Your age is what??

[oldman45]

As I read the various threads, I get an idea that most here are young people. Some have admitted to not being 21 yrs of age in their postings. Others made mention they just became of age to own guns or qualify for a CCW.

I am 64 and about to hit 65 yrs of age. Reaching that age means I have seen many changes in gun carry, use or desires over the years. In my life, I have been owning firearms of all types since I was a teen but been carrying since about 22 yrs old. During my life I have seen state wide carry permits approved in a lot of states. I have also seen the carry weapon of choice go from revolver to semi and now seemingly going back toward revolvers. The best change I have witnessed is the popularity of gun ownership in the northern states increase and the acceptance of guns by a larger group of people.

What changes have you noticed?

What age group do you fit in?

 

[USAF385]

25 years old. I started getting into handguns after I got out of the Air Force.. so around October 2008. I haven't been involved long enough to any big changes.

 

[feralmerril]

I will be 69 the end of this month. There are far less places to shoot. I belive gun intrest has lessen. The young people that are interested are mostly into plastic autos. Stupid idiotic gun handeling is shown on tv and in the movies influancing younger people. I belive the majority of the kids if they want to learn, have to go elsewhere than their parents, probley due to so many divorices. The days where kids would go plinking by themselves like we did in the 40s and 50s is all but gone in comparison. That is due to PC, and heavy population build up and change in laws. Even the toy guns we had are now discouraged.
I thought I never would see the day. I have a step daughter that was long gone before I married her mother. She and her husband to be live in southern california in a big city. She has a 7 year old son from a prior marrage and wont let him have a toy gun. Husband to be is a greenie. Wont own a gun. Grandson is the tallest biggest kid for his age I ever seen. Doctors estimate he will be at least 6ft 8"s tall! Daughter is about 6ft 3"s. My wife is about 6 ft. With proper coaching I am sure he could be a world class athlete, but daughter babys him big time! I sure hope things turn around! Now I have taught my daughter to shoot at a very early age, and my grandaughter is being taught by her dad. However he was a vet and did several tours in Iraq and afaganistan as a rescue air paramedic.

 

[wbraswell]

I'm one of those youngsters you're talking about. I'll be 57 next week. I wasn't raised with handguns, and Dad wasn't a hunter, but he had no adverse opinion of guns. I bought my first pistol in about '75 or '76. I went to a Ft. Worth gun show in Feb. '77 and I've been insane ever since. I've seen prices skyrocket from dumb laws, like the Bush assault rifle ban, and seen them fall back to Earth. I've seen them shoot up from production ending, like the Colt SAA, and many of our cherished S&W models and never come down. Now, I've seen prices go up and ammo shortages from paranoia. I'm hoping that I'll see them come down again before long.

 

[HAWKEYE10]

I am 67 almost 68 and have seen a lot of changes. I think the biggest change is going from most people not seeing a real need to carry a gun to a lot of people feeling they have to. Don

 

[Mod10]

I'm 29. I only became interested in owning firearms after I left the military, and I have a strong dislike for autoloading weapons. Strictly revolvers, pump action shotguns and lever rifles for me.

 

[35Rem]

30 here.
Fewer places to shoot. Less landowners willing to allow you to use their land (liability and abuse).
I think the small auto is on the increase, moreso than the revolver. Look at all the pocket 380's out there. More people are willing to carry a 10 oz gun than a 30 oz gun.
Indocterniazation of "guns are bad" in schools. Kids can't draw pictures of guns? I'da been screwed. I even carried a pocket knife daily in high school. That was in the (19) '90's! <EEK!!>

BTW, I like OLD guns (early to mid 1900's old) They are works of art to me and were built like guns should have been built. I have a C&R License.

 

[Class III]

I guess I'm going to fall right in the middle of the age bracket, being 48. My observations just about mimick Hawkeye10's. I've lived all over this country and traveled a lot out side of the US borders. Outside of the US what I have observed in most 1st world countries is either no guns period, no handguns or the government has so many loop holes that a person must jump through to even own a gun that most people don't bother going through the headaches. In most of the places I have visited outside of the US, if their people once had gun rights and lost them, crimes against persons have increased dramatically, as the criminals never turned in their guns. Stabbing/slashings increased as well as physical assault.

Class III

 

[USAF385]

The young people that are interested are mostly into plastic autos.

I own a few plastic autos, but my heart belongs to revolvers.

