Growing up, I never saw guns. The first time I ever even touched a gun was when Cara and I were asked by Connie to clear the important belongings out of her condo in anticipation of a hurricane. We ransacked Connie's closet and removed coins, jewelry and one sort of old-ish looking revolver. Cara had not wanted to touch it nor had I, but I gingerly picked it up by the end of the handle using my thumb and index finger, careful to use the least amount of contact necessary to actually move the item. I had placed the gun into a brown plastic Publix bag and carefully moved the bag out to Cara's van. On the way home, we joked about being pulled over with a gun under the passenger seat and what we might say to the cops if it was found. That was the extent of my experience with guns.
A friend of mine had suggested Knight Shooting Sports locally as a good place to go. I had researched them on line a bit, read some reviews and figured out driving directions. Some of the reviews I read stated that the staff was very unfriendly and the prices were too high. I was nervous about going there alone, as a completely inexperienced shooter. I fantasized about a rude staff that wouldn't help me, me bursting into tears and a generally rotten time. It is very hard for me to do new stuff and deal with strangers by myself as is. I didn't want to have to deal with the strangers being mean too. Then I saw some reviews that said the staff was nice but the prices were way too high. I didn't care so much about the price. As long as the people were okay, I would try it. So I got my resolve up and went this morning.
When I walked into Knight, I saw a retail store with ammunition and guns and gun accessories. There was an old man standing by the counter and a younger woman behind the counter. Both were wearing hip holsters with guns. The old man saw me as I approached the counter and asked if he could help me with anything. I felt lost and out of my element and I think he could sense that. I told him that I wanted to learn to shoot a gun, as I had never shot one before. He looked at me with stern eyes and asked "Why have you never fired a gun before? " I told him I grew up in an anti-gun family. The girl behind the counter smiled and said "I didn't". The man asked me why I grew up in an anti-gun family. Was I going to have to talk him into letting me shoot there or what? I muttered some reply about having a super cautious father. The man left me (probably thinking to himself 'damn namby-pamby liberals') and the woman proceeded to pull a gun out and place it on top of the counter. She explained that it was a 9 mm. She said she liked the 9 mm. She asked me to hold it and see how it felt in my hands. I told her I didn't know how to hold a gun. She guided me through placing my hands on the gun, where to put certain fingers and my thumbs, what button to push to release the slide, etc. As I practiced, she had to keep reminding me to point the gun downward and not at her. Oops sorry...
She pulled out three 9 mm guns and asked me to try them all and see which one felt right. Ummm, I wouldn't know what would feel right, I thought. I have never held a gun before remember? I asked her to just pick one out for me. I asked her about the recoil, would it be strong? She advised me on a good stance, said the recoil wouldn't be very much at all, since it was not a large caliber gun. She said it would not cause me to rock backward. I told her I had plenty of junk in the trunk so I was well grounded. She gave me a form to fill out and a gun tag to hold onto and then excused herself to help the several new customers who had come in. This is the gun I would be shooting- see below.
Smith & Wesson M&P 9 MM
My head was swimming. I couldn't remember anything she had just told me. I didn't know how to load the gun. What happened after I fired once? Did I need to slide the thingy on top to put another bullet in the chamber? What happened if the recoil was so hard that the gun flew backward and hit me in the mouth and knocked all my teeth out? Wait, she told me that wouldn't happen...She shouldn't have left me alone and allowed my mind to wander. While waiting for her, I overheard two guys talking, one of them a Knight employee:
Knight guy: Well if someone really wants to do that, they could I guess.
Customer: Yeah I guess so.
Knight guy: Someone could come in here deciding they want to off themselves, take the gun back there and shoot themselves. We can't know that.
She returned to me and said she had given the gun to the range inspector and that I would have to stop by his office on my way back to get a quick briefing on the rules. She asked me what kind of target I wanted. Did she not remember that I have never done this before? I asked her, well what kinds of targets were there? A round target, a blue man, an orange man...what should I pick? She recommended the orange man because she said he is easier to see. Sounds good to me, I guess. She packed up my ear protection, some goggles and the bullets in a little black shopping basket, handed me my target and directed me to a door around the corner. Before I left, I asked her how to load the gun. They supposedly would not load it for me. She tried to show me how to squeeze the bullets into the magazine, but it was difficult. She loaned me her speed loader, quickly showed me how to use it, and I was off.
At the range inspector's office, there were two young guys. I handed the dark haired guy my ticket. "Oh I see you are new to Knight Shooting", he said.
"Not just new to Knight Shooting", I replied, "but new to shooting altogether. I have never done this before. This is my birthday present to myself."
