EUGENE, Ore. Shane Hooper, a 31-year-old Army veteran, doesnt call himself pro-gun anymore. But he still owns firearms, including the handgun he keeps for home protection, a semiautomatic .40 caliber pistol with a Superman shield emblazoned on the slide.

Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it, explained Hooper.

A few months ago, Hooper moved to Eugene from Las Vegas, hoping the eclectic college town would provide a change of pace. He now lives in a duplex apartment with his dog, Bear, a fluffy 5-year-old Schipperke mix and licensed emotional support animal.

The handgun is among the few things Hooper brought with him to Eugene so far. He stores it unloaded in a case beside the air mattress hes been sleeping on while he waits for the rest of his things to arrive from Las Vegas. Needing a gun for protection sucks, said Hooper, and wouldnt be necessary if everyone was just a decent human being.

Up until last year, Hooper had never doubted his pro-gun stance. He was raised in a gun-owning household, and back in Las Vegas hed hit up the local shooting range for target practice or head out to the desert to plink targets with friends on the weekends. Sometimes his crew would wear tactical gear and clan patches, mostly related to nerdy Star Wars and zombie stuff, Hooper said.

Then, on Oct. 1, 2017, Hooper attended the Route 91 country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip and narrowly survived the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

By the time Hooper even knew he was in danger, the first flurries of gunfire had already rung out over Jason Aldeans song When She Says Baby, shooting down many of the 58 people killed in the massacre .

Hooper walked away physically unscathed, but the emotional scars are ongoing. The symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder plague him daily: anxiety in large crowds and fear around tall buildings. There are occasional night terrors, too.

Now he questions his relationship with his guns, and gun ownership in general.

Hooper, who owned an AR-15 before the Vegas massacre, says hes concerned about the widespread availability of this sort of firepower. The Route 91 gunman was equipped with more than a dozen semiautomatic, military-style rifles, which have become the weapon of choice for many mass shooters. Hooper says he knows banning guns is a touchy subject and admits he isnt exactly sure what the right answer is.

Hooper also now says he believes theres an overabundance of firearms in the world. Among them is a shotgun he left in Las Vegas and would like to see destroyed in hopes of getting a little piece of mental clarity.

Those new views have already sparked tense conversations with his pro-gun friends, he said. He feels like hes shifted into a gray zone, somewhere in between people who proudly cling to their guns and those who dont own firearms and know nothing about guns or gun culture.