The constitution was alive and well today as I exercised my second amendment right. No, not the right to a speedy trial, I executed my right to keep and bear arms. With my parents in town for my 30th birthday extravaganza, my father and I enjoyed some good old father daughter bonding at the local gun range. I like to joke that I shoot kids in their homes for a living, but truthfully I've never even held a gun, let alone fired one, but, like most things I've done over the past month, it has always been something that intrigued me.
It was a small little range in and industrial part of town. As we entered the facility we were greeted by display cases full of hand guns and racks of ammunition and miscellaneous gun paraphernalia. It was all very overwhelming and exciting. As we were waiting for assistance we heard the man behind the counter mention that he was from Iraq so I was assured that he knew plenty about firearms. I on the other hand was a true novice. We approached the counter and the clerk asked us how he could help us, to which I answered, "I'd like to shoot a gun." I'm not really sure why he hesitated so much to hand one over to me. However, after some reassurance from my father that one of us was familiar with proper firearm protocol, he reluctantly relinquished the weapon, but not before giving us a brief overview of its features.
We were then asked if we needed eyes and ears, to which I replied, "No I've got my own but I do need something to protect them with." When our friend the gun range clerk didn't seem to get my obviously hilarious joke I shrugged it off to which he then quite dryly said, "I get your joke." (but obviously he didn't because otherwise he would have been rolling with uncontrollable laughter) Once outfitted with the proper protective gear and with equipment and ammunition in hand we headed in.
As the pops from the gun a few booths away resounded in the small facility I felt myself jump. I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty nervous. This was a potentially deadly weapon I was about to be holding. I had no idea what shooting a gun would sound like, feel like, even smell like. My father went first to show me how it was done, then it was my turn. I loaded the clip, inserted it into the gun, aimed then squeezed that trigger for the first time. Bulls-eye, right through the target! Okay it wasn't an actual bulls-eye but I hit the paper, so as far as I was concerned at that point it may as well have been dead center.
After a couple initial shots I hit my groove. Shooting a gun was fun! Now I know I wasn't shooting any high powered weapon of mass destruction, it was only a small 22 caliber pistol, but it still made a big bang and definitely accomplished the desired result. This is one hobby I could definitely get into. I wouldn't exactly say that I'm a crack shot, but let me put it this way, the man on my target during my last round didn't stand a chance.
Nice narrative but the wrong country for the attendant. He was from Afghanistan, not Iraq. They know just as much about weapons though. Glad you got a "bang" out of the fun time.
ReplyDeleteDad :-}