Help How to "get into" guns?

[newlifeimmigration]

I know there's already a thread about guns specifically for ctb. I've already read it and I'll probably reread it a few times again. What I'm wondering is about how to start getting knowledge on guns in general?

Shotgun to the head is my ideal method. I have the money for it and everything but I feel like I need more knowledge on them before actually going out and buying one. I want to know enough that I could act like I'm just getting into it as a hobby. And also I have no idea on how to even shoot one. I have genuine interest in guns too, I just feel kind of lost on how to start learning about them. Every time I try looking stuff up all the logistics just go over my head.

It feels like everyone else learned from being around family or friends with guns, but my family has always been really against guns. And I dont have any friends. I'm a very scrawny girl who is very visibly maladjusted & improperly socialized too so I don't feel like I really fit in with the average gun owner. It makes me nervous about even trying because I feel like I'm just going to make a fool of myself

It's kind of open I guess but my questions are:
does anyone have any tips on how to not look like you're just buying a gun just to ctb?
What can I expect from going into a gun store?
Is there any good starting resources for learning about shotguns, so I don't look like an idiot?
What do people usually do with shotguns? I know there's hunting and shooting ranges but I'm kind of confused on what that actually entails irl

Thank you^^

 

[newlifeimmigration]

Bumping this because it was in review for a while. I hope that's ok! @.@

 

[hellworldprincess]

I've never held a gun before and also I couldn't in my country, so take all of this with a grain of salt.

If you're generally interested in guns, there are countless gun nut youtubers you could check out. Sadly, they tend to not be the nicest people around. Being into guns is kind of a right-wing coded hobby. But for education about functionality and vocabulary it should be fine.

I assume that you're based in the US, which has something called the gun show loophole. For example it's used by felons to buy guns.
If you look for a private seller (maybe at a gun show) you might find someone who isn't as responsible as a professional gun salesperson.

Honestly tho, I think that most gun shops also don't care.

You could say that you want to use it at a shooting range (idk anything about hunting at all so I can't tell you how that would work), but if you don't have experience holding a gun, that might be suspicious. The seller could advise you to start off with something smaller than a shotgun.
That's why I would say that I want to own it for home defense purposes. Gun people love all of that "my home is my castle" stuff.

Hope this helps in some kind of way.

 

[scubadam]

hey! i'm from a country where the process of getting a gun is extremely difficult, but i've been to a shooting range a few times and have an idea how i would do it

first, i would start by going to a shooting range once or twice. they might ask about registration which is normal (at least here), i'd be honest with my personal information. they shouldn't ask for a reason you're coming there, but if they do i'd say something like "i want to get a gun for defense and know how to use it beforehand" or "i want to better understand hobbies of my boyfriend/brother/father/etc.". they shouldn't ask further, but if they do, know that shotguns are made for use from a small distance, eg. hunting small animals (ducks, rabbits, etc.) or self defense. if you can afford it, get an instructor and ask questions so you seem to really want to get into that stuff. at first they won't give you a shotgun probably, but you can say that there is one in your family house and you would like to learn how to use it in a case you need to or this is the main weapon the person you want to hunt/talk about it uses.

then, when you get to use a shotgun even once, go to a gun store and say a story that your house was attacked not so long ago (a robbery or something) but due to your neighbors walking around you got out of the situation safely and you'd like to own a shotgun if something like that happens again and nobody near is there to help OR again, the story about getting into a hobby of a close one. you mentioned you're a 'scrawny' girl, thus i'd assume the first scenario could be very convincing.

as hellworldprincess said, there have to be youtubers who explain guns to complete beginners in a manner which is actually understandable.

i have literally no experience in buying/owning/doing anything with a gun outside of a gun range, so don't take my word for granted. i saw this post didn't have much reaction, so i thought i could put my, very cheap, 5 cents into that.

whatever you choose, i wish you luck with your decision. take care!

 

[L'absent]

weapons in Italy, the legal ones, don't fit because they are of small caliber?

 

[FrancesFarmer]

I know there's already a thread about guns specifically for ctb. I've already read it and I'll probably reread it a few times again. What I'm wondering is about how to start getting knowledge on guns in general?

Shotgun to the head is my ideal method. I have the money for it and everything but I feel like I need more knowledge on them before actually going out and buying one. I want to know enough that I could act like I'm just getting into it as a hobby. And also I have no idea on how to even shoot one. I have genuine interest in guns too, I just feel kind of lost on how to start learning about them. Every time I try looking stuff up all the logistics just go over my head.

It feels like everyone else learned from being around family or friends with guns, but my family has always been really against guns. And I dont have any friends. I'm a very scrawny girl who is very visibly maladjusted & improperly socialized too so I don't feel like I really fit in with the average gun owner. It makes me nervous about even trying because I feel like I'm just going to make a fool of myself

It's kind of open I guess but my questions are:
does anyone have any tips on how to not look like you're just buying a gun just to ctb?
What can I expect from going into a gun store?
Is there any good starting resources for learning about shotguns, so I don't look like an idiot?
What do people usually do with shotguns? I know there's hunting and shooting ranges but I'm kind of confused on what that actually entails irl

Thank you^^

Feel free to private message me for specifics< but I recently went in claiming that I was going to be doing hiking in the northwest, and I needed it for protection against bears as I was looking for a 357 with 180 grain
hollow point tips, next thing I know the guy is asking me about concealed weapons class and a lot of other stuff that I didn't want to get involved with. I'm going to a gun show next weekend, but I have realized I can just say I'm using it for cell protection at home, that's my neighbors have been broken into blah blah blah in which case I don't need to deal with with concealed weapon permits and all that crap. It is legal to carry your gun to a fire range to practice which is what I plan on doing you do not need a concealed weapons permit for this, I say this also in case the gun store owner says you should take special classes to try out the gun. I'm texting this via talk to text so apologize for the errors

 

[justpathetic]

When it comes to firearms it really really depends where you live. In the u.s. every state has different gun laws. Despite stories there is no state you can legally go into a store and buy a handgun without a background check. Long guns like rifle and shot gun are different. In most gun friendly states you can get one w/o background check. However some stores require check even though its not required by law. Ex: walmart does checks on all their guns. They do not do checks on co2. Guns bows or crossbows as far as I know. Some states have waiting periods some don't. Most that do its for handguns and not long guns. Research laws specific to where you are. Lastly retailers usually don't care about why you want a gun. They're running a business. However they will try to chit chat upsell and try to get you to do cwp classes like another person said to make more $$. That's their job. Just be polite make small talk back to them and tell them you're not really interested in cwp. They won't think anything of it unless you do something highly irregular. Sorry for long reply