I'm an 18 year old, completly prepared for a career in digital media at Drexel University...

But with the economy the way it is, and with relativly recently experiencing the realities of a career in art (poor pay, poor benefits, always being scarily replacable... even famous artists don't make much more than the average plumber), stacked onto the fact that Drexel's is over 40 grand a year, my current career path, and Digital media in general starts looking less and less attractive by the minute... So I'm looking for alternatives.

While I understand that a career is work, I want to have a career in a field I LIKE! Shooting firearms is fun and all, but of all the things I love about firearms... It's their mechanics, and the legalities that surround them.

Just as much as I love shooting guns, I love taking them apart.. not just to keep them well cleaned, but to understand EXACTLY how they work, and to make them look and perform better. I also love studying gun laws (Particularly state laws), not only for legal purposes, but to further understand the history of gun prohibition.

I understand that there are no official standards (Being, bachelor's and masters degrees) when it comes to being a gunsmith... But what is a reliable path to success? I imagine it's alot like art (Pitching my portfolio in an interview). But I'm not familiar with Job availability in the gunsmithing field..

Is gunsmithing a realistic field to develop a serious career out of? Or is it like digital art, a field that is unreasonably competitive, nearly impossible to get a job, where your position is always in danger?

I've been glaring at the PA Gunsmith School in Pittsburgh.. What are some of your thoughts?