New shooter report-parental edition

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Aaron
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New shooter report-parental edition

Post by Aaron »

No, not me as the parent, my parents.

In addition to being the only male on his side of the family not to join the military (not for lack of trying, but he has terrible asthma), my father is the only one not to be a life long gunnie. He shot with his dad, brother, and cousins as a kid, even having his own .22 rifle, but never carried the interest into adulthood. He'd never fired a pump action shotgun (just a side by side 16 gauge), semi-auto pistol, or any rifle other than a .22.

My mom, from the liberal side of the family, had simply never fired a gun. Ever.

My brother, sister, uncles, aunts, cousins, wifey, and self have been trying to get my parents into guns for quite some time now. Inviting them out to shoot and such, not actually browbeating. Mom was somewhat interested in the idea of carrying concealed, mostly because she's a night shift nurse at a hospital in a deteriorating location.

Anyway, after the election of the light bringer and ongoing economic problems, the parents jumped on the gunnie bandwagon. Not just dipping their toes in either. They bought a .22 pistol (can't remember what model) and the same day ordered a 9mm XD full size and have been busily buying up as much ammo as they can.

And talk about your ideal students! Mother dearest was knocking empty 12 gauge shells at twelve yards at her first range trip. Didn't start at twelve, but worked up to it in just a few dozens rounds. Dad was doing the same with just a little more time. Comes from my grandma I bet, she was a dead eye with revolvers. No safety violations, no shrugging off any advice, both were perfectly attentive and cautious. They're also planning on attending several classes on firearms safety, defensive handgun use, defensive tactics, etc.

Now they're pestering me for advice on a HD shotgun and another pistol. :mrgreen:
If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom,...Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you...; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.

-Samuel Adams

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Dedicated_Dad
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Re: New shooter report-parental edition

Post by Dedicated_Dad »

Nice work. My (preacher) Dad recently asked me about helping him choose a hand and long-gun for defense - this from a nearly life-long pacifist who used to whip me if I even raised my hand to defend myself.

When I was a kid, we were looking for a house one night and stopped to ask a man for directions. He was drunk, convinced his wife was cheating on him, and held a revolver to the old man's head for several minutes while Pops tried to convince him he'd never met his wife... :o I really think if I hadn't been in the car, Dad would have been a dead man -- nothing he said convinced the crazy guy until Dad said "do you REALLY think I'd bring my child along if I was going to have sex with someone's wife?!"

I tell this story for one reason: to demonstrate the difference in people. Even as a child, this experience convinced me of the need to bear arms for personal defense, while Dad held it as evidence of why guns should be restricted. Needless to say, he's since matured quite a bit... My little (half) brother was taught to do his best to end a fight someone else started...

DD
workinwifdakids wrote:MV Gun Counter: "We're like Blackwater, except without the impulse control."
Random Internet Moron wrote: "High Caliber Magazine Clips are only useful for random slaughter of innocent civilians, so they should only be used by the police."
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princewally
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Re: New shooter report-parental edition

Post by princewally »

Dedicated_Dad wrote: this from a nearly life-long pacifist who used to whip me if I even raised my hand to defend myself.
Interesting contradiction.
Bill Engvall wrote:I was out in the front yard with my boy the other day and he was playing with his little friend, and he hit his friend and I went up to him and I said "Hey, (smacks his boy), we don't hit." He looked up at me like, "Here's your sign, dad."
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Dedicated_Dad
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Re: New shooter report-parental edition

Post by Dedicated_Dad »

princewally wrote:
Dedicated_Dad wrote: this from a nearly life-long pacifist who used to whip me if I even raised my hand to defend myself.
Interesting contradiction.

Yup. Never made sense to me, either... :roll: At the time, his "denomination" taught "turn the other cheek" right before "spare the rod and spoil the child." Suffice to say, I WAS NEVER SPOILED...

