Logan Shumaker – Interview Transcript – 3.12.13

(The following is a transcription of the interview in its entirety. The interview was organized, conducted and recorded by Zach Nelson while speaking to Logan Shumaker on 3.12.2013)

Bio:

Name: Logan Shumaker

Age: 19

Hometown: Sycamore, Ohio

Occupation: Pre-med Biological Sciences major at Ohio University.

 

Question 1 – What is your personal connection with firearms? How old were you when you first operated a firearm?

Logan Shumaker: “I’d have to say I was about 8, about 8 years old.”

 

            Q – Who introduced you?

Logan Shumaker: “My father. Started with target shooting, then moved to skeet, then hunting and all that stuff.”

 

Question 2 – Why do you choose to have firearms?

Logan Shumaker: “Well, it’s recreational; it’s definitely a fun sport. A lot of people don’t think of it as being a sport. And then self-protection: I am going to be a concealed carry instructor soon. So I am going to be teaching that, and I also have my [conceal and carry] certification. And also hunting, that’s a big aspect of owning a firearm.”

 

            Q – When did you start? When was your first hunt?

Logan Shumaker: “I was about 12 when I went out deer hunting for the first time. I went through the hunter safety course and got my hunting license. Went out in the woods that year with my dad for a youth hunt, and it all started from there.”

 

Question 3 - What makes you most proud as a firearms owner?

Logan Shumaker: “Just the aspect of being able to own a firearm and being able to go out and shoot and have fun.”

 

            Q – Now you have been doing it since you were 8, is there any part of that that contributes to what you are proud of?

Logan Shumaker: “Yeah, I guess from grandfather to father to son. Yeah, I’d say so. Learning your first safety from your dad, all your basic range rules: keep your gun down range, keep your finger off the trigger, safety always on, always treat a gun as it’s always loaded. That’s just basic stuff that you pass down from father to son. I guess you would take pride in teaching your kin that importance.”

 

Question 4 – What is the hardest part about being a firearms owner for you personally? Is there a stigma or negative connotations you wish you could change?

Logan Shumaker: “Yeah, I mean, it’s not the gun that can hurt people, it’s the person behind the gun. That point needs to get put out more to the public more. Because it seems that that is what everybody fears is the gun, when it should be the person behind the gun that can do harm. That’s a major thing that’s a bad mark on gun owners.”

 

            Q – What about for you personally in your dealings with people?

Logan Shumaker: “I have been fortunate and not had any run-ins with anybody. I haven’t had anybody come up and say, ‘Oh you’re a gun owner, you shouldn’t own a gun.’ I haven’t had that experience with anybody that way. Our county is pretty gun friendly, I mean, everybody hunts, everybody pretty much owns a gun. ”  

 

Question 5 – What do you do as an individual to make sure you are being a responsible gun owner?

Logan Shumaker: “You have to be smart about it. I guess just follow your basic safety rules like I said before: keep your gun down range, keep your finger off the trigger, safety always on, always treat a gun as it’s always loaded. Don’t be idiots. Don’t be an idiot about your gun. Don’t do stupid things. Be a responsible gun owner; [do] what you’re supposed to do, follow the rules.”

 

Question 6 - What do you wish was different about being a firearms owner?

Logan Shumaker: “Just the negative aspects, that everybody thinks stereotyping gun owners as a dangerous activity or sport when, if you’re safe and responsible, there shouldn’t be any black marks or bad vibes about gun owners. People should respect firearms and respect the owners, I mean it’s our right.”

 

            Q – What do you want to see change about Gun ownership in the future?

Logan Shumaker: “Well, I would like to see more respect shown to firearm owners, that we are actually responsible and safe firearms owners. I would like to see most of the laws stay the same, that way everybody does stay safe.”