Shooting guns in the house (Bang! Bang!)

Yesterday, I went to the gun range for the first time. It was a really interesting experience during which my emotions swayed between childish excitement and fear. I went with my friend Rick who used to be in the Air Force and we had a blast (literally and figuratively)! This whole thing came about because I have a stalker. Well, I don't think that he's currently stalking me but he's shown stalker-like tendencies. I live alone and he knows where. In fact, he's shown up at my house on a few occasions to "just sit and watch my car". (Word to the wise: Don't let someone you don't know very well know where you live.) Anyway, I figure, should he decide to go full fledged stalker status on me, I'll be sure to have sumthin' fuh dat ass! So Rick and I travelled to Riverside Magnum Range to get our shoot on. I really didn't know what to expect and was surprised at how friendly everyone was. I wanted to fire a revolver since that's what I was thinking about buying but the gentleman behind the counter suggested I try a 9 mil. so I went with that. Rick chose a 40 cal. and we were on our way. We bought bullets and targets, got our goggles and headsets and hit the range.

I started getting nervous as soon as I walked into the actual firing range. That's when it hit me that there were other people there with loaded guns. They don't do background checks there so God only knows who is standing right next to you with a loaded firearm. After I thought about it a little bit more, I figured that one of the worst places a person could choose to go on a shooting rampage would be in a gun range, where everyone is armed and doing target practice. With that thought I calmed down. Then someone fired a shot and I almost jumped out of my skin. It was so LOUD! My heart started to beat faster. This was the real deal. Well, not the "real deal" but real enough for a rookie like me. I loaded my clip and the owner came in to show me how to handle my gun so that I didn't accidentally shoot myself or someone else. Then I fired my first shot - not at all what I was expecting. It startled me because the gun kicked pretty hard and sparked. I peered out at the target and it was as clean as the moment I'd picked it up in the store. I knew right then that I had a lot of learning to do in order to feel confident about having a gun in my house. I almost wanted to tell Rick that when he finished with his bullets and gun he could go ahead and fire mine because this just wasn't for me. But my mama ain't raised no punk so I swallowed my nervousness and fired a second round before fear completely took over and I bowed out. That shot didn't hit the paper either. I repositioned myself, took a deep breath, and fired again. This time I hit the bottom of the paper but still missed the target. That was encouraging. I aimed a little bit higher, centered myself, and let off the other 5 shots in somewhat rapid succession. By the time I'd emptied the clip, my glasses were fogged up from the heat of the gun. I took them off and pulled my target back in. It was a small piece of paper, about a square foot. I'd hit the paper 6 out of the 8 times. All but 1 of the bullets actually struck within the target and 1 hit just below the bulls eye. Not to shabby. I reloaded and did it all over again.

About halfway though my first box of ammo, while we were reloading, I asked Rick if he was having fun and he said with a huge grin on his face, "Yeah, it's like shooting guns in the house.". I said, "What?", and he said, "It's like shooting guns in the house." I just smiled because he looked utterly thrilled and went back to my shooting. I was still nervous because it wasn't just my gun going off, there were about 6 other people also shooting, so it was hard to concentrate with their guns constantly going off but I just stayed focused on what I was doing. At one point, I was in the zone and fired consistently, repeatedly hitting the target in the same area, just right of center. I was becoming a pro! Rick was impressed and so was the man who owned the shop. His wife was in practicing too and she was kicking ass so I watched her stance and timing and followed suit. I was getting the hang of it and felt a little bit more comfortable, even though I hadn't gotten used to the loud noise yet.

I finished my 100 rounds and we were getting ready to go when I saw a rather large Native American man standing behind someone firing what sounded like a cannon. We walked over and his wife turned around exposing a 38 revolver - the gun that I originally planned on shooting. She told me that she was a police officer and was practicing because she had to qualify next week. She offered to let me fire her gun. It was a nice piece. All black with a rubber grip. It felt good in my hand. She showed me how to load and hold it and I fired 6 shots from her gun. We thanked the nice couple and left. I was thrilled that I'd actually gotten to fire the gun that I'd originally wanted to shoot, and a really nice one at that, not a beat up rental.

When we were back in the car, I asked Rick how he'd liked it, although I could tell he'd had a ball since he was still grinning from ear to ear. He said, "It was fun. Like shooting guns in the house." Confused, I said, "What are you talking about?" He explained that when he was in the military, they did all of their target practice outside where it was hot, sometimes raining or windy and, of course, dirty. Being in a facility where you had carpeted counter tops to load your gun on and no dirt or other elements to contend with was luxurious, like shooting guns in the house. I laughed as we drove out of the parking lot, Rick is really silly. On the way back, we talked more about our experience and agreed to be gun range partners. All in all it was a wonderful experience. I can't wait to go back! Lol....and that stalker better watch out.