I do target shooting as a hobby but I’m genuinely curious. The US is known (for better and worse) for it’s culture of gun ownership but the US is also know for widely differing experiences
I’ve never fired a real gun. I would not mind going to a range to feel it, nor would I mind shooting at ranges for recreation. Various other target practice seems fine too. I don’t trust myself to own one. I’m not suicidal, but I can be a bit reckless playing with dangerous stuff: fire, knives, swords. I’ve opened a quick release knife into my thigh to see if the safety mechanism worked(after testing successfully on cardboard) and I’ve cut a very safe part of my forearm as kinda a… what’s it feel like? experiment before while drunk.
I know the dangers and I seldom actually do that stuff(those were years apart), but seldom doesn’t mean never. In all honesty I probably wouldn’t hurt myself, but I don’t feel like risking it yet.
Yes, fired a gun. Not really my thing but I can understand the appeal.
What really took me away from it is the finality that taking a life brings to it. I was 13 and was shooting around at birds and clipped one to the point it flopped around the ground. My babysitter (I have two younger sisters) at the time didn’t want it to suffer and blew its brains out, of which some landed on me. It taught me a valuable lesson that day. Don’t shoot at something living unless you intend to kill.
In a way, I wish everyone who enjoys guns had a similar experience, I think they’d have a lot more respect for them.
My grandpa taught me firearm safety and had the same lesson: “Dont point it at anything you dont intend to kill.”
He also added a second point: “If you shoot it, you kill it, clean it, and eat it. No shooting animals for fun"
It was kind of a joke but still is a good lesson. Taking a life (of an animal) should never be a trivial act, even if it is sometimes necessary or worthwhile. He was vocally very anti-poaching so if I’d actually killed an animal without the right tags he would have never let me hear the end of it.
The idea that killing humans is wrong didn’t need to be stated explicitly.
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I’m an American, i shot a ton of my friend’s guns one day, it was actually very underwhelming. You pull the trigger, an extremely loud noise happens, and that’s it. That’s the whole thing.
There’s a fascist uprising in my country. Not only do I own multiple guns, I’m getting in shape and training with them.
I appreciate that there is a strong uptick in diversity at a local range I frequent.
I used to be super anti-gun growing up, but here in Arizona and other red States specifically it seems like you’re in a sort of arms race by default. The nutters aren’t giving theirs up so it seems kinda naive not to have your own and know how to use them.
yes i have fired, yes I own a few.
Yes, only once. I was visiting my landlord at the time to do some yard work for him, he took me to the side of his house, asked if I wanted to shoot his shotgun, and put it in my hands before I could answer.
I don’t really have any desire to try another.
Yeah I don’t blame you!
If I was going to show a person gun stuff I wouldn’t just hand them a gun on a whim. Also I wouldn’t do it with a shotgun to start since the recoil is so stout and the controls are quite a bit different from other gun types.
Yes and yes.
Yes, target shooting with rifles (which I liked) and skeet shooting with a shotgun (which I didn’t care for).
What about skeet shooting made you dislike it?
My friend took me trap shooting a couple times and I found I enjoy it more than target shooting because it felt fast paced and a bit more challenging imo.
I didn’t write the above, but it might be recoil. For example, a 12 gauge kicks a lot more than a 5.56.
The recoil didn’t help, but I think the main thing for me was the lack of a feedback loop. I hit the pigeon or I didn’t, and I can’t really see how good my tracking was other than that. Target shooting, I could see if I had a near miss, a hit, or a bullseye.
A couple years ago I visited my buddy in Virginia and we decided to get out of the city to a trap shooting range. Neither of us had ever shot clay pigeons and we were surrounded by southern gun nuts. It was a trip.
Anyway, that was the first time I shot a gun. I’ve always been fascinated by guns but I’ve also held the belief that society would be better off without them. But society has been going down the shitter lately and I feel the need to prepare for the worst. I’ll be buying my first gun once I find the time to go shopping for one.
Yes. When I was a kid and early adult I was pretty heavily involved in Boy Scouts and fired guns a lot through that. My dad also took me hunting a couple of times. I haven’t fired a gun in probably close to 20 years, though.
I would fire a gun if I had a need to, but I have 0 interest in doing so for recreation. I don’t own a gun, and don’t really have any interest in one.
I love shooting but it really sucks to burn like 400 bucks plinking so i usually just shoot air rifle
What are you shooting and how many rounds are you burning through to plink away $400?
No matter how you slice it, your arms are going to be tired.
Just .223 but i can shoot all day. It doesn’t bother me at all.
Maybe he buys a new gun each time
You just gave me an idea for when xrp moons :D
Yes, on my uncle’s land. I’d like to do more but don’t feel like I have the time or money
I grew up in the American south and we had lots of guns when I was a kid. Me and my dad would go out target shooting on weekends and I always thought it was fun. As an adult I haven’t really kept up with it. After my dad passed away I just kind of lost interest. I have a few of those old handguns and rifles still but they just stay locked up in a cabinet at the back of my closet now.
It was pretty much just always something fun I got to do with my dad.
Remember that guns that haven’t been used for a long time will usually benefit from a clean and re-oil in order to work smoothly … should you feel the urge to freshen up your skills in the current political climate.
