The Haus Ebbs is talking “advise for the first time gun owner“…
To answer his question, generally my advise to first timers is to go shooting. Often times that alone clears up so many of their misconceptions. Hands on experience and especially with a friend or relative who actually has some knowledge on the matter helps more than these want-to-be gun owners (notice I didnt call them wanna-be gun owners) have any idea it will. Teaching someone about gun ownership by giving them a chance to have hands-on learning is a far greater help than just nudging them in one direction or another on what to buy.
Often times people solicit opinions on what to buy and then narrow things down and make a purchase. For a first time gun buyer that doesnt always result in a successful purchase. For the gun culture, that usually results in a “gun owner” who is nothing more than someone who has a gun boxed up in the back of their closet somewhere.
If we want to grow the number of active and engaged members of our community (i.e. people who get mad as hell when some politician wants to trample on our gun rights) we need to offer to take these people shooting when we hear them asking these types of questions. When we see a spark of interest, we need to go out of our way to start adding kindling and help nurture and grow a passionate fire within them.
Just telling them “You can’t go wrong with a Glock” or “Start off with a .22″ doesnt cut it. If we want people who are willing to stand with us, vote with us, and become one of us then we need to take them under our wing and walk with them as they take these first steps into gun ownership. If we want to grow our numbers then we need to grow “Gunnies” not just “people who own a gun“.
