So, my 18/yo daughter had gotten acquainted with a young man, and they had been talking for a little while. He came one night to meet us and have supper with us. I kinda liked the guy. Very nice, respectful to me and her mother. He holds down two jobs, so he's a hard worker.

They went up to her room for a minute to get something that her mother needed, and he saw her guns in her room. He asked about them, and asked if they were all the guns we had. She laughs and says, 'Not even close'.

When they get back down, he asked me what kind of rifle I had. So, I named off a few of my guns that I have. A couple of weeks after he was here, they were talking on the phone, and he told her that he was, '...a little intimidated by your dad because of all the guns.'

She said, 'Well, don't do anything you're not supposed to, and you won't have anything to worry about.'

He hasn't called her since then.

I said, 'Well, if he scares that easy, you don't want him any way.'

She said, 'Exactly!'

Love that girl.

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Illegitimus Non Carborundum

What seems to be the problem? Daughter, Guns and Father. I seem to have the same problem if there really is a problem.

thats great story!!

sounds like your girl has a good head on her shoulders, good job mom and dad.

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George Jamison

Sounds like a plan to me, don't see a thing wrong here, sounds like that daughter has a good head on her also. You have a right to be proud of her.
Glen

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NRA Life 1969
OGCA

It wasn't just the guns, it was the backhoe and the big back yard.

Tyusclan, I like your daughter and I don't even know her.....

People can be funny that way. Our youngest son's friends sometimes call first before
they come over and remind him, "Tell your Dad it'll be me coming up the driveway."

They are all in their late 20's and have been coming here for years so I don't get it.

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Ogy

Nothing lost on this loser. Your daughter did right & so did you. Congratulations for raising a smart daughter.

I kept intimidating until one came home with her and stayed. I now have 3 grand kids and a wonderful son in law. Keep it up, your on the right track.

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James L. "Jim" Rhiner

I'm thinking maybe it was the shoulder mounts of her 2 prior boyfriends hanging on the living room wall that made him nervous.

Kudos to your daughter and to you -- she is a tribute and an accolade to how you raised her.

Great story. But I don't let strangers see my guns. Unless of course their being bad.

He was probably a closet vegan.
Did he drive a Prius?
Wear t-shirts that said "save the whales"?
Just Kiddin', some people are just intimidated by things
they don't know about. Like you said he was a good respectful
hard-working young man. He just could'nt get past the fact you
guys look after yourselves without reservation. Another young
man will come along who likes guns and shooting sports if your
daughter is patient. Hope she does'nt change her views to please
some guy. Tell her to stick to her guns, so to speak.


chuck

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They hold no Quarter

I didn't show him anything, other than the couple of her's that he saw, just mentioned a few that I have. I'm also pretty secretive about my guns.

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Illegitimus Non Carborundum

And the five white crosses.

When my daughter brought over her new boyfriend, she warned him ahead of time that I carried a concealed gun, didn't like most people, and generally had a bad attitude. His visit was short, but I really enjoyed seeing him miserable. He never figured out that I wasn't planning his burial.

Yeah, I really don't see the logic in telling anyone outside the family (much less an 18 y.o. kid your daughter happens to be dating) that there are guns in the house.

In your situation, my daughter'd get a talking to about bragging to her boyfriend about the "not even close" comment, and I'd have brushed off the question from the boy.

Even if he's a good kid (and I will never assume such things about the boys my daughters date when they get old enough), you never know who he talks to, yada yada yada, next thing you've got some punk breaking into your house looking to steal guns.

I would appreciate the young man's open discussion of these things. It goes to his upbringing. If you hear "guns are evil" or what ever for 20 years at home, it has a lasting affect.

like chud said a closet vegan..

similar thing happend to me but it was with my cousin and her boyfriend... we were having a family reunion at our farm and we have a range in the back and the family had been shooting and i was inside with my uncle (he had just bought a barrett and was cleaning it) and she shows up with her bf, she introduces everyone and he come over to me and i had just racked the bolt back and he just looked at me kinda panicy says " nice gun" i say " thanks wanna go put some targets and shoot it?" long story short it was a LONG weekend for him and they broke up due to her family "are a bunch gun nuts".


couldnt believe the guy... he passed judgment and only saw like 3 guns.

