I heard someone talk about how someone didn't "grow up around guns" - it got me thinking on that subject.
Back when I was young in the 1970s, a gun i.e. a rifle or a shotgun was something that a young boy aimed to be able to shoot for himself at some point. A right of passage, which occurred about age 12 or so as your size began to match the size of the weapon. But I can remember as early as the 4th or 5th grade that in the hallways of school, some of the other boys talked of shooting a shotgun, starting with the .410, then a 20 gauge, then the man's gun of a 12 gauge.
BB guns were regular gifts to a young boy in elementary school. But not me. My father was never a gun guy. Legend had it he was involved in a shooting accident but that was never a real discussion topic.
My grandfather Wilton (father's side) was an avid hunter as well as my uncle Vernon (mother's side). Both of them prominently displayed their gun collections in a nice oak cabinet (locked tight).
As a teenager, Wilton would take me shooting when I visited. I learned to shoot at Camp La Junta where riflery was a required course. We shot .22 rifles from a prone position on a 25 yard range. The best shot when I was there was Charles Warlick who scored a perfect 50 - 5 10 point bullseyes. He got to go to The Hunt Store for a celebratory cheeseburger. My last year, I remember getting to shoot various guns, a .243, and .... the prized 12 gauge shotgun.
No one I knew really had a gun of their own. It was more like one of their father's gun's was designated as "theirs". I had one of Wilton's rifles designated as mine. When I went to get it as an adult, Wilton gave me the exact one - the decision was made years before.
The first time I went hunting was with Uncle Vernon and our friend Dr. Raymond Hart. I was about 17 years old. We were bird hunting (dove I guess) around Austin. I had no idea what a dove looked like. When a bird flushed, I shot it and my uncle said "Good news, that was a good shot. But you shot a sparrow."
After Susan and I got married, I was able to go hunting with Susan's dad where I learned what a dove really looked like. My friend Brent and I had many good times dove hunting as well.
The current craze of pistols, concealed carry and black guns is a long way removed from what I remember Growing Up Around Guns.
