get the youth

[jpo183]

Tonight I attended the townhall in frederick and was dissapointed to see only a handful of under 30s let alone under 40s.

I feel like we need to get the next generation involved. Any ideas on how to reach out and teach them / show them that they need to get involved. Compliance leads to complatency.

Sorry for bad spelling on phone

 

[SFbrah]

As a 21 year old that has been active in politics since 19, i can tell you that most people in my relative age range simply do not care. I have had little luck "converting" my friends and others to be pro gun and/or pro politics. I guess its "boring" compared to playing Call of Duty, getting intoxicated every night or catching venereal diseases at every opportunity.

I share the same disappointment you do.

 

[-Z/28-]

As another 20-something, I can tell you most of my generation drink the liberal Michael Moore kool-aid right up.

What will help is if y'all stop trying to blame video games for violence. First person shooters like Call of Duty and Battlefield, are the one thing that does keep youth interested in guns. You'll notice the rise of the tacti-cool movement and the AR15's surge in popularity over the last 5 years or so, correspond with the coming of age of the original video game generation. (myself included)

 

[MDFF2008]

As another 20-something, I can tell you most of my generation drink the liberal Michael Moore kool-aid right up.

What will help is if y'all stop trying to blame video games for violence. First person shooters like Call of Duty and Battlefield, are the one thing that does keep youth interested in guns. You'll notice the rise of the tacti-cool movement and the AR15's surge in popularity over the last 5 years or so, correspond with the coming of age of the original video game generation. (myself included)

It's the parents and the person. 99% of people have no issue with violent video games because our parents raised us right.

It's the 1% who have shitty parents or mental illnesses that are the problem.

 

[jpo183]

I wonder if organizing a "tactical run and gun" with like mp 15-22 would be something to get people out. Something to target the next gen.

 

[abean4187]

I see this as an issue that has multiple reasons. As a 20something I’ll go through what I see as a few reasons for all this. (Sorry, this got longer than I expected it to.)

1. Guns are a big responsibility. Getting a gun means you have a deadly weapon in your house at all times. It means you should train yourself with it and take other precautions. That just doesn’t sit well with my generation. Most want less responsibility, not more.

2. Young people don’t have jobs/money, recent grads are in debt and way more likely to be unemployed than most other people. As we all know, shooting is an incredibly expensive thing to do. 500-2000$ for a gun, ammo that is getting close to 1$/bullet (Assuming you can even find any), becoming a member of a gun range can cost up to 300/year or you could pay some large price at a range such as 18$/hr. Not to mention all the other hidden cost such as cleaning, possible storage, etc.

I could spend 30$ on 50 9mm rounds and go through them in 30 minutes or I could buy a handle of whiskey for 30$ and have 2-4 great weekends hanging out with my friends or I could buy a video game for 30$ and play it for the next 6 months.

If we really want young people to get into shooting we need to figure out a way to reduce prices overall, which is a pretty hard thing to do in this industry.

3. Social conservatism needs to not exist in the pro 2nd amendment community. This does not apply to everyone as I know there are libertarians, liberals, and anarchists in the gun movement so don’t get “offended” by this one.

To most people below the age of 30, you look ridiculous saying that the 2nd amendment shall not be infringed upon while at the same time saying all people do not have the right to marry. Same goes with all the other amendments, we need to support them all which means we need to be against torture, unfair trials, illegal wars, illegal search and seizure, etc. Don’t be surprised when young people, who already see gun rights as less/not important when compared to all the others, to run away from your movement when you talk about taking the rights that they see as most important away. If you can’t swallow this pill, please just remain quiet when these issues come up.

4. Use media to your advantage. Anyone new to guns is going to go to the internet for their information. Hickok45 is probably the best example of positive media. He gives people fun useful information in a way that is not offensive. He also does not get political when he does it. He doesn’t rally against liberals or scream “They are coming for our guns” Alex Jones style. He is calm, respectful, and intelligent. This is what we all need to be like when introducing new people to guns.