Just get a little tiny wall plaque and put it on the wall with nothing on it, and when the boy asks what goes on it, just inform them that it is just big enough for a pair of a certain part of the anatomy. That will keep them in line.

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Vaya con Dios

I like the part "He saw HER guns in her room".
To heck with whatever Dad has, if the girl has her own collection that would scare somebody like that. Personally, if somebody I dated had a collection of guns in her room that would have made her a keeper.
You raised your girl right. I'll bet she never has ANY trouble with the guys.
Jim

My alarm bells went off when he asked if there were any more guns in the house. Nice kid or not, that's none of his bidness, and as was already said, you don't know who might appreciate that kind of info. Ten years ago, my two older kids were tied up and held prisoner in their own home by some locals who had heard there were a bunch of guns in the house. There weren't any.......and they finally left. They were never caught.

I love the idea of the backhoe and the crosses..........but in my case, it will have to be a shovel and a few rocks. Still enough to get the message across.

I appreciate the comments and concerns, but I really think in this case it was just curiosity and unfamiliarity. He was raised by a single mom, and just hasn't been exposed to guns or the outdoors much.

Yeah, P&R, she has her own guns, and she knows how to use'em.

And she's my 8th child, and 4th daughter, so this ain't our first rodeo.

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Illegitimus Non Carborundum

Maybe it wasn't even the guns that scared him off. Could have been the parents!

Even if it was the guns that doesn't mean that he wouldn't have made a splendid husband, father and ultimately grandfather. Just because we all have guns doesn't mean that everyone else has to have them or like them. Some of the comments on this thread are inappropriate.

If taken logically it would become compulsory to have a blood test and produce an NRA membership card before getting married.

What if he had seen a set of golf clubs instead of guns, and detested golf.

The fact that the daughter liked guns has nothing to do with the quality of her upbringing. I bet there are men out there who have guns who go out drinking on a Friday night, get drunk and go home and beat up their wives and children.

Good parenhood has nothing to do with possessions. It is about love and caring.

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Kill it, cook it, eat it.

The kid and his family moved there from Chicago

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SOS USA

Absolutely true, Anglais. But what the thread is about, and especially the initial post, is that having guns, and knowing how to use them, is normal. If others don't want to have guns, and know how to use them, that is fine. What is not fine, for most of us on this forum, is if others do not like us because we have guns and know how to use them.

Well, I mean it is fine if they don't want to associate with us, but just don't expect us to feel badly about their lack of desire to associate with us. We think them foolish.

That said, always willing to educate, gently. Also always willing to accept those who have no interest in guns. (And I have many friends like this.) Just don't expect us to be moved if someone we encounter thinks badly of us because of our guns. We don't see it as our problem.

With respect the initial post was about a young man who felt intimidated by the presence of guns. He was then castigated for this by numerous people. Quite a few people then associated the daughter's liking of guns to a good upbringing. The converse of this is that a if daughter (or son) doesn't like guns (whether or not the parents have guns) he/she has been badly brought up. And that of course is blatantly untrue.

Liking people should have nothing to do with gun ownership. Liking guns is not a mattere of education. I do not try to educate my friends or visitors, although I am happy to talk to them about my guns, which at the moment amount to 13, long and short, with a new one due any day. So far I have introduced several non-shooting folk to my club and most have gone on to buy guns. Others don't even want to talk about them. Freedom of opinion is close to freedom of speech, and to deny either is to deny basic human rights.

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Kill it, cook it, eat it.

You might keep that in mind as you talk down to others.

just saying......

