STOP!!! Go back! There's no getting out once you're "hooked". People sell their houses to buy ammo you know. They spend the kid's college fund. They don't pay their water bills. They are junkies through and through.
j/k
Shooting is fun stuff. Where else can you destroy stuff from 500 yards away?? They won't let us play with bombs or missiles or any of that cool stuff. Guns is as good as it gets. It may take a while to work up to destroying stuff from 500 yards but it can be done. There's nothing quite like knowing you can reach out and poke something in the eye from a quarter of a mile or more. Well it may be a bit more than just poking I guess. No matter. You know you could do it if you wanted. I don't want to do it but I'm not in a war zone. Lots of guys there want to be able to do it.
All kidding aside shooting is a great way to spend some time. It's challenging, rewarding and it can put food on your table, Not a lot of places allow hunting with an AR but you'll learn skills that can be used for hunting if you wish. There's something particularly satisfying knowing you can bring home a white tail deer or an elk and feed the family even if the world has gone to heck. Fishing is the same way but there are no things going bang in fishing.
I love to shoot. I always have since I was old enough to pick up a pop gun. I started out with a cork gun and worked my way up from there. By the time I got my hands on a real gun at 7 I was pretty much a good shooter already (BB guns are fun too - I still have one - my friend has one from our childhood he's had for more than 50 years - it shoots insanely accurate). I once spent $3500 in a summer just on .22 ammo too and I shot mostly bulk or mid-range level quality ammo. My yard is practically paved with empty casings. So yeah it can really be addictive. Not in the "wallow in the gutter" kind of way. In the "fun all day long" kind of way. That year I spent $3500 on .22 ammo I was shooting 2 or sometimes 3 bricks in a day. That's 1000-1500 rounds. And the only thing that kept me from shooting more was the fact I was spending crazy amounts of money on ammo. The gun is only the first investment. The real money is in ammo.
It really is fun stuff. At least I think so. Welcome to the world of firearms.