What made you either pro-gun or anti-gun?

[tortoise1956]

By this, I mean what were the contributing factors that led you to lean to either of these two points of view?

In my case, it's pretty simple. My dad was raised in rural Ohio in the 20's and 30's, and he was taught to hunt for food at a young age. He was also taught to respect the power inherent in a gun, and not to misuse that power. He passed that knowledge on to me and my siblings. When I was 10, I started shooting, in an NRA program, for marksmanship awards. A large part of that program entailed repeated training on gun safety. To this day, I never pick up a weapon without checking to make sure that it is unloaded (sometimes more than once - mild OCD!), I never point a weapon at anything I don't intend to shoot, and I NEVER chamber a round until I am absolutely ready to fire.

The big thing is that I have also seen guns as a tool, neither good nor evil in and of themselves.

How did you reach your conclusions concerning guns? Please be non-combative in your responses, and refrain from taking potshots at others in this thread. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

NOTE: I know that the names I used may be distasteful to some. It's not meant as a slur to either side, they were all I could think of at the moment...