LOL I'm from a Northern California suburb and have a very similar experience. No AK, but I did get a 12 gauge for my 12th birthday (grew up hunting upland game birds) and got my grandfather's .30-.30 passed down to me when I was 13.
Come to think of it, the only friends I had growing up that were into hunting/ angling/ bushcraft were the ones I met through the Boy Scouts.