For Thanksgiving week-end, I went to the shooting range.
How redneck of me, I know. I figured out it was important, though. I write about guns all the time and I had never fired one before. Never even held one in my hands. My father-in-law and his buddy Jerry, a Captain from the Canadian Military have been organizing a yearly "initiation to target shooting" week-end for a while now. Sponsored by the government and everything. I wasn't going to miss it this year. I had only twenty four hours so spare (because I WORKED yesterday), but I jumped on the occasion to shoot some targets and some clay pigeons at least once in my lifetime.
I have to take a second to tell you about my father-in-law first. When I go down to the country with Josie, I actually hang out more with him than with her. We do have some kind of an "in-law" respectful distance in between each other, but we're buddies. I knew that shooting with him would be fun, even if I sucked at it. Right off the bat, he paired me off with Jerry for a little class about precision shooting. First caliber, .22 rifle.
"You can lie down on your stomach for more stability or go on one knee. Me, I like to go on one knee. If you do, you should put your tricep on top of your tight. Be careful not to put the elbow, because it's not flat. You need to create a flat surface to rest your rifle on" he said. His words were precise and professional, it was evident he gave that speech to many other guys before me. But his smile was the the smile of a little boy. Jerry loved the sport of shooting. The challenge aspect of it.
I shot .22 and .30-06 rifles and I also had the pleasure to shoot clay pigeons with 12. and .20 gauge shotguns*. I shot targets lying behind a dune at five hundred feet like a sniper and I did pretty well. All my bullets hit the sheet and most of them were on the target. I understand why people can grow to love shooting so much. It's an exercise in balance, stability and self-control. It's about holding the gun tight, but negating as much of the human factor as possible. You control the breathing, stop most of the shaking. It's scary in a Skynet kind of way, but the deadliest shooter will be a well adjusted machine.
It's also a strange feeling to hold a firearm in your hands. Everybody is super careful around them. They make sure you locked your safety, that you chamber is open and clear, that you point in another direction and keep your cannon off the dirt. It's working wonder when everybody's cheerful and nice, but it's a potent thing. I can only imagine what a belligerent drunk or just someone with anger management issues could do with that kind of power. Weapons are fun and yet extremely dangerous, you didn't need my rant to know about them. But gun issues have never been about guns. They're been about people, being suddenly life and death powers over their surroundings.
*Clay pigeons were the only part where I really sucked. I got one out of maybe what? Twelve?