The shooting range
Mondays are now my day off, and after much cancelling Izaak and I finally made it some target practice. We've been talking about this for maybe a year, when he found out I had an aesthetic/technical appreciation for guns. It is nice to know that even after 7 years of knowing each other we are still finding unturned stones.
Besides the headaches we both acquired on the way up, we managed to have a lovely time. The day was unbelievably gorgeous--cool, sunny, dry after almost a week of rain--and the drive was pleasantly enhanced by the changing colors of Autumn. The range isin the middle of nowhereand uses spent shells as gravel (" This way they do not need to remove the shells or replenish the gravel") which causes amost peculiar crunching noise as one steps forward. I went through the basic safety training and then tested everything he had brought out with him. The least favourites were the .357 Magnum, the .22 revolver and I skipped the shotgun. The .22 semi was very nice and balanced, the .45 HK was interesting but my hands and it did not quite get along in the size department. Besides the sore arm/chest muscles later on, using the AK amd AR was awesome.
Guns are once again highly politicized. The sniper in MD/VA brings forth the destructive capacity of firearms. At the range, wrapped around safety precautions, I was sharply aware of that power--one chooses to concentrate and make no mistakes, knowing those mistakes are costly. Out in the streets though, all bets are off. I do not know if gun laws are the solution, or education, or what. Perhaps it is the banalization of guns and of the value of life that ought to be revisited carefully.
Besides the headaches we both acquired on the way up, we managed to have a lovely time. The day was unbelievably gorgeous--cool, sunny, dry after almost a week of rain--and the drive was pleasantly enhanced by the changing colors of Autumn. The range isin the middle of nowhereand uses spent shells as gravel (" This way they do not need to remove the shells or replenish the gravel") which causes amost peculiar crunching noise as one steps forward. I went through the basic safety training and then tested everything he had brought out with him. The least favourites were the .357 Magnum, the .22 revolver and I skipped the shotgun. The .22 semi was very nice and balanced, the .45 HK was interesting but my hands and it did not quite get along in the size department. Besides the sore arm/chest muscles later on, using the AK amd AR was awesome.
Guns are once again highly politicized. The sniper in MD/VA brings forth the destructive capacity of firearms. At the range, wrapped around safety precautions, I was sharply aware of that power--one chooses to concentrate and make no mistakes, knowing those mistakes are costly. Out in the streets though, all bets are off. I do not know if gun laws are the solution, or education, or what. Perhaps it is the banalization of guns and of the value of life that ought to be revisited carefully.