Didn't take the other boys long to figure out that I would accept most anything without retaliation, so... Between them and Dad, I developed an almost inhuman tolerance for pain... When he remarried and started another family, I kept a pretty close eye for a long time - I told him flat-out once that I'd call DSS in a heartbeat if I had any clue -- even the slightest HINT -- that he was treating those kids the way he did me. Thankfully, their mother simply wouldn't have tolerated it, and I think he'd learned from his previous mistakes... I'll never forget watching my half-brother sass him one afternoon - it was all I could do to stop myself from diving under a table, worried he'd flash back and hit ME :lol:

FTR, I've rarely found it necessary to use corporal punishment on my kids, and then only with a bare hand to a backside once or twice to keep my word. By never -- EVER, under ANY circumstances, EVER breaking a promise, the phrase "I PROMISE, if you do that again I will spank you..." was enough to stop unwanted behavior. Through rigid consistency, the threat worked better than the deed... "I'm very disappointed in your actions" is still enough to produce tears, and they're nearly grown... As I've told them before, one major thing I learned from my kids is that it's a miracle my old man didn't beat me to death... ;)

(ETA:) During my custody-battle, the ex-beast (naturally) claimed I beat the kids. The court-ordered psych showed Hizzoner the hidden-cam vid he'd made with my (then) 5-year old. He asked "If your Daddy is REALLY, REALLY mad, will he spank you?" "Ohhhhhhh, YEAAAAaahhhh!!!" But, when asked, she couldn't remember what she'd ever been spanked for, and even finally volunteered that she didn't think she'd ever actually been spanked. He asked "Why would you say 'Ohhhhhhh, YEAAAAaahhhh!!!' if he's never spanked you?" Her response has been (and will likely ALWAYS be) a source of pride for me:

"See... You have to understand about my Daddy. He never breaks a promise about nothin'. When he's really mad he gets really quiet, and he'll say (doing a PERFECT job of mimicing me mimicing Clint E.'s stare and voice in an old spag. western:) 'I PROMISE - if you do that again I'm going to spank you...' When I hear that, I'm not stupid! -- I stop doing it!!"

BINGO! VICTORY!! I've always done my best to say the same thing in the same way at 3 levels of discipline - this way they always know EXACTLY where they are on the "Daddy's fittin' to bust my @$$"-continuum, and are able to stay on the fun side of said line... IT works...

OTOH, I made it clear to Hizzoner that I considered corporal punishment to be a valid option of last resort, but that I also believed if things got to that point it was generally because of some failure or inconsistency on MY part. That's still true - with *MY* kids - though I know there are some kids who just won't quit until they're in trouble, I was blessed with two who thrived on hyper-consistency...(/edit)

As the father (or father-figure) to four teenagers, I've also learned why animals eat their young... :lol:

DD
workinwifdakids wrote:MV Gun Counter: "We're like Blackwater, except without the impulse control."
Random Internet Moron wrote: "High Caliber Magazine Clips are only useful for random slaughter of innocent civilians, so they should only be used by the police."
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SeekHer
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Re: New shooter report-parental edition

Post by SeekHer »

Dedicated_Dad wrote:As the father (or father-figure) to four teenagers, I've also learned why animals eat their young... :lol:

DD
Amen, to that!!!
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Combat Controller
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Re: New shooter report-parental edition

Post by Combat Controller »

That's great news, I am glad to see folks jumping in, it's never too late!
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Dub_James
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Re: New shooter report-parental edition

Post by Dub_James »

Tell them we wish them well in their new [strike]money-burner[/strike] hobby :)
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Aaron
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Re: New shooter report-parental edition

Post by Aaron »

Dub_James wrote:Tell them we wish them well in their new [strike]money-burner[/strike] hobby :)
No, you were right the first time.
If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom,...Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you...; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.

-Samuel Adams

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Jered
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Re: New shooter report-parental edition

Post by Jered »

Dub_James wrote:Tell them we wish them well in their new [strike]money-burner[/strike] hobby :)
Our money won't be worth anything soon anyway. May as well buy something that is. :roll:
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