"Oh", he said, "it's your birthday? Well Happy Birthday!" He first showed me how to operate the machine that would bring the target forward and backward. He told me the basic rules:
Never point the gun, loaded or unloaded, at anything other than the target.
When I am done, I should place the gun on the shelf with the slide open, muzzle pointing out to the range and the clip next to it, to show that the gun is unloaded.
Wear ear protection at all times.
Did I have any other questions? he asked. I put down my girly polka-dotted purse and my black shopping basket and said, "Yeah, about a million." How many times would I have to explain that I knew NOTHING about guns before it sunk in?
By this time, I had forgotten almost everything the girl up front had told me. It was then that he decided that I needed some slowed-down instructions. He asked me to hold the gun so he could check that I was doing it right. He repositioned my fingers and reminded me to keep my thumbs down. He asked me did I know how to release the slide. He asked me to show him which button to push to release the magazine. I asked him for tips on aiming. I asked him how to load the gun, how to use this speed loader the girl had loaned me. He really took his time and explained everything to me. He told me that I should squeeze the trigger, not pull it back in a jerky motion. He told me that I shouldn't worry about the sound, because the anticipation of it would make me shoot crooked. I asked him what to do if I needed to go to the bathroom. He answered all my questions. I was so grateful for his patience.
Then he showed me where my lane was. He even taped up the target for me and set the target's distance; the instructions for operating the target had also been forgotten even though he had just told me a few minutes before. I stood there and struggled with the speed loader to get bullets in. Finally I got the hang of it. I released the slide and was now ready to fire.
He stood next to me, while I aimed at the target's heart and squeezed the trigger. The gun fired. There was a little flash (or did I imagine that?), the bullet casing flew up and the barrel of the gun jerked upward just a little. All in all not too scary. The sound wasn't too bad either (with ear cover). I fired again, trying to concentrate on keeping my hands in the right position and my arms locked. He suggested that I grip mostly with my left hand. I fired again. I looked at the target. I had not exactly hit the spot I was aiming for, but I was in the general area. I had not shot into the ceiling (as I had feared I would do) and I had not screamed out loud when it had first fired (as I had also feared I would do). He looked at the target and said, "Are you sure you've never done this before? Cause your aim isn't too bad." I don't know if he was lying to make me feel better, but I appreciated the comment. He left me alone to shoot.
As I shot and people in lanes next to me shot, I found myself occasionally being rained on by bullet casings, including my own. My purse was covered with bullet casings. I tucked 3 of them into the pocket as a souvenir.
I emptied the first clip and then had to reload. I struggled once again with the loader but eventually got it. After about 10 minutes I had used up all the ammo I had purchased. I had rented the lane for an hour. Geez! I put the gun in the proper position and went up front to buy another bag of bullets.
I was determined to make this bag last longer. I took my time in aiming and took my time in reloading. I tried to make myself hit the exact spot I wanted to hit. I was more comfortable with the gun but still had to remind myself to watch my thumbs. I asked someone from the group next to me to take a picture of me. See it below.
Halfway through the second bag of ammo, I pulled the trigger and nothing happened. I looked at the gun to see if it was empty but it was not. Great, now I have broken their gun...I needed the range inspector. He was not within my eye line. Now what? I thought. I am not supposed to leave the gun loaded but it won't fire and I had to leave the lane to find the inspector. I wasn't understanding the gun enough to know what to do. Dilemma! I stood there like a doofus, the gun resting on the ledge, muzzle pointing to my orange man target. Finally I caught his attention. He came over and I explained what was happening. He took the bullet out and put it in his gun and fired it. It seemed fine. He told me that it was just "a bullet that didn't like my gun".I finished the second bag of ammo in about 15 minutes. I was only 30 minutes into my rented hour, but I didn't want to spend any more money on bullets. So I left the gun on the ledge as instructed. As I walked out of the range area, the other range inspector asked me if I had enjoyed myself. I told him it had been interesting and that I might come back. He wished me a good day.
In the front area, I gave back my ear protectors and the speed loader and they gave me back my driver's license. The roots of my hair were drenched in sweat. Sweat from nerves or excitement or just heat? I walked out into the sunshine, feeling a little bit exhilarated and happy. I don't know if it was the shooting itself or just the idea that I had followed through on doing this new thing by myself despite my nervousness. It was definitely a learning experience. Maybe next time, a rifle?
The experience was a bit pricey, it's true, but I may do it again sometime. And I just want to say that I found the staff at Knight to be very helpful and very friendly to this nervous novice!
1 comment:
I am impressed! I would love to shoot a gun! Next time lets do this while I'm in Florida:) Sounds like you had a wonderful birthday...sorry we were not there to help you celebrate:(
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