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I don’t know if I qualify as “didn’t grow up around guns” - I believe I fit the spirit of the question, but when I was very young my Dad had some kind of rifle that we knew he had, knew where it was (even out of curiosity opened the case and snuck a look or two at it) but he didn’t talk about it, I can’t clearly remember him ever taking it out to hunt and never saw it fired.Beyond that, my story/thing/moment that made me decide to be a gun owner included a flipping of both my view of guns/gun control as well as political affiliation.I grew up in MA and still live in the state (at least until I can sell my house) at 40. MA has a well known hostility to civilian gun ownership, absurdly restrictive statues for ownership and is among the most solidly leftist states in the U.S.Now if you grow up in MA, it’s not an option to be anything but a Democrat. You’re taught at an early age that Democrats are smarter, more caring and only evil, stupid and heartless white people (specifically old men) would consider being republicans.So naturally I grew up holding this view, even to the point of political activism in my early 20’s. Of course this included being in favor of restrictions on gun ownership and an incorrect interpretation of 2A.I did play violent video games and play with toy guns as a kid, but always understood the difference between games and movies/tv and real life.The moment of change for me was when I was volunteering for a very left candidate running against Bush 43 and among those volunteers, I was right on board with the firm respect for a woman’s right to choose and believed that rights mattered and it was wrong and offensive for the gov’t to think it could tell a woman what they can or can’t do with their own body. I still believe this. At the time, all branches of the federal gov't were majority Republican. Also, this was the time where the Clinton gun ban was about to expire, so that was a news topic.The candidate I was supporting was very liberal, but the state he came from had very pro-gun laws and the news, candidate and at the time a growing interest in car mechanics (and the associated appreciation for quality tools) led me to an openness to considering guns.I will never forget the moment my pro-left world came crashing down. Among the lefty activists, angrily discussing the govt’s disrespect and trampling of a woman’s right to choose, I suggested that we should support gun rights as well.I was expecting agreement or some positivity. I mean, we were the side that was consistent, believed in science and logic, right!?!Of course, I was met with vicious disagreement - folks that I respected and thought were smart and logical suddenly attacked the idea. I was shocked and tried to get an answer to how logically a disdain of civilian gun ownership comported with support for rights. I got vague statements of danger and people getting killed, but how could a possibilty of harm or death be justification to deny one right (guns) but be absolutely not reasonable to deny another (abortion). How could the chance of harm or death be worse than the certainty of death if everyone is equal? We couldn’t possibly be saying a person who has been alive for a few years matters more than one who is a few months from being born, could we? How could one right matter more than another? It was the Republicans who cherry picked and didn’t care about glaring contradictions in their beliefs. Weren’t we the “good guys” Weren’t we the smart ones? Wasn’t the truth what mattered? Weren’t we the “adults in the room” with the maturity to reconsider an opinion when facts and truth disputed it? We couldn’t possibly just be supporting things selfishly because it benefited us, could we?This epiphany was very much reminiscent of when you’re a kid and you first learn that Santa and the tooth fairy aren’t real and that your parents are actually capable of lying.So for the first time in my life, I questioned the lefty doctrine. I considered that the left might just be as petty and self-serving and arrogant as we had claimed the other side was.As I looked at the facts, and history, and for the first time considered the arguments of all sides, I grew increasingly angry and felt increasingly as though I’d been a fool.Listening to Ronald Reagan speeches where he clearly articulated there’s no room for racism or bigotry in the R party didn’t comport with the “Republicans are all racist a-holes” idea I’d been parroting as a youth. When I actually went looking for this racism that my liberal friends spoke of like it was beyond doubt, I never found it. However, the idea that we need xyz for “people of color” the leftys all advocated (things like “affirmative action”, etc), when viewed skeptically seemed awfully offensive - it sort of implied those “people of color” couldn’t succeed without “our” help. Now I’m not saying racism isn’t a problem or doesn’t exist, but having the same rules for everyone and a true “colorblindness” seems the “right” way to me.I never questioned the argument that MA had a low homicide rate because of the strong gun control - gun control made MA one of the safest states in the U.S. - Of