Dispatches from gun country: ‘I was 9 years old when I became infatuated with guns’

By Ben Philippi

Regis Giles, owner of GirsJustWannaHaveGuns, photographed in Miami, Florida sporting her 1895 Winchester chambered in US .30 Gov’t. (Photo: Ben Philippi)
Regis Giles was introduced to guns at a young age. As as result, she developed a healthy relationship with them. Now as a young woman, she has a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, she’s a hunter, an NRA columnist and a business owner. She’d like to see more females get involved with the shooting sports.
I was 9 years old when I became infatuated with guns after my dad decided to take me to the gun range to shoot his .22 rifle. I remember being terrified and
dreading the ‘recoil’, but as I squeezed the trigger and the gun went off, I thought to myself, ‘This is freaking awesome!’ From that moment on, I knew I wanted more.
My next encounter with a gun was at target practice for a wild boar hunt I was about to partake in – my first hunt ever! The .30-30 Marlin had a little bit more
of a kick to it than the .22 did, but I didn’t mind at all. I was ready to tackle the beasts of the wild and bring home some bacon (literally).
After that initial blood baptism, I knew I had

Source: Guns.com