 

[jframe]

I'm 40. I've had an interest in guns all my life, and it really developed in my late teens. Not big into long guns, but handguns really hold it for me. In the 1980's, I never thought twice about a kid in my high school parking lot having a gun in the car. Hell, we ALL did usually. If nothing else, a .22 rifle. I've carried a knife of some sort, either a basic pocket or a defensive knife, or both, all of my life. That included 12 years in school. We weren't supposed to have them, but none of us ever did anything as far as misuse to get them taken away from us. We had a few bad apples that got quickly weeded out by the teachers.

 

[Krull]

34 here,Granddad stuck a BB gun in my hands at 5 and by 9 I was shooting a .22,12 or so I got an 8MM and kind of went my own way with guns from there.

 

[rocketdog]

Pleistocene Epoch man. Guns, much better than rocks. From steel to plastic/polymer.

 

[pharmer]

I'll be 57 next August. Biggest changes are 1) guns are accepted by more people in more places than 30 years ago. 2) Guns are more "disposable" rather than "durable" goods. Some of the modern plastic weapons will not look the same in 100 years as a well made revolver. Joe

 

[afriqueart]

50 this month. CCW. Wheelie fan. Looking for a Colt 1911 like I had in the Navy.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

I turn 79 next June. Still hunt & fish. Endowment Life NRA. My son & both son in laws are Life NRA. Got my BB gun at age 7, .22 rifle at 13. First S&W at 16 I think. It was a break open 38 S&W.Think the shells were $1.95 a box of 50. .22 Long rifles were 50 cents, shorts were 25 cents.

 

[cowboy117]

65 years young,proud concealed carrier.When i was young,in Kansas,i hunted many rabbits with a .22.Lived in Cal.for many years;the county i lived in was NOT ccw friendly.Retired,moved to southern Oregon in 2003-the place i live is very gun friendly for now.Things don't look as good in the future. Too much Californication.

 

[jj2am44]

61-Didn't start shooting until i was 29. Have enjoyed it since.

 

[Danny Abernathy]

I'm 58 and got my first handgun at 13, been hooked ever since. I have been around the whole world on guns, started with .357's and then 44's and 45's went to 9mm and .380's and so forth. I limit myself to 45acp's and 22's now that arthritis has gotten the better of me (I use a 45 auto for CCW and practise and have fun with the 22's).
Guns cost way too much today and there isn't nearly the land that was available to shoot on that it once was. Good that we can now carry defensively without all the red tape that was there when I got my commision back 30 years ago.

 

[Qball]

Come november i'll be turning 50.

 

[Cocked & Locked]

66.5 here...lots of changes. NC LEO certification course in early 1970's at the range we heard, "Smith & Wesson and Colt revolvers only. No Rugers and no automatics of any kind."

I still prefer the revolvers, but have some autos.

 

[Chief Engineer]

56 years young here.
When I was 10 years old and Christmas was approaching, I asked my dad for a BB gun. He said "Don't think so Son"

Christmas morning arived, and there under the tree, was a present that was shaped like the BB gun I so wanted. Dad handed me the present, which seemed incredibly heavy for a Daisy. Upon unrapping, I discovered a beautifull 7mm Mauser carbine. I was instantly in shock and could not believe my eyes! All my dad said was "might as well shoot what your going to hunt with"
Miss ya Dad.

 

[xray97]

56 years old too. Far fewer places to shoot and the transition of LEO's to semi-autos. When I first started in law enforcement every agency in the area carried revolvers exclusively when assigned to patrol. I can't remember the last time I saw a uniformed officer carrying a revolver.

 

[Strato]

48 Grew up with a bb gun modeled after a Winchester 94. Always liked guns but didn't really start buying any until last year and got my CWP in January of this year. Then the savings account ran out before work started picking back up so the list of guns I want to buy just keeps growing.

 

[dkizer22]

57 years, mental age of 21. I have been shooting as long as I can remember.

 

[DCWilson]

65 come July, so I am one of the older ones -- but in an odd way I am also one of the younger ones since I have only been seriously interested in shooting and collecting for the last two or three years after decades of inactivity. I was very interested in guns and shooting when I was in single digits and as a teen, but no one else in my family had the interest. I palled around through high school with a couple of friends who liked shooting, and I put together a small collection. When we wanted to shoot we'd just go off on one of the mountain roads around Santa Barbara and use one of the side canyons as a range. There was abandoned brass everywhere in those days, so a lot of people did it. But now all the self-created shooting grounds are long gone and well policed -- too many new residents live too close now.

I got out of shooting for the number of years it took me to get an education, have a variety of careers. and retire. For the last couple of years I have been collecting and shooting again; there's a sense in which it is still 1962 or a little later, but any mirror (and the gun laws) tell me clearly that time has moved on.

