Lovecraft and guns

Lovecraft liked guns. He cherished the collection of rifles and pistols he had inherited [from his grandfather, Whipple Phillips--ed.] and added to it a series of .22 rifles, which he took into the country to shoot. Laws against carrying and shooting firearms were fewer and laxer then than now. Lovecraft later said that he had become quite a good shot until, around 1910, eye trouble forced him to quit. "The lore of hunting allured me, and the feel of a rifle was balm to my soul; but after killing a squirrel I formed a dislike for killing things which could not fight back, hence turned to targets..."

Later, Lovecraft sold or gave away the entire collection piece by piece, save for one flintlock musket, which he kept as an antique.

from H.P. Lovecraft: A Biography
by L. Sprague De Camp