My Introduction
My relationship with guns is an interesting one. It's a hobby of mine that's in its infancy, but I feel I was always sort of predisposed to diving into this world and hobby.
The setup and parameters were all there: my dad collected them, I had a deep interest in arms, armor, and military history, played video games and watched movies, and even played airsoft in my younger teenage years.
College and getting my career started after graduating kept me plenty busy that deviating from those focuses was not a challenge. The hustle of a person in their early twenties is quite resilient and burnout-averse I've come to learn. As I rounded out to my later 20s I fell into this hobby by simply inheriting the remaining pieces of my dad's collection. I had a reason to go out and shoot and went with a friend. Immediately I was hooked. I began looking at what's out there and my mind was blown by what could be owned.
My dad and I around 1994 “sorting” through some AR-15 mags.
My first experiences and memories with firearms are him taking out his collection for oiling and cleaning them.
It was a weird realization though in that I wasn't surprised by what could be owned. It was more of an internal wake-up of, "Hey, go jump into this hobby. You want an MP5? Or a Benelli M4? Well, go get it. There's a whole world here to enjoy and learn about these things."
From there I got the bug hard and jumped into the hobby from collecting all the way to competition. It became a healthy and consuming distraction from work and a world on fire. I read, watched, and consumed all I could to understand the world of firearms. In a further sense, it illustrated the importance of a passionate hobby as you get out of the young professional fervor. I saw peers around me falter and struggle as they had no avenues to take a break and put energy into something for themselves.
Crate packed full of range visit necessities.
You can spy a Staccato P, Walther Q4 SF and Mk18.
It's reasons like this that make me so passionate about the hobby. The self-fulfilling cycle of what I put into it and what it's given me; a place to clear my mind and push new boundaries and comfort zones. And evermore the connection to my father and his passion for firearms. The connection to history, the hands-on perspective firing and carrying around an M1 Garand, for example. Lastly, the rediscovering of popular culture and the use of arms as storytelling devices.
There are tons more nuances to this story of my interest and that'll come out in the following posts. What will follow and consist of this blog will be a collection of thoughts, reviews, opinions, and more. It'll become something of a journal. I have a lot to share and look forward to those who join in this journey.
Author: John Gelardi