To finish on this note, there is a time for political action and there is a time to be relaxed. Yes, we are going to kick Maryland’s butt in the courts but new people don’t really need to hear about this or see the pile of tin foil hats lying around. You make shooting fun for new people and they will be back for more.

 

[danb]

As a 21 year old that has been active in politics since 19, i can tell you that most people in my relative age range simply do not care. I have had little luck "converting" my friends and others to be pro gun and/or pro politics. I guess its "boring" compared to playing Call of Duty, getting intoxicated every night or catching venereal diseases at every opportunity.

I share the same disappointment you do.

ah, to be young again. I like call of duty, but real guns are so much more fun than fake guns. Except for the zombies.

 

[Gdud50]

As a 21 year old, I decided to help start a Rifle and Pistol Club at my school where we will help teach everyone how to enjoy the sport of shooting in a safe environment showing them that the guns aren't evil, rather, sometimes people shooting the guns are evil. Beginning next semester we will be having on campus classes on gun safety, advocacy, maintenance (hopefully), etc., while also having numerous range trips where we will teach students how to properly and safely fire a plethora of firearms.

Our mission includes supporting our constitutional rights as well as encouraging minorities and women to participate more in shooting.

I have another 3 years to work on this club, and hopefully I can make a big difference in my generation.

Our biggest issue is probably going to be fundraising so we can provide events at an extremely reduced price which will encourage more people who otherwise would not have attended to join. Most college kids I know do not have $50-70 to drop at the range every month or so.

By the way, I'm making a plug here, but if you are interested in being a sponsor feel free to pm me and I can explain our club to you in more detail.

 

[tapeman1]

correspond with the coming of age of the original video game generation. (myself included)

Sorry bud, but the original video game generation has been of age for a while now.

You have offended me greatly as an OG.

 

[hvymax]

I wonder if organizing a "tactical run and gun" with like mp 15-22 would be something to get people out. Something to target the next gen.

Adding a rimfire class to IPSC, IDPA etc would be a great way to start beginners and budget shooters.

 

[MadCat0911]

I see this as an issue that has multiple reasons. As a 20something I’ll go through what I see as a few reasons for all this. (Sorry, this got longer than I expected it to.)

1. Guns are a big responsibility. Getting a gun means you have a deadly weapon in your house at all times. It means you should train yourself with it and take other precautions. That just doesn’t sit well with my generation. Most want less responsibility, not more.

2. Young people don’t have jobs/money, recent grads are in debt and way more likely to be unemployed than most other people. As we all know, shooting is an incredibly expensive thing to do. 500-2000$ for a gun, ammo that is getting close to 1$/bullet (Assuming you can even find any), becoming a member of a gun range can cost up to 300/year or you could pay some large price at a range such as 18$/hr. Not to mention all the other hidden cost such as cleaning, possible storage, etc.

I could spend 30$ on 50 9mm rounds and go through them in 30 minutes or I could buy a handle of whiskey for 30$ and have 2-4 great weekends hanging out with my friends or I could buy a video game for 30$ and play it for the next 6 months.

If we really want young people to get into shooting we need to figure out a way to reduce prices overall, which is a pretty hard thing to do in this industry.

3. Social conservatism needs to not exist in the pro 2nd amendment community. This does not apply to everyone as I know there are libertarians, liberals, and anarchists in the gun movement so don’t get “offended” by this one.

To most people below the age of 30, you look ridiculous saying that the 2nd amendment shall not be infringed upon while at the same time saying all people do not have the right to marry. Same goes with all the other amendments, we need to support them all which means we need to be against torture, unfair trials, illegal wars, illegal search and seizure, etc. Don’t be surprised when young people, who already see gun rights as less/not important when compared to all the others, to run away from your movement when you talk about taking the rights that they see as most important away. If you can’t swallow this pill, please just remain quiet when these issues come up.

