AaronBC
Regular Member
imported post
Hello!
I'm an 18 year old citizen of WI living on campus at Carthage College in Kenosha, my permanent address being in Janesville (where I live in the summer and on other breaks). I am quite comfortable around guns and so have been reading around about my rights to carry in WI, and have frequently found myself on this forum; so decided to register and voice my support, (with what little value it holds) and see if I could get some questions answered about Open Carry, WI handgun laws, and handguns in general.
My first hurdle is to actually buy and get acquainted with a handgun, and while I have seen it said that I can own a handgun (and Open Carry) at the age of 18, I have also read that I cannot purchase the gun or bullets until I am 21. I'm guessing this means the gun would have to be purchased by someone such as my father and gifted to me?
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I'm throwing in an edit here to keep some things clear. What I stated above about gifting was a question and does not indicate any intent to do so. Any hypothetical purchases I speak of below would either be through private transactions or a strong Christmas gift suggestion to my parents.
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The next question is on what you all might suggest as a "starter" handgun, and what for the future might be a good Open Carry(or rather self-defense) gun? I am in college so extra spending money is a little tight, but was thinking that if I donated plasma and saved the money from a small job on campus I would be able to afford something to familiarize myself to handguns for about $600 within a few months, and then if I get a summer job be able to buy something a little better for Open Carry around this time next year. My gun experiences come mostly from hunting and target practice, and I have used mostly shotguns, and having only fired handguns a couple times, I do not have very much experience with them.(Doing a lot of reading about them, but nothing beats hand on experience)
The gun I was looking at buying (drooling over really) is the Ruger MK III Hunter. I was thinking as a .22 with low kick, and being fairly cheap, it would be a good handgun to practice with. Also as a gun that shoots .22LR it has the added appeal that I might not have as much trouble buying the ammo even though I am under the age of 21, as I have bought this ammo for a rifle before. Does anyone have any thoughts or comments on this plan, or maybe a better gun to suggest?
As for a handgun for Open Carry / self-defense use, I have not really done much research on that, and was really just a bit curious if there were any guns that seemed to be the most reliable for Open Carry/ self-defense. I would not need to purchase this gun for some time, but it would be nice to start getting an idea of what to look for.( I’ve seen the name 1911 thrown around quite a bit)
This next question I would say is a bit odd. Living on campus I doubt I would be able to keep a handgun in my room even cased, while at the same time I wouldn't want it two hours+ away at my permanent address that I rarely visit. Does anyone know where I would be able to legally store a gun if I bought one? I was thinking something like an indoor shooting range might have gun lockers they would rent out, or might hold guns for a fee, but could not find anything like that online. I would like to know if any service like this exists before I seek it further.
Anyways, I’ll try and cut this fairly short. If any of the above is not appropriate to ask on this forum, please tell me, and of course I know I should never take any legal advice as fact and that I should always fully investigate it personally first.
A little bit about me and my beliefs.
I grew up in Beloit, and though I am sure it is not the worst town in the world, crime was (and probably still is) fairly common. I remember having our car window shot out when I was eight or so, and being at my Grandmothers house as she had a heart-attack because of the stress caused by a gang-related shooting outside of her home, to name a couple situations. Though I was young at the time, I get emotional when I recount these experiences and others, where though I and my family were not in immediate risk, we could have been at any second. (One or more of the men involved in the fight/shooting fled through my Grandmother’s yard.) My interest in open carry is its value as a crime deterrent and if an emergency arises possibly self-defense. I also recognize the special risk to us in Wisconsin as we are have one of our fundamental rights violated by what basically comes down to as public ignorance and broken laws. Thank you for your time and any responses. Hoping I can learn more about defending my rights as a Wisconsin and an American citizen by participating here.
- Aaron B.C.
P.S. To leave on a slightly comic note, while writing this post I have just heard that a student across the hall from me is facing possible punishment for being caught with a foam dart gun.(The bright orange/blue kind) He was caught while taking it out of the package with his door wide open. I don’t know why but after writing this it made me break out laughing. This also reassures me that they would probably not take too kindly to me having a real gun even in a case on campus.
