I find I am still quite surprised when I meet people that have absolutely zero exposure to firearms. It seems to me that most folks have at least handled a gun once or twice in their lives, or at least knows a little bit about them.
At my daughter's school there is a family where the parents wanted to get to know more about guns so they could own one or two for protection. My wife shared my interest and they asked if we could get together and talk about them. We met for lunch today then went to their home to discuss things further while the kids played in another room.
We spent about 2 1/2 hours talking about guns. We had to start at the absolute basics, and I mean basics. These folks really know nothing about guns. Based on their questions, we talked about the difference between a shotgun and a rifle. We talked about the difference between a rifle and a handgun. There was a lot of need to define terms, explain things in a calm and easy manner, and, above all, address concerns about safety since they have two young children.
I hadn't expected to spend this much time talking with them today, but they were really interested and really sat captivated and asked a lot of questions. We talked about what kind of guns would be right for them, how they planned on using them, CHL's, training, storage and education. Eventually, they asked to see my CC weapon. Now this is something I share with very few people, but they already knew I carried, so I unholstered (they wanted to know how I carried), unloaded the gun in front of them and allowed them to handle the gun, supervised by me, of course.
In the end, their concerns were greatly alleviated and the mysteries had been clarified with facts. We're going to meet up in the not too distant future at the range and I'm going to let them try out a few different guns, starting with some .22's. I also told them I would help guide them in choosing classes and help them find guns that would work for them, when it's time to make those purchases.
I think this will be an ongoing relationship as they develop into responsible gun owners. I'm always open to these kinds of opportunities as some good folks did similar things for me when I was a newbie gun owner years ago. Hopefully they'll share what they learn with others too, and continue the cycle of adding new gun owners. As for me, I really enjoyed the opportunity to share this with these folks today. And 2 more people voting pro-gun will be a bonus for us down the road.
P.S. We also discussed 2nd amendment issues and the attacks on our rights in Oregon. They were very interested and concerned about what upcoming legislation may affect their rights to own guns in the future.
At my daughter's school there is a family where the parents wanted to get to know more about guns so they could own one or two for protection. My wife shared my interest and they asked if we could get together and talk about them. We met for lunch today then went to their home to discuss things further while the kids played in another room.
We spent about 2 1/2 hours talking about guns. We had to start at the absolute basics, and I mean basics. These folks really know nothing about guns. Based on their questions, we talked about the difference between a shotgun and a rifle. We talked about the difference between a rifle and a handgun. There was a lot of need to define terms, explain things in a calm and easy manner, and, above all, address concerns about safety since they have two young children.
I hadn't expected to spend this much time talking with them today, but they were really interested and really sat captivated and asked a lot of questions. We talked about what kind of guns would be right for them, how they planned on using them, CHL's, training, storage and education. Eventually, they asked to see my CC weapon. Now this is something I share with very few people, but they already knew I carried, so I unholstered (they wanted to know how I carried), unloaded the gun in front of them and allowed them to handle the gun, supervised by me, of course.
In the end, their concerns were greatly alleviated and the mysteries had been clarified with facts. We're going to meet up in the not too distant future at the range and I'm going to let them try out a few different guns, starting with some .22's. I also told them I would help guide them in choosing classes and help them find guns that would work for them, when it's time to make those purchases.
I think this will be an ongoing relationship as they develop into responsible gun owners. I'm always open to these kinds of opportunities as some good folks did similar things for me when I was a newbie gun owner years ago. Hopefully they'll share what they learn with others too, and continue the cycle of adding new gun owners. As for me, I really enjoyed the opportunity to share this with these folks today. And 2 more people voting pro-gun will be a bonus for us down the road.
P.S. We also discussed 2nd amendment issues and the attacks on our rights in Oregon. They were very interested and concerned about what upcoming legislation may affect their rights to own guns in the future.
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