4. Use media to your advantage. Anyone new to guns is going to go to the internet for their information. Hickok45 is probably the best example of positive media. He gives people fun useful information in a way that is not offensive. He also does not get political when he does it. He doesn’t rally against liberals or scream “They are coming for our guns” Alex Jones style. He is calm, respectful, and intelligent. This is what we all need to be like when introducing new people to guns.

To finish on this note, there is a time for political action and there is a time to be relaxed. Yes, we are going to kick Maryland’s butt in the courts but new people don’t really need to hear about this or see the pile of tin foil hats lying around. You make shooting fun for new people and they will be back for more.

I think you've pretty much nailed it.

We also need to find a way to address the stigma associated with guns. We know we need to try and get more youths into shooting. We need to find a way where we can minimize the soccer moms screaming bloody murder when they hear about how "they're arming babies!"

 

[jpo183]

I wonder if we could talk to some of the local clubs like IWL and some of the other private clubs to open a night for "20somthing shoots"

I mean heck, if we could even get people out shooting ruger 22's they would have a blast and it would be a great way to teach saftey and show that we arent nut jobs.

 

[Caladain]

I'm a progressive. I love my guns. I find myself identifying with both parties, but there are several frustrations my age group faces (rereading this, it comes across as a rant of sort, sorry):

1.) Cost of firearms, parts, ammo is sky high. Sweet Jebus. Thankfully it pushed me to reloading.

2.) The ranting against "libtards" here, at the range, and among the FUDDs. Because I don't care who you marry, and that we should switch to a Single Payer system (Like Tricare?) so I don't have to live in sheer terror of a major medical bill (I have health insurance, but i don't exactly have 3k extra per year for the deductible before coverage kicks in), i feel completely out of place at the range *and* in most gun stores. (2ndA is a notable exception! If i had more money, i'd trade it for something on the wall :-)

3.) The FUDDs. If you're not a god fearing, big caliber loving, commie hating, GOP carrying member, they'll stick in your mind. At some ranges I've been to (In other states, thankfully never encountered it at the AGC) it was so bad that my fellow liberal gun owning friends would only go shooting if i was along, because they didn't want to interact with those folk.

4.) Over-the-top range rules and requirements. A lot of ranges (the AGC sortof falls within this, but not really) come across as "old boys clubs". Gotta be sponsered, gotta pay several fees that are hundreds of dollars, and no options for those of us that can currently only afford to go shooting 20ish times a year. I like shooting steel. It's much more fun than paper, and i've come up with a rig that has several sized plates held one infront of the other (the front ones are smaller)...i can tell at range which one i've hit by the sound. Banned at most ranges for center fire rounds, even though it's made of AR500. I would *love* to have an assault course of some sort (I'm gonna catch hell for this) like nutnfancy runs. Something where your heart rate gets up, and you have to put rounds down range. Bench shooting can get old.

 

[MDFF2008]

I'm a progressive. I love my guns. I find myself identifying with both parties, but there are several frustrations my age group faces (rereading this, it comes across as a rant of sort, sorry):

1.) Cost of firearms, parts, ammo is sky high. Sweet Jebus. Thankfully it pushed me to reloading.

2.) The ranting against "libtards" here, at the range, and among the FUDDs. Because I don't care who you marry, and that we should switch to a Single Payer system (Like Tricare?) so I don't have to live in sheer terror of a major medical bill (I have health insurance, but i don't exactly have 3k extra per year for the deductible before coverage kicks in), i feel completely out of place at the range *and* in most gun stores. (2ndA is a notable exception! If i had more money, i'd trade it for something on the wall :-)

3.) The FUDDs. If you're not a god fearing, big caliber loving, commie hating, GOP carrying member, they'll stick in your mind. At some ranges I've been to (In other states, thankfully never encountered it at the AGC) it was so bad that my fellow liberal gun owning friends would only go shooting if i was along, because they didn't want to interact with those folk.

