How did you become a Gun Nut?

I've seen this question bouncing around the gun blog-o-sphere (originating here) and figured I'd add my own gunny story. 


My immediate family has always been gun-neutral to hoplophobic.  Dad's neutral, sis was hoplophobic but has slowly become receptive to guns and Pro-2A thinking (still can't get her butt to the range!) and mom... well she's the kind of hoplophobe that you think you're getting somewhere with in a logical debate - then it takes a sudden downward spiral into Illogical Land and you just have to walk away.  Lucky for me, my extended family has gun enthusiasts to balance everything out; my uncle and cousin have always been into guns & shooting.  I can clearly remember, as a kid, an argument between my mother and uncle / cousin about gun control.  It wasn't pretty and we left a holiday dinner early - in a huff.  I wasn't out of middle school at the time but already figured out mom was on the wrong side of the argument. 

The first time I shot a gun was at the age of 12.  I traipsed after the guys when they went shooting & they let me try a shotgun.... the only thing I managed to hit was my ass on the ground.  Not the smartest thing to hand a kid, but I think it was the gentlest thing they had out and I REALLY wanted to shoot.  I still don't like shotguns.

From then until college, guns and shooting were basically abandoned.  My uncle and I went shooting a few times as I got older, but it was discouraged by my mom so I didn't pursue it.  Out of default, I inherited my grandpa's break-action .223 in high school but I wasn't allowed to get ammo for it.  My mind still says, "WTF!?" thinking about it sitting in the corner of my room with not one round of ammo in the whole house... I had a very nice club.

Then Heath and I started dating ---> gun nut ---> the end.  

I was going to say that I was exaggerating, but the more I think about it, nope, that's about how it happened.  It was like the anemic gun enthusiast I had been suddenly had a source of support and approval.  He refreshed the safety lessons my uncle taught me and helped me shed the nonsensical ideas I acquired over several years of listening to my mom, liberal media and college (shudder).  We walked the farm with .22's, set up reactive targets and had a blast.  I learned the glee of making pop cans dance and of shredding paper targets with anything I felt like shooting (still no shotguns).  Then, like I said in my previous post, he encouraged me to get my CCW and now I carry everywhere I can.  It still irks mom - I just smile.  She can't believe Heath and I both carried on our wedding day.  Yeah, there still aren't many 'safe' topics for holiday dinners. 

So that's how I became a 'Gun Nut'.  I've always been one, I just didn't know it.