Born Gunnard James Smith, Gunny was raised to know how to shoot a gun. Being the son of a farmer, he needed to be able to protect the farm from thieves. At the age of ten Gunny watched his first fireworks show, through the scope of his air rifle. He was mesmerized by the colors and sounds, and started pestering people around town until a man named Jeffery Hook took pity on him and started teaching the ten year old how to pack and set off fireworks. At the age of thirteen Gunny was designing his own fireworks and setting them off with his rifle for target practice. By fifteen, he was sticking the fireworks in his new 50Cal rifle to see what would happen. At the age of seventeen, he enlisted in the planetary militia, because they said he could shoot stuff. He stayed in the militia for a year