McVeigh was introduced to firearms by his grandfather and became increasingly fascinated by them. McVeigh told people he wanted to be a gun shop owner and he sometimes took firearms to school to impress his classmates. McVeigh became intensely interested in gun rights... after he graduated from high school, as well as the Second Amendment to the United..., and read magazines such as Soldier of Fortune.... He briefly attended Bryant & Stratton College... before dropping out.^[9][10]

Beliefs

Political

McVeigh's only known political affiliations were his voter registration with the Republican Party... when he lived in New York and a membership in the National Rifle Association... while in the military.^[11] McVeigh self-identified as a libertarian... in a statement that was reported by MSNBC.com and The Washington Post;^[12] and while in federal prison, he voted for Libertarian... candidate Harry Browne... in the 1996 United States presidentia....^[13]

Religious

Throughout his childhood, he and his father were Roman Catholics... and often attended daily Mass.... In a recorded interview with Time... magazine^[14] McVeigh professed his belief in "a God", although he said he had "sort of lost touch with" Catholicism and "I never really picked it up, however I do maintain core beliefs." The Guardian... reported that McVeigh wrote a letter to them claiming to be an agnostic....^[15] McVeigh at one time said that he believed the universe was guided by natural law, energized by some universal higher power that showed each person right from wrong if they paid attention to what was going on inside them. He had also said, "Science is my religion."^[16]