It has been a few days since I have made a visible update to the site, so I thought now might be a good time to give a bit more insight to where the idea for this site came from, and share a bit about my goals for guns101. Simply put, I feel like there is a large knowledge rift in the gun culture world between people with limited (or no) gun experience, and people who are experts in the field. It has become very intimidating and overwhelming for new gun owners to get into the sport and find reliable information. This is not because there is a lack of information available online and off, but because there is so much of it, and a large portion of it seems written for other experienced gun owners. While this is not inherently bad, this can create a intimidating barrier for people who are new to the sport.
Over my years, I have had the opportunity to meet, work with, and become friends with a lot of diverse and interesting people, many of whom are gun owners, and have been shooting on and off for years. But when I start asking some of them questions like, why did you choose the gun(s) you did? Or, How do you properly disassemble and clean your gun? Or, what is the best way to hold and safely shoot your weapon? I am generally met with partial answers, guesses, blank stares and a surprising amount of bad information. Almost every one of my friends (who are non experts) want to learn more and become more proficient with their firearms, but many of them were to embarrassed to ask for help, didn’t know where to look and didn’t have time to spend hours trying to find accurate information. Honestly, I understand their situation. Not everyone is willing to just take apart their gun and learn on their feet without help, and it can feel somewhat embarrassing to ask for help when you get over your head. Heck, I don’t know about anyone else, but for me, asking a experienced shooter for help/advice sometimes feels similar to when I need help from the auto parts store installing new windshield wipers on my car. (Yes I am serious, I am terrible getting those things on, and I feel like I have to give up a man card every time it happens)
The funny thing is, the more time you spend in the “gun culture scene”, the more you realize that these are some of the nicest people in the world. Many of whom are happy to go out of their way to help others in any way possible. This is the side of the gun culture world I want to help make more visible, and get new and potential shooters get exposed to. With that in mind, hopefully, as a open community, we can get more people interested in this great and diverse sport, and all learn something new together.
Now, with all that said, here is what I am looking to do with this site, specifically in the short term. Currently, I am planning on having this site start by serving as a knowledge center for some of the most common gun platforms out in the world today. We will be linking, sharing, and creating new videos and documentation that clearly outline the following topics:
- How to safely take apart and reassemble various gun platforms
- Proper gun maintenance
- How to properly and safely hold/shoot various gun types
- Common FAQs and “pitfalls” when working and using various types of guns
As you can see on the main page, we have started by breaking up the common gun platforms into their respective categories, and we will be nesting all relevant information as it is created into their appropriate sub-categories. Since this is a new site, I expect that we will have many changes to the layout and functionality, but my goal is to keep this site always looking clean, simple, and easy to use.
With that said, I am always looking for advice, notes, complaints, suggestions, or thoughts. So if you see this, and have anything you would like to share, please feel free to leave a comment, or Email us here.
Guns101.net 