4.) Over-the-top range rules and requirements. A lot of ranges (the AGC sortof falls within this, but not really) come across as "old boys clubs". Gotta be sponsered, gotta pay several fees that are hundreds of dollars, and no options for those of us that can currently only afford to go shooting 20ish times a year. I like shooting steel. It's much more fun than paper, and i've come up with a rig that has several sized plates held one infront of the other (the front ones are smaller)...i can tell at range which one i've hit by the sound. Banned at most ranges for center fire rounds, even though it's made of AR500. I would *love* to have an assault course of some sort (I'm gonna catch hell for this) like nutnfancy runs. Something where your heart rate gets up, and you have to put rounds down range. Bench shooting can get old.

Everyone needs to read this.

 

[2AHokie]

I've seen some good reasons already posted, but are we talking about the town hall where people could go to learn how SB281 impacted them?

I would say that us younger people, in general, are pretty adept at finding information on the internet and using sites like MDS. I am still (just barely) in the under 30 group, but I had no need for this kind of meeting because I already know how it will impact me.

If it was a townhall for a different reason, ignore me and carry on.

 

[danb]

I'm a progressive. I love my guns. I find myself identifying with both parties, but there are several frustrations my age group faces (rereading this, it comes across as a rant of sort, sorry):

1.) Cost of firearms, parts, ammo is sky high. Sweet Jebus. Thankfully it pushed me to reloading.

2.) The ranting against "libtards" here, at the range, and among the FUDDs. Because I don't care who you marry, and that we should switch to a Single Payer system (Like Tricare?) so I don't have to live in sheer terror of a major medical bill (I have health insurance, but i don't exactly have 3k extra per year for the deductible before coverage kicks in), i feel completely out of place at the range *and* in most gun stores. (2ndA is a notable exception! If i had more money, i'd trade it for something on the wall :-)

3.) The FUDDs. If you're not a god fearing, big caliber loving, commie hating, GOP carrying member, they'll stick in your mind. At some ranges I've been to (In other states, thankfully never encountered it at the AGC) it was so bad that my fellow liberal gun owning friends would only go shooting if i was along, because they didn't want to interact with those folk.

4.) Over-the-top range rules and requirements. A lot of ranges (the AGC sortof falls within this, but not really) come across as "old boys clubs". Gotta be sponsered, gotta pay several fees that are hundreds of dollars, and no options for those of us that can currently only afford to go shooting 20ish times a year. I like shooting steel. It's much more fun than paper, and i've come up with a rig that has several sized plates held one infront of the other (the front ones are smaller)...i can tell at range which one i've hit by the sound. Banned at most ranges for center fire rounds, even though it's made of AR500. I would *love* to have an assault course of some sort (I'm gonna catch hell for this) like nutnfancy runs. Something where your heart rate gets up, and you have to put rounds down range. Bench shooting can get old.

I hear what you are saying. I tend to think of myself as a civil libertarian with (a few) guns (as in, i oppose citizen registries and privacy invasions of all sorts, not just gun registries).

I love shooting steel ... wish there was more rifle metallic shooting.

 

[ADR]

I'm a progressive. I love my guns. I find myself identifying with both parties, but there are several frustrations my age group faces (rereading this, it comes across as a rant of sort, sorry):

1.) Cost of firearms, parts, ammo is sky high. Sweet Jebus. Thankfully it pushed me to reloading.

2.) The ranting against "libtards" here, at the range, and among the FUDDs. Because I don't care who you marry, and that we should switch to a Single Payer system (Like Tricare?) so I don't have to live in sheer terror of a major medical bill (I have health insurance, but i don't exactly have 3k extra per year for the deductible before coverage kicks in), i feel completely out of place at the range *and* in most gun stores. (2ndA is a notable exception! If i had more money, i'd trade it for something on the wall :-)

3.) The FUDDs. If you're not a god fearing, big caliber loving, commie hating, GOP carrying member, they'll stick in your mind. At some ranges I've been to (In other states, thankfully never encountered it at the AGC) it was so bad that my fellow liberal gun owning friends would only go shooting if i was along, because they didn't want to interact with those folk.

