This has been a long time coming. I have never really had the words to describe to most why we do what we do. Hell, most days I question it myself. But then, I came across a picture while writing a blog post. It was of me… and I was happy.
I am shooting my AR-15, that I customized on my own with almost zero help (thank you Monkey for all your help). Accomplishment, a sense of doing something, completing it and enjoying every minute of it. For the first time in a long time I had something that helped me truly enjoy myself. Pure, enjoyment. Nothing else mattered in that shot, and every round that followed it. I loved it so much, I wanted to share it. As little as it was to give, I wanted to share ALL of it.
I had a feeling there were others out there, that were curious and frustrated. People who needed a source to learn or find guidance and were greeted with condescension and belittlement. I have some friends and guess what, big shocker, they felt the same way. Well we all have our individual talents and a desire to learn so we set out to see if anyone else out there had the same problems, the same questions, the same local chuckleheads at the local gun shop that did everything they could to NOT sell you a gun. And so FourGuysGuns.com was born.
We constantly prove to each other that there is more data out there. We test each other in everything we do from rate of twist, to grains of lead and grains of powder. We constantly try to prove each other wrong so we can actually get to the right answer through research, just to prove who is right. That there is more real-world experience out there that actually is willing to help. There are people that want to teach and help get you to be as happy as I am in that picture. You could be that happy.
The days of Mr. Know-it-all and his demands for you to humbly kiss his ring and beg for his expert advice are dying away slowly. As a community of New and Future gun-owners, we have the ability and the resources to get the answers we seek. We can do it in a non-threatening and welcoming fashion. We can make mistakes. We can LEARN without relying on the old way of doing things. Listen, I don’t have all the answers or the actual experience. As a matter of fact, I was raised in an anti-gun household. I never touched a gun until I was about 25 years old. I may not know a lot, but I am willing to share EVERYTHING I can give if it helps just one person be safe. If it helps one person not to feel belittled when pursuing this hobby/sport. If I can help ONE person find the part, the position, the stock, the grip… then I sleep soundly and am happy.
At some point, people are going to have to take a hard look at how they treat people new to the sport and actually wonder why it is so hard to fight the anti-gun campaign. When you treat everyone like crap who is new and curious, you’re bound to create some bitter enemies.
Personally, we like our fans around here and wouldn’t trade them for anything. In fact, we actually do what we can to GET them more gear. All four of us do everything we can while working full-time jobs, supporting families, paying mortgages and rent to help this community not because we think we know more, but because we are willing to help.
Thank you to all our fans that help push us to do more everyday, and not make me regret a minute of it.