Hello!
I'm an 18 year old citizen of WI living on campus at Carthage College in Kenosha, my permanent address being in Janesville (where I live in the summer and on other breaks). I am quite comfortable around guns and so have been reading around about my rights to carry in WI, and have frequently found myself on this forum; so decided to register and voice my support, (with what little value it holds) and see if I could get some questions answered about Open Carry, WI handgun laws, and handguns in general.
My first hurdle is to actually buy and get acquainted with a handgun, and while I have seen it said that I can own a handgun (and Open Carry) at the age of 18, I have also read that I cannot purchase the gun or bullets until I am 21. I'm guessing this means the gun would have to be purchased by someone such as my father and gifted to me?
-----------------------------------------------------------
I'm throwing in an edit here to keep some things clear. What I stated above about gifting was a question and does not indicate any intent to do so. Any hypothetical purchases I speak of below would either be through private transactions or a strong Christmas gift suggestion to my parents.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The next question is on what you all might suggest as a "starter" handgun, and what for the future might be a good Open Carry(or rather self-defense) gun? I am in college so extra spending money is a little tight, but was thinking that if I donated plasma and saved the money from a small job on campus I would be able to afford something to familiarize myself to handguns for about $600 within a few months, and then if I get a summer job be able to buy something a little better for Open Carry around this time next year. My gun experiences come mostly from hunting and target practice, and I have used mostly shotguns, and having only fired handguns a couple times, I do not have very much experience with them.(Doing a lot of reading about them, but nothing beats hand on experience)
The gun I was looking at buying (drooling over really) is the Ruger MK III Hunter. I was thinking as a .22 with low kick, and being fairly cheap, it would be a good handgun to practice with. Also as a gun that shoots .22LR it has the added appeal that I might not have as much trouble buying the ammo even though I am under the age of 21, as I have bought this ammo for a rifle before. Does anyone have any thoughts or comments on this plan, or maybe a better gun to suggest?
As for a handgun for Open Carry / self-defense use, I have not really done much research on that, and was really just a bit curious if there were any guns that seemed to be the most reliable for Open Carry/ self-defense. I would not need to purchase this gun for some time, but it would be nice to start getting an idea of what to look for.( I’ve seen the name 1911 thrown around quite a bit)
This next question I would say is a bit odd. Living on campus I doubt I would be able to keep a handgun in my room even cased, while at the same time I wouldn't want it two hours+ away at my permanent address that I rarely visit. Does anyone know where I would be able to legally store a gun if I bought one? I was thinking something like an indoor shooting range might have gun lockers they would rent out, or might hold guns for a fee, but could not find anything like that online. I would like to know if any service like this exists before I seek it further.
Anyways, I’ll try and cut this fairly short. If any of the above is not appropriate to ask on this forum, please tell me, and of course I know I should never take any legal advice as fact and that I should always fully investigate it personally first.
A little bit about me and my beliefs.
I grew up in Beloit, and though I am sure it is not the worst town in the world, crime was (and probably still is) fairly common. I remember having our car window shot out when I was eight or so, and being at my Grandmothers house as she had a heart-attack because of the stress caused by a gang-related shooting outside of her home, to name a couple situations. Though I was young at the time, I get emotional when I recount these experiences and others, where though I and my family were not in immediate risk, we could have been at any second. (One or more of the men involved in the fight/shooting fled through my Grandmother’s yard.) My interest in open carry is its value as a crime deterrent and if an emergency arises possibly self-defense. I also recognize the special risk to us in Wisconsin as we are have one of our fundamental rights violated by what basically comes down to as public ignorance and broken laws. Thank you for your time and any responses. Hoping I can learn more about defending my rights as a Wisconsin and an American citizen by participating here.
- Aaron B.C.
P.S. To leave on a slightly comic note, while writing this post I have just heard that a student across the hall from me is facing possible punishment for being caught with a foam dart gun.(The bright orange/blue kind) He was caught while taking it out of the package with his door wide open. I don’t know why but after writing this it made me break out laughing. This also reassures me that they would probably not take too kindly to me having a real gun even in a case on campus.