenty of open space to shoot nearby in the '70s. My paternal grandfather had a couple of different spots to go disappear to. He had a place in Leakey TX we would go camp on, another bit of land near Bandera TX and a cabin in Pipe Creek TX, but he lived with us in Azle. We would take regular trips to the hill country and shoot. My maternal grandparents built their own house in southern OK to retire to, so I spent a lot of time up there too. A cousin lived nearby and was a few years older, we would shoot a lot too. We moved to Utah when I was 9, shooting became something I only did on visits south for the most part until I was older.
Man that was long. -Cliff Notes-
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1) Very young.
2) Both suburban and rural.
You trying to screen for communists? Don't worry, we're all cool. - Dale