Having raised two daughters, I can relate to that story. Neither of my son-in-laws had ever been around guns before dating my girls. Both later admitted to being intimidated by all of my guns.

Now, both enjoy shooting and have nice started nice gun collections of their own. One or both will call me every time a gun show is in town.

If someone says something that is incorrect or that I do not agree with, surely I have a right to reply.

Similarly, if you disagree with what I said please say exactly what you disagree with. I will listen.

I didn't intend to put anyone down. In fact on looking at what I said I can't see what you are referring to. But others were putting down the young man in question without knowing anything about him.

Tyusclan obviously did a good job in bringing up his daughter. This is shown by his pride in her.

And my reply to Onemea is in no way a put down of him

Anyway, don't want to fall out with anyone on the forum.

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Kill it, cook it, eat it.

Doncha just love a happy ending?

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I am a sheep dog!
1601 (ret)

I agree - it would be logical. It used to be compulsory (maybe still is?) to have a Wasserman test before getting a marriage license. I had an NRA membership card (life member) before I was married. I don't know whether it should actually be compulsory, but if it were lacking, I would at least want to know why. Cross-cultural marriages aren't impossible, but they raise a lot of questions best answered before marriage.

Well, he wouldn't have seen such a thing at my place, but if he'd said some variation of "I've never seen a golf course without thinking it'd make a great rifle range," I'd have just about welcomed him into the family.

I miss taking my daughter's potential boyfriends shooting. But she is now in the Coast Guard and 700+ miles away.

I also scared one of my son's "booty calls" when she was lurking around the house at 2am. I met her at the garage door with a Glock in my hand and told her to ring the door bell next time because the dog already woke us up.

I told what I thought was a cute anecdote about my daughter and the young man, and most of the guys made funny comments, that I took to be mostly tongue-in-cheek. You're taking this way too seriously. Lighten up.

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Illegitimus Non Carborundum

It seems these days there's a lot more disease's to worry about.

I haven't heard "Wasserman test" in a long time. I first thought about Debbie Wasserman but remembered she was the poster girl for not having a good time.

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Dum vivo cano

How about this example. My wifes father had only two guns. Brrowed one from his brother to shoot groundhogs a few years ago. One of the guns her father owned was the one used by her Grandfather to commit suicide. She never cared for guns much at all. Now to the present. Son and I have guns in the house. She still likes me a little but dont say much about the guns. Sometimes they have either never been around guns or have had issues like my wife. Find out before you pass judgement.

In college, I dated a girl who's Dad turned out to be a Ret full Col USAF. They had lived around the world and he had a gun cabinet of Mousers, Springfields and high end shotguns. When I saw them the first time, He and his wife were impressed when I asked if I could see them. I practriced good gun handling and admired them.

He asked if I hunted and I told him only birds and rabbits. He appreciated that and began telling stories of hunts in Germany and the Phillipines.

What he got a big laugh out of, was when he asked what gun I hunted with. I told him, for rabbits and squirrels, a .22 revolver and for pheasants and quail, a Remington Mdl 11 20 ga.

He asked me how I did hunting rabbits and i told him my buddies and I didn't ever go hungry when we camped out.

He then opened a cabinet and showed me; a GI .45 that he carried while flying over Germany in WWII and a short barreled Aircrewman (the only one I've ever seen) that he'd kept in his flight suit pocket on B-52 raids over North Vietnam. He said he also was issued a 4" .38, but had bought the "Aircrewman" and kept it as a B.U.G.

A few weeks later, I took his daughter to shoot skeet at Ft. Harrison (got my arse kicked) and he invited me to go shooting. I accepted and took a 17-2 and Dad's 3-1/2" .357. I out shot him shooting both his Aircrewman and 1911 and mine thus, gained his acceptance.

I dated his daughter for 2 years before we amicably split up. I ran into him and his wife many times for a number of years afterward and was always invited over.

I was what I was. A kid who knew how to shoot, was taught to shoot by a father who had been in the FBI and I respected and admired the Col for flying in WWII, Korea and Viet Nam.

