someone finally took me to a gun club to shoot real live guns. finally. and, i’m embarrassed that it took this long in my life for me to so much as get the chance to shoot real live guns. i’m nearly 28 for crying out loud. i should’ve shot guns long before now, gosh darn it. guns are a huge part of life! (unless you’re me and you’re living *my* life. i seriously don’t have a need to shoot guns. ever. but, it. was. fun.)
when you arrive at a gun club type of place, it’s kind of dark and clandestine and humid. and there are a lot of guns and gun “accessories” everywhere. there’s also probably a taller, older, grey, ex-marine scruffy guy behind a counter, and he’s probably giving you a deadpan look stripped of expression that says, “what the hell do you want, princess.” (at least, this is what i encountered.) so since you’re with an experienced gun person, you brought your own firearms and ammunition and you simply tell old mr. scruff that you’d like a few targets and perhaps 60 minutes in the booth. although, you don’t actually say the word “perhaps” because he might get really unpredictable and ninja slide over the counter at you to use tricky military snap-your-neck maneuvers all of a sudden. (he might. you don’t know.) he then hands you your targets (which you have a choice in, btw. there’s more than just the standard black silhouette. who knew?) and a few colorful remarks, and you head toward the booths. before you enter, you’ll want to gear up and ensure you’re wearing your eye and ear protection – it’s really loud in there. and hot. it’s actually steamy.
so onto the good stuff. here’s how it feels to shoot a 357 magnum: COMPLETELY EFFING AMAZING!!!!!
you feel like, i don’t even know what. you clutch that heavy steel entity firmly with both hands, arms extended all charlie’s angels-like, wearing bad-ass aviators, and you kind of just completely and totally “own” right then and there. i mean, no one in their right mind is going to eff with someone aiming a loaded 357 magnum. you know? and maybe you don’t know until you’ve shot one. it’s just out of the question unless you’re clinically insane and certifiable. or have a death wish. because man that thing is powerful. the recoil, wow. the smoke, wow. wow. wow. wow. ok? it’s just wow. ugh, the recoil. i’m just not sure words can describe here.
for those not in the know of normal everyday gun vocabulary, the recoil is that after effect that causes you to jerk back a bit upon fire. (you can’t see me right now, but i’m totally biting my lip and smiling because it’s so ridiculously awesome.) you aim, you fire, you recoil. then you squint a little to see how close you came to hitting the heart of the chest of the black silhouette on the target sheet. which was usually just slightly left of center for me. i didn’t actually hit the heart, but i came pretty darn close for a first-timer. i guess i just have a natural proclivity for guns. ? perhaps most people are immediate good shots but they don’t know it because most people don’t shoot guns on a regular basis… perhaps.
but back to the power in shooting a gun. shooting a 357 magnum is indescribable. it’s clear to me now that we do need to have strict legislation surrounding guns. because they are so powerful. we really don’t want everyone packing, as they say… it’s just too much power for so many “regular” people to possess. but aside from the smoke and recoil and scruffy guy, the power you yourself feel is something i can’t yet articulate. you just have to do it to understand it. and i say do it, friends. it’s a really good life experience.
i could probably go on for paragraphs with this post but i won’t because if you haven’t gotten the chance to shoot a gun, this all probably means nothing to you. or hopefully you’ll feel inspired to go out and try it for yourself. until now, this post would’ve just been a pleasant time-waster read for me. the bottom line here is that you should shoot guns. (but not at real live people or animals – at paper targets or giant fruit or old furniture or something along those lines.) rachel fitz highly recommends it.
