A Newbie from Cleveland

[Guest Thom]

Hello, my name is Thom and I’ve been living in southeast Tennessee for about seven years now after 20 years of living in some of the smaller cities and rural areas of middle and southwest Georgia. My youth, though not misguided, was spent growing up in one of those far northern states that has no appreciation for civilian possession of firearms. I did hunt growing up but the choice of hunt-legal long guns was limited based on the location where one would be hunting.

I came to Second Amendment activism and the joy of shooting sports later in life. I had a couple of those handed down family shotguns from the early days. My wife had a Charter Undercover and a Georgia Concealed Carry Permit in the early 80’s BC (before children). She had a third shift job for which she had to commute 30 miles each way in a very rural area. These firearms spent most of the next twenty years locked away until the children came into their older scouting years and it was time for the shotgun merit badge.

From there the train began to pickup speed. I had always believed the United States Constitution including The Bill of Rights should be applied and interpreted at the most basic level and language. It seemed that the Constitution and our inherent and inalienable rights were coming under more and more challenge. I joined the NRA around this period and shortly after relocated to Tennessee as part of a job transfer.

A great convergence occurred for me not long after moving here with a number of things happening in just a few months of one another. There was the sun-setting of the “Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994†(Loving known as the AWB). I purchased my first rifle of the type; modern sporting, semi-automatic, color: black. I joined a local shooting range club (needed some place to shoot that MSR), and I saw a program on television showing an IDPA match. Now I was hooked and I started bringing in my wife and children as this was becoming a family passion.

My wife and I both started out in local IDPA matches shooting CDP division but it wasn’t long before I added SSP and my wife is now putting together a match gun for the ESP division. My daughter is outstanding with the MSR. I need to convince her to try high power competition.

My son started in IDPA in the SSR division and added SSP as well. For him this whole adventure became a life impactor. Out of school he started his new career in banking. He’s good with numbers and really enjoyed customer interaction but something was lacking. He needed a little more adventure, a little more physicality, and he took an opportunity to move to an allied industry, armored security. His interest was in firearms training and within two years he became an NRA certified LE instructor. This, along with taking additional state and company classes he became the firearms instructor at his branch location for one of the major armored transport companies.

With all of this new experience we each got our Tennessee HCPs including each of the children when they came of age.

I began including Second Amendment advocacy to help protect our now extensive interest in firearms and took out life memberships in several advocacy organizations including upgrading my NRA membership to Life. The Internet with blogs and forums became part of this activity as well. Communications with all my legislative representatives from the local level all the way to national has become a regular occurrence with frequent emails, faxes, the occasional phone call, and even a couple overnight letters on issues important to me. I don’t try to be a single issue voter but the Second Amendment and its protection has become the crucial litmus test for me in measuring my legislators. When they don’t support the Second Amendment in the manner which I do they rarely pass muster on any other issue of concern.

I guess you could now say I am fully immersed in firearms issues and sport shooting. Oh yes, I started shooting 3-Gun competition last year. With all the matches we shoot I naturally had to start reloading. The Lee Anniversary single-stage didn’t run long before a Dillon XL-650 sat next to it on the work bench. Got that just in time not to have any reloading supplies to run through it. A chronograph is probably the next gadget on the list to acquire and a second gun safe. It’s a struggle to get the door closed on the first safe now.

The family and I tried another ballistically challenging activity during this same time period. We really enjoyed the outings but golf just doesn’t seem to provide the same satisfactions. At the shooting range or in a match I might have to work on my trigger control but I’ll never have to worry about hooking or slicing a shot, and Lord knows I’ll never shank a bullet, except maybe in a reloading press.

[Guest tnmale46]

welcome

[bvarnell]

Welcome. Hope to see you @ CHRPC in about an hour.

[Chief07]

Welcome aboard.

[Guest nj.piney]

welcome

[Guest KarlS]

Welcome aboard

[DWARREN123]

Howdy Thom and Welcome to TGO

[Guest Arko]

Welcome neighbor. Nice to see another from Cleveland. I to grew up in the wrongheaded north.

[Guest SUNTZU]

Welcome. You win the longest introduction thread ever award.

[Guest gunslinger707]

Welcome !

[oldogy]

Welcome from east TN.

oldogy

[bockey]

welcome

[Guest Thom]

Welcome. You win the longest introduction thread ever award.

I know it was a long intro thread and I'm not certain that's good or bad. I initially put this text together for a media project I was assisting in to introduce a typical HCP/CCW holder. With a few minor modifications it just seemed fit this purpose here at TGO.

[Guest SUNTZU]

I know it was a long intro thread and I'm not certain that's good or bad. I initially put this text together for a media project I was assisting in to introduce a typical HCP/CCW holder. With a few minor modifications it just seemed fit this purpose here at TGO.

Not a problem for me.

[strickj]

Welcome aboard,Thom!

I see you're a member at CHRPC

[Guest mac_05evo]

Welcome, just up the street in Benton here

[THE COOP]

Hello and welcome to TGO... COOP