I still like the kinds of guns I liked nearly half a century ago -- revolvers, bolt action rifles. I have a semi-auto pistol or two, but they are not my favorites. I have no interest in modern military-modeled sporters. When I shoot, I have to do it inside at a range where the light levels aren't really good enough for my aging eyes. But the nearest outdoor range is way too far to drive to, and I'm out of touch with people who have private property large enough to set up a range for themselves and their friends.

I think the biggest change I noticed is that when I was getting started in the '50s and '60s, the gun mags were all about competition, hunting, innovative engineering (and of course marketing). Sometime in the late '60s the majority attitude changed to self defense, with discussion of LE and military applications seeming to drown out any other conversation. That's when I completely dropped out of the scene. One of the things I noticed when I reintroduced myself (and it is very obvious on the gun boards I follow on the Internet) is the huge focus on safe handling and situational awareness ANY TIME a gun is out -- not just in a self-defense situation. In my youth basic firearms training always had a safety component to it, but the theme wasn't drilled and pounded the way it seems to be today. I think Jeff Cooper may be responsible for that. At least when I was reading Guns and Ammo in the late 1950s, Cooper was to my teenage eyes the guy hitting the themes the hardest: if you have a gun in your hands, by God you'd better know what you are doing, because if you do something wrong the consequences can be crushing and it can be all your fault.

 

[H Richard]

69 and shooting since age 10. I run a bullseye league, and participate in skeet & trap leagues. Mostly I see a lot of gray hair on the firing lines. The IPSC sports see more younger participants, but so many younger persons do not want to commit the the discipline of competitive shooting. A lot want to run around in the country with "Tacti-cool" guns and play soldier or cop.

 

[sheriffoconee]

51 here....took top gun trophy in my basic mandate class (which, back in 1978 was 6 weeks and if you couldn't read and write, they would give you the tests orally) with the Model 66 my Daddy bought me when I left the jail/radio room and went on the road...back in those days you could work for a year on the road before you went to the academy too...
My Dad was an FBI agent, and he was a shooter before he was an agent...I grew up shooting handguns and rifles...I still ain't worth a #$@% with a shotgun....

 

[FrankD45]

I turned 69 on March 1st and yes, there have been lots of changes. I have very dim memories of seeing anti-aircraft gun emplacements set up in Prospect Park, Brooklyn during the war. Growing up in New York City/Brooklyn meant that concealed carry and handguns in general were not an option. As an adolescent I was lucky in that my older sister met and later married a vet who had access to a dairy farm in Clermont County south of Albany. Although my Dad had hunted in the "old country", he didn't have time to spend with me so it fell to my future brother in law to teach me. From hunting woodchucks, through rabbits and pheasant to my first deer hunt I was fortunate to have an experienced guide. In later years I did hunt with my Dad and do miss that greatly.

The biggest change I have seen has been the shift to "shall issue" which has resulted in many more folks owning and carrying handguns now.

Now that I am living in a civilized state (only kidding) and retired, I am trying to make up for lost time by accumulating S&W's as quickly as possible.

FrankD

 

[deralte]

77 yesterday and its nice to be associated with all you young guys. Dick Rumbaugh is the sole exception. Started carrying 59 years ago while driving a dynamite truck for a coal company. Had my own .22 and a 410 gauge shotgun at the age of 12 and roamed the hills of WV looking for squirrels and rabbits.

 

[MK]

56 years old too. Far fewer places to shoot and the transition of LEO's to semi-autos. When I first started in law enforcement every agency in the area carried revolvers exclusively when assigned to patrol. I can't remember the last time I saw a uniformed officer carrying a revolver.

Me neither.. Or at least around Houston.. I remember 30-40 years ago
almost all carried revolvers. Lots of .357, etc..
Now they all carry .40's, .45's for the most part. I saw a Sergeant a
while back directing traffic at an intersection with the traffic lights out.
He had a .45 in his holster, and another one on the other side in some
kind of cross draw holster.. But I believe standard issue for HPD is the
Sig .40.. I can't hardly remember the last time I saw any police officer
carrying a revolver.. It's been a while.. But they do like the stouter semi
autos here.. You don't see many 9mm pistols any more.

I talk to a old timer deputy sheriff on the ham radio every once in a
while. He's getting close to retirement, and has pretty much seen it all.
He started with .357's, etc.. These days he prefers his trusty Colt .45's..

BTW, I'm 53 and have been shooting since my teens.. I like pretty
much any gun as long as it goes bang, and does not blow up in my
hand.. I'm really not that picky.. :/ But my everyday defense pistol
is a .40 S&W semi auto.. Yea, it's half plastic...
I like revolvers, and probably even shoot more accurately with some
of them. But I like the extra ammo capability of the semi auto's even
more.. So there you have it..