Playing With Guns
We went shooting today!
There’s a Sharpshooters shooting range maybe fifteen minutes up the road from us; I’ve never actually even noticed the place before, but there it is. And I didn’t know we were going there today; the hubs set it all up as a surprise for me. It’s been years since I’ve shot a gun-and the last time was with rifles at cans in a field-so I was pretty excited about this.
It was just as much fun as I remembered it being.
The gun range is kind of a weird place to be. Not in a scary way, but in one of those “These people are all so friendly and nice but they could drop you in a heartbeat” kind of way. Like the lane attendants who were really friendly and helpful but who had loaded guns in holsters on their waists, I guess in case somebody decided the power was just too much for them and they were going to open fire on people. It’s kind of dimly lit in there, too, and since you have those super earmuffs on everything is very subdued. It took me a few minutes to stop jumping when people fired, just because I still hadn’t acclimated.
It was kind of like stepping into another world, a little. A world where the wording of the Second Amendment is printed on the walls around the room, and people take “personal defense” very, very seriously. I don’t say that to make fun or anything, at all. It’s just that like with any other specialist kind of place, the sudden focus on one particular item or issue or whatever can be a bit jarring. But seriously, a nicer bunch of people you’d never want to meet; everyone was friendly, everyone was excited to see us and help us and everyone sincerely hoped we had fun and that we’d come back, which I totally want to do. They even have a Ladies Night, which you can bet I’m going to attend as soon as I can.
First we rented a Glock; the Glock 19, to be exact. Which was fun, but…eh. I wasn’t crazy about the Glock, to be honest. The grip was texturized even up the back, which meant it irritated the skin between my thumb and forefinger, you know that web of skin there? Firing the Glock made it reddish and kind of itchy, and I didn’t like that.
Aside from that, though, the Glock was fun. We bought 50 rounds and went through them in about twenty minutes, taking turns (we’d load 5 rounds into the clip, fire them, then hand off). What’s cool about that place is that in addition to the “classic” targets, you can also choose a burly prowler or several zombies at which to shoot.
We chose Zombie Steve.
Zombie Steve after we were done with him
After we emptied the Glock we decided to try something else. That’s when it got really fun. Our next gun was the Walther PK380, which I loved.
It was a bit lighter than the Glock and just a bit smaller. MUCH easier to load; the Glock’s clip was really tough, which made it hard for me (especially with fingernails). But the Walther was easy-peasy. No roughness on the back, either. That one was so much fun to shoot.
We made pretty short work of Zombie Steve (we went back for another; we also had two of the regular black-outline targets). We’d been shooting at 5 yards with the Glock, but the Walther was so much smoother-and we were more loosened up-we moved to 7.
Me and Zombie Steve
So we gave that one another fifty rounds. I went mostly for the head; hubs mostly for the heart. You can see a few outliers, but overall we did pretty well, I think. I’m a better shot, but I’ve probably done it more than he has, too. (See? I got Steve right between the eyes, heh. Take that, zombie!) By the time we were done I had big gray smudgemarks on my hands from powder.
And then it was time to go, sadly. We handed over the Walther-I was sorry to let it go-and wandered around the shop for a bit looking at guns to buy. The Walther was like $360, which I think is quite a bargain, really. And there are all kinds of accessories and stuff; there’s even a line of pink guns (you know, for ladies) including a Sig Sauer with hot pink metallic trim, which is actually quite attractive. We didn’t buy a gun-we’re not really sure our future will ever include gun ownership-but they really are cool to look at and shoot.
So we left, feeling cleansed. All the aggression and tension of everyday life had been worked off on Zombie Steve and his black-silhouette counterpart. Quite relaxing. And it didn’t cost that much, really; we spent like $80, which is pricey-we certainly couldn’t afford to do it weekly or even monthly, really-but it was pretty worth it, I think. This is not a political post or statement or a specific endorsement of guns or encouragement to go buy one or anything, but I don’t think knowledge is ever a bad thing, and at least having rudimentary knowledge of how to work a gun should the necessity ever arise is a good thing, IMO. You may disagree, in which case you’re perfectly welcome to do so.
But we had fun, and I definitely want to go back when we can. Actually, I’d like to go alone, too; I think it would be a good place to do some contemplative plotting. Maybe even as good as the shower. We’ll see.
Originally posted at Stacia Kane. You can comment here or there.