For years and years I wanted to get my LTC. However I just never went to the course to get my certificate & apply. I often ignored family that are retired SP & currently sit on a bench, dropping a hammer from time to time on criminals about the importance of getting my LTC.
Then the lunatic teenager who murdered children at Newtown created a massive knee-jerk reaction and I quickly attended a class & applied for my LTC. I figured now was the time, as it appeared our rights may be taken away from us all because of one crazy kid.
Early February I applied for my LTC-A. Early June I FINALLY received my LTC-A, no restrictions. The following day I went out and purchased my first gun, with little research. The gun shop owner spent roughly 2 hours with me, covering the basics and helping me find a gun that felt good and wouldn't be intimidating for a first time shooter. I picked up a Ruger SR22, along with 100rds of CCI ammo.
The next step was joining a club. I contacted a few, most have monthly meetings with orientation, so I asked if I could meet with anyone prior to the scheduled dates & get my membership. Surprisingly - EVERYONE agreed. I've been able to sign up and join 3 clubs in a week, very cool to know I have 5 clubs in roughly 15 mile radius to join. I never knew there was a range not even 5 minutes from my house, how cool is that??
My friend & I go to the pistol range for the first time and I have 100rds with me. In 45 minutes, it's all gone. I sure as hell had a lot of fun shooting only the upper left of every target. Some day with more practice, hopefully in the next few days, I'll figure out what I'm doing wrong and hit a bullseye more often. I take a trip to Dicks, they have no .22lr - I ask when I could join the fun and camp out for ammo, the manager basically tells me don't bother, there is about 15 retired folks who will get in line an hour before they open and clean them out. His exact words were "I rarely sell ammo to a face I don't see every single week on our delivery date, I'm sorry - it sucks and isn't fair to shooters like you who aren't prepping for the end of the world or zombies. I will do my best to grab you a couple boxes and hide them, check back with me on Friday"
Off to the next shop, this time it's a small lgs. Neither the owner or employee really give a **** that I'm in there. While they are buddy buddy chatting with someone for 10 minutes, I interrupt and ask if they have any .22lr and I'm laughed at and the owner says "yeah, you'll never find it". He then proceeds to show me 3 boxes, 50rds each of .22lr he took it in on trade and tells me $8 bucks. I think COOL...but WTF, only 8 bucks? I open up a box and it looks OLD and rather corroded, but I say I'll take it anyway. $8 got me 150 rounds of ugly looking 22lr, I think I may just store it away, you know, begin my prepping in case zombies ever show up.
Head to Walmart, really had no clue what to expect, but the lady at the counter was incredibly friendly and told me to call every morning and check, she has no idea when the shipments are coming but that 24 hours ago, they had a huge shipment of 22lr and 9mm come in and it was gone in a couple hours. She said "it's the same people and they've figured out the shipping schedule some how, all older gents"
So here I am, new shooter, excited to continue firing my gun and I can't do anything but stare at it. If MA residents could only order online...it'd be possible to have some ammo!
/end rant
Then the lunatic teenager who murdered children at Newtown created a massive knee-jerk reaction and I quickly attended a class & applied for my LTC. I figured now was the time, as it appeared our rights may be taken away from us all because of one crazy kid.
Early February I applied for my LTC-A. Early June I FINALLY received my LTC-A, no restrictions. The following day I went out and purchased my first gun, with little research. The gun shop owner spent roughly 2 hours with me, covering the basics and helping me find a gun that felt good and wouldn't be intimidating for a first time shooter. I picked up a Ruger SR22, along with 100rds of CCI ammo.
The next step was joining a club. I contacted a few, most have monthly meetings with orientation, so I asked if I could meet with anyone prior to the scheduled dates & get my membership. Surprisingly - EVERYONE agreed. I've been able to sign up and join 3 clubs in a week, very cool to know I have 5 clubs in roughly 15 mile radius to join. I never knew there was a range not even 5 minutes from my house, how cool is that??
My friend & I go to the pistol range for the first time and I have 100rds with me. In 45 minutes, it's all gone. I sure as hell had a lot of fun shooting only the upper left of every target. Some day with more practice, hopefully in the next few days, I'll figure out what I'm doing wrong and hit a bullseye more often. I take a trip to Dicks, they have no .22lr - I ask when I could join the fun and camp out for ammo, the manager basically tells me don't bother, there is about 15 retired folks who will get in line an hour before they open and clean them out. His exact words were "I rarely sell ammo to a face I don't see every single week on our delivery date, I'm sorry - it sucks and isn't fair to shooters like you who aren't prepping for the end of the world or zombies. I will do my best to grab you a couple boxes and hide them, check back with me on Friday"
Off to the next shop, this time it's a small lgs. Neither the owner or employee really give a **** that I'm in there. While they are buddy buddy chatting with someone for 10 minutes, I interrupt and ask if they have any .22lr and I'm laughed at and the owner says "yeah, you'll never find it". He then proceeds to show me 3 boxes, 50rds each of .22lr he took it in on trade and tells me $8 bucks. I think COOL...but WTF, only 8 bucks? I open up a box and it looks OLD and rather corroded, but I say I'll take it anyway. $8 got me 150 rounds of ugly looking 22lr, I think I may just store it away, you know, begin my prepping in case zombies ever show up.
Head to Walmart, really had no clue what to expect, but the lady at the counter was incredibly friendly and told me to call every morning and check, she has no idea when the shipments are coming but that 24 hours ago, they had a huge shipment of 22lr and 9mm come in and it was gone in a couple hours. She said "it's the same people and they've figured out the shipping schedule some how, all older gents"
So here I am, new shooter, excited to continue firing my gun and I can't do anything but stare at it. If MA residents could only order online...it'd be possible to have some ammo!
/end rant
![[laugh]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/012.gif "Laugh [laugh]")
![[wink]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/002.gif "Wink [wink]")
- A few boxes of 22 probably isn't worth the trip though depending where you live.
