Wednesday, April 1, 2009

A new experience for me...

So I thought I would take a minute to share my new experience with you. For a while, as long as I have known him, Aaron has wanted to go to the shooting range and, well, shoot guns of course. Well, that's just what we did last night. I can sum up the whole experience in one word, TERRIFYING! I thought I would go in there, face my fear of holding a gun and then move on to the part where it gets exciting. I was terrified. When you walk into the place, you are surrounded by guns, holster's, ammo and even some knives. I kept thinking, 'oh crap! I wonder if anyone would notice if I left'. Let me set the scene. First you go and give your ID to the woman that gives you paperwork to fill out. Scratch that, first, I went to the bathroom. I thought I was going to pee my pants. ;) Then, you sign a paper about "what the heck you do with a gun so you don't kill or harm anyone" and then another paper with a lot of words. You go to the counter, purchase your targets, ammo and borrow ear protectors and safety goggles. So yes, you look amazing! :) The first time I heard one of the guns fire I wanted to hit the deck and it wasn't even in the same room as we were in. Thankfully our friends, J and L know about guns and they were kind enough to go with us (Aaron, his brother Joshua and myself), bring their gun(s) and show us the ropes. J took care of teaching Aaron and Joshua, so I had one-on-one instruction from a VERY patient L. I think I shot 4 different types of guns, maybe 5. It was shocking to me that each gun felt so different. I thought I would go in there, shoot a couple shots and then feel better about it and become my normal competitive self. WRONG! Dude, you could kill someone with this thing. That never left my mind. I was shaking after every bullet left the chamber. I found it strangely fun to load the bullets, but that kind of hurt. I think if you do it a lot you would develop callouses on both of your thumbs. When it was over, I was relieved. I was happy to have had the experience, but I really don't want to EVER do that again.
I do want to say something on the whole issue of guns, I have a great respect for people who go through the training and learn to use the guns safely and wisely. There is so much that goes with shooting, I had no idea. If you think you are going to walk into a shooting range, hold the gun with one hand, on it's side - gangsta style, let me tell you, YOU ARE SO WRONG. It is hard to remember all of the things you have to do while holding and loading a gun it is crazy. I did hit the target a few times, but it wasn't "exciting" like I thought it would be.
In closing, I want to encourage you to find something new, that you may be slightly afraid of and try it. It is good to try new things at every age. Who knows, you may find a new hobby. I didn't find my new hobby, but I did find out that I can face fears and learn from them which causes growth and helps you deal with some things. So overall, I am glad I did it.

5 comments:

DrMommy said...

Good for you! I am impressed, I don't know if I could do it. Hubby is very comfortable with guns & shooting -- in fact, we have a few guns locked away (was almost a deal breaker when we were discussing marriage and had a LOT of long talks about it). I just missed M9 training before I got out of the military, so I can say I've never touched one myself, though I do agree it would probably be useful to know how!

Jen said...

Where Nathan and I married, I had never handled a gun. Seeing as he became a police officer a year later, I knew that I would need to know how use one. It makes no sense to me why people (especially cops' wives) have guns in the house but don't know how to properly use them. It is a little intimidating at first, but you'll get more comfortable with it over time. My next goal is to get my CCW permit. =) Good for you for trying it out! Wouldn't that make a fun girls outing?!

Jenny said...

Good challenge sister... I would like to try marriage! Can anyone help me out with that one? :)

Beccy said...

I still remember the first time I shot a gun. I was about 6 and lived in Wyoming, so we needed to learn gun safety at a young age. The kickback on that small rifle was horrible and I have never had an affinity for guns since. I am thankful, however, for all the good food my dad was able to put on the table when I was young because of hunting. Money was pretty scarce at the time and they had 4 little mouths to feed. We ate a lot of fish, too, and I hate fish to this day. :o)!

Erin said...

Wow! Good for you! The whole idea intimidates me completely, but I guess is really is a good thing to know how to do correctly. Now you're ready for the wild west; you really are the ultimate mommy to cowboys. :)

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*********************************** Becky Dell *********************************

*********************Child of God, happily married to a wonderful man and together we are raising 2 amazing Boys!*************

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I am a child of God! I am happily married to the love of my life and together we are raising two amazing boys.