I've found that many people (myself included at one point) are just scared of guns because of the weight of their results (life or death) and an unfamiliarity with them. I had always liked the concept of guns, drawn pictures of them, talked about them while growing up, but when it came to putting a real gun in my hands I was a little scared/nervous. Growing up with just my mother, older sister, and 4 little brothers, we never had a firearm in the house. I once had a gun pulled on me at a party and, after taking it from the guy, realized that I didn't even know how to take the magazine out.
This all changed about a year and a half ago when I stopped by Collector's Firearms in Houston and bought a 7mm rifle and my .40 kind of on a whim while visiting a friend. After shooting them I realized that I really enjoyed guns. Now I have a collection going, and can't seem to stop. The funny part is that I hadn't been to a gun show until last month, though I've been shooting at least once a week since I got my CHL.