course, that didn't hold up when consistently an even safer state than MA was/is NH (and VT, and ME) but they have extremely unrestrictive gun laws.I remember being very disgusted at the political brainwashing I had received in school - we were all taught about Paul Revere and “the british are coming” but the part about WHY they were coming was conveniently glossed over. I think it was no mistake that they never clearly taught us that they were coming to seize the citizens’ guns.To make matters worse, the town I grew up in and the adjacent town in which I currently live are roughly 12 miles from Concord and 17 from Lexington - the site of the first battle of the American Revolution. The elementary school I went to was named for a prominent local leader who fought in that battle and the church 1/4 mile from my house is where the militia members from my town rallied before marching to Lexington and Concord. They didn’t make it in time for the battle, but proceeded on to fight in the battle of Bunker Hill.Interestingly, and in contradiction to the idea that prior to modern times women were confined to the kitchen or birthing bed, a group of women from the local area (with members from my town) formed a militia patrol - taking up arms and dressing in mens clothing so they would be taken more seriously at a distance - and were instrumental in disrupting British communication routes - even taking prisoners!None of this really interesting and important history was emphasized in our local school lessons on the Revolutionary war.I remember being praised once for telling a teacher that 2A didn’t actually give people the right to own gus because of the mention of “militia”. Even without an understanding of history, the English words dispute that absurd and intentionally wrong interpretation. Studying history only reinforced that not only was 2A a clear explicit protection of ALL citizens’ right to own, but it was a civic duty to do so and that trusting gov't to protect it was to trust the fox to guard the hen house!Now I’m philosophically a libertarian, behaviorally (voting) mostly republican and skeptical of authority and believe gov't has a specific role but aught to be limited.Getting back to the original spirit of the question. When I first decided I’d like to try shooting I actually didn’t have any friends or family to even talk to about it. There was (and still is) however a shooting range nearby in NH that some friends had gone to once or twice (the range has full auto assault weapons you can rent if you’re interested in that experience).Of course, guns are a dangerous tool and like any dangerous tool, I have a healthy respect for them and don’t want to injure or kill myself. Like when I first ran a chainsaw, I’m most comfortable with having someone who has experience show me how to operate the tool and “spot” me the first few times I’m using it.So I called them up and asked them an important question - if I rented a “regular” gun (in other words, NOT a fully automatic machine gun), was there somebody there that could show me how to use it and supervise me since I’d never shot a gun before. I was pleasantly surprised at how really nice and helpful the folks were. I had fully expected the “looking down their nose” sort of response. Instead they seemed genuinely understanding and directed me to a guy who taught classes. The gentleman was also super awesome. — I still had some lingering prejudices from my years as a liberal, so I was expecting gun people to be grumpy old codgers of the “get off my lawn” sort, or macho men who felt you weren’t a real man if you couldn’t pick up a gun at 6 years old and shoot tight groups without breaking a sweat. - and I mean super awesome. He was approachable, friendly and really great - exactly what I was hoping for. When working out the cost, I mentioned renting a gun and he quickly told me.. no no no, just the fee for his time and some money for ammo and he’d bring a variety of guns for me to try. It obviously went really well.Now note that there isn’t a law or statue REQUIRING me to do this, nor did I need one. In my case, as a responsible adult that appreciates the risks of powerful tools, it was right for me. It certainly wouldn’t apply to people who have friends or family that could do the same.Later when I decided to get my MA license, you DO need a certificate of training. I ended up contacting the same guy and did the official certified training. Interestingly, the experience was exactly the same practically, the only difference being it cost more and I got a piece of paper at the end the second time. So while I have the certificate, I like to say that I actually did the training twice.Nowadays, even folks who are die hard anti-gun people will still receive an invitation from me to go to the range and at least give it a try. The reason is I know exactly how they are thinking, I know the fears and reservations and what they expect from gun ranges and “gun people” and it is completely not the case. The truth is that gun people are a lot nicer, a lot more approachable and a heck of a lot more welcoming than we get credit for. I have certainly opened up some minds, if not changed them outright by doing so.