4.) Over-the-top range rules and requirements. A lot of ranges (the AGC sortof falls within this, but not really) come across as "old boys clubs". Gotta be sponsered, gotta pay several fees that are hundreds of dollars, and no options for those of us that can currently only afford to go shooting 20ish times a year. I like shooting steel. It's much more fun than paper, and i've come up with a rig that has several sized plates held one infront of the other (the front ones are smaller)...i can tell at range which one i've hit by the sound. Banned at most ranges for center fire rounds, even though it's made of AR500. I would *love* to have an assault course of some sort (I'm gonna catch hell for this) like nutnfancy runs. Something where your heart rate gets up, and you have to put rounds down range. Bench shooting can get old.

No offense on a personal level but I find the highlighted part rather interesting. So if your liberal friends don't want to interact with them that's ok but they're expected to change and embrace you?

 

[ken792]

As a 21 year old, I decided to help start a Rifle and Pistol Club at my school where we will help teach everyone how to enjoy the sport of shooting in a safe environment showing them that the guns aren't evil, rather, sometimes people shooting the guns are evil. Beginning next semester we will be having on campus classes on gun safety, advocacy, maintenance (hopefully), etc., while also having numerous range trips where we will teach students how to properly and safely fire a plethora of firearms.

Our mission includes supporting our constitutional rights as well as encouraging minorities and women to participate more in shooting.

I have another 3 years to work on this club, and hopefully I can make a big difference in my generation.

Our biggest issue is probably going to be fundraising so we can provide events at an extremely reduced price which will encourage more people who otherwise would not have attended to join. Most college kids I know do not have $50-70 to drop at the range every month or so.

By the way, I'm making a plug here, but if you are interested in being a sponsor feel free to pm me and I can explain our club to you in more detail.

Nice! I'm 20 and started my club at UMD when I was 19.

To get aside the funding issue, find an IWLA chapter or other private club to sponsor you. My guys can spend just $15-20 per range trip.

 

[abean4187]

4.) Over-the-top range rules and requirements. A lot of ranges (the AGC sortof falls within this, but not really) come across as "old boys clubs". Gotta be sponsered, gotta pay several fees that are hundreds of dollars, and no options for those of us that can currently only afford to go shooting 20ish times a year. I like shooting steel. It's much more fun than paper, and i've come up with a rig that has several sized plates held one infront of the other (the front ones are smaller)...i can tell at range which one i've hit by the sound. Banned at most ranges for center fire rounds, even though it's made of AR500. I would *love* to have an assault course of some sort (I'm gonna catch hell for this) like nutnfancy runs. Something where your heart rate gets up, and you have to put rounds down range. Bench shooting can get old.

Gotta agree with this one all the way. Shooting ranges should be way more open then what they currently are. I’ve been looking for a range to join but many revolve around either knowing someone or joining one club so that you can then join the shooting range (Both of which come with a yearly fee).

I don’t have a lot of money and can at most go shooting 1-2 times a month. I really have no desire to pay top dollar to join a club so I can spend an hour a month shooting at a paper target.

Clubs really need to incentivize the things they want. I know Appleseed reduces their prices significantly for women. I don’t see why other clubs can’t have a sliding scale based on how much you make a year or how old you are.

 

[Caladain]

No offense on a personal level but I find the highlighted part rather interesting. So if your liberal friends don't want to interact with them that's ok but they're expected to change and embrace you?

What's wrong with them not wanting to hang around with people they don't identify with if they don't want to? They're already *way* outside their normal comfort zone. I try and make range trips fun and politics free.

I just fake it when someone drops a "g'damn gungrabbing liberals", etc at the range...it's not worth the fight. I take the NRA dinner flyer from them, smile, and go blast some paper.