Sounds like regardless of the boys light constitution towards guns and what a few think we should think of the boy for not liking guns. soundslike the girl wouldnt have matched well with him anyhow.

My wife is a country girl who grew up hunting with shotguns and rifles. I carried a gun on my person when we got together and still do. Her families shotguns and rifles did nothing for me but realize I had nicer guns LOL

I grew up in town but am not afraid of the woods waters or farm and that is why she found me attractive. We shared coomon beliefs and interests.

The boy isnt less of man for not liking guns , but more of a square ped in the round hole of the OP family.

When I was 15(I'm 41 now..)I had a girlfriend, the same age, and she invited me over to meet her folks before we were supposed to go to a dance that they were having at her school. When I arrived her dad had a field-stripped semi-auto out on the kitchen table, and was giving me the "evil-eye" as he introduced himself. Had I been a normal teenage boy in the mid-80s I would have been afraid, but I did something else instead..

"Oooooohhh, is that a 6906????...."

He stopped scowling and asked me if I knew guns. I replied that I only knew them from books and magazines, but I really liked the S&W he had. At this point the ice broke and we started talking about guns, to the point that the girl and I were late to the dance.


If only he'd known what plans his daughter and I had in mind in the coming year or two, he probably should have gone ahead and shot me. It's a good thing he never found out about what she and I did in our spare time, but it was fun while it lasted.

It turned out that he and I were much friendlier AFTER his daughter dumped me, than the girl and I ever were, as her dad both liked motorcycles and guns, too. She hated that her father and I would hang out and talk about guns or bikes long after she and I were gone our separate ways.

Funny. When my daughters first date walked through the front door I was conveniently cleaning one of my guns at the kitchen table. He never said a word. He didn't last long, but treated my daughter right.

Not having daughters the closest I can relate is when my cousin knew his daughter had a good one. Daughter is a forensics lab supervisor with the GBI and her boyfriend (now hubby) is an agent there. Anyway while still under boyfriend status he was invited down to the farm one weekend for some shooting. Cousin said he knew his daughter had found a keeper when the then BF showed up with his own AR-15 and several pistols. At the wedding the groom, best man and all ushers had ankle holsters. Don't know about the bridesmaids but the bride had a 9mm in a thigh holster on one leg and traditional garter on the other. Safest wedding I've ever attended.

CW

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μολὼν λαβέ

Well you could have shot, shovel, and shut up. Then put out another white cross. My youngest daughters husband doesn't give a care one way or the other about firearms in the house. The other one get''s the deer in the headlights look when I bring one out. But prior to that there were a couple boys who saw me working on a gun and I guess that was enough for them. last I ever seen them and they have not been back since. Frank

I read the op's post and this song popped in my head lol.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

No offense taken, Anglais.

I have a sister who just hates guns. Great sister though. We just don't talk about 'em. We get on fine.

My wife of 34 years and I started with dateing for 2 years. Her dad was a sargent in the police and at the time was the chief's asst/body guard. When we got married there were 17 cops at the wedding, my FIL had a Bodyguard (no number) in his cumberbun. I never felt threatened!! Although some of her sister's bf looked like they would be shot for what they were thinking, and were accordingly driven away. I'm now the leading producer of grandchildren(4) and great-grandchildren(5). My wife grew up knowing that real men shoot guns (often) and my only daughter knows this to be true. My only granddaughter, who is 5, dosen't understand it yet; but will know it to be true! We are a somewhat devided gun family, my wife's BIL is a Glock man, but his wife shoots a compact M&P very well!

I hope there are still a few revolvers in the family!

When my daughters brought a boy over to meet me, and he would extend his hand to shake, I would hold back and say,
"I'm sorry, my hands are still drity from cleaning my guns. By the way, what time did you say you would have her home?"
I never had any problems with their boyfriends.

Stu

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NRA Benefactor/Cert Instructor