took a first timer shooting yesterday

[VanillaThunder]

so, i stumbled upon a pretty cool situation the other day. an acquaintance from high school posted "does anyone have a gun? i want to go to the range!" as her Facebook status.... Of course, i replied.

well, she is now a reporter for the FW Journal-Gazette!

turns out, she is doing a new column where she tries something new each week, this time it was shooting!

on the ride to the range (Huntington), we talked a lot about her experience with firearms, and the extent was completely unfavorable. apparently, a friend's ex pointed a 12ga at her leg, and showed her how it would not fire if he had the safety on and squeezed the trigger. needless to say, she has been scared of firearms her entire adult life.

after a lot of talking, a lot of fact presentation, and the thorough run-through of the basics of firearms safety, she started shooting. i started her out on a 10/22, and after a couple mags, she was confident, and punching holes like a pro!

we moved up to the Glock 19, LCP, and then to the AK47, which was a little intimidating for her, and probably a poor choice for a first time out, but she wanted the full experience. she even put 3 shells through my Mossy 500 turkey gun!

during the ride home, we talked about her experience and how she felt. she loved it! i think she may become a responsible gun owner herself soon.

it is so difficult to erase the mindset among liberals (and yes, she is) and the like that "guns are evil". i'm pretty sure she 'gets it' now.

i even gave her a copy of the Constitution and Bill of Rights from Heritage Foundation when she left.


anyway, i will be sure to post a link to the story when it comes out a week from Monday... thought you all may be interested.

 

[abnk]

That is awesome!

 

[sticks4walking]

Thats cool. If we all could do this one time each we may make some headway. Throwing in copy of the Constitution and Bill of Rights was also a good move.Thanks, I do this every chance I get.

 

[42769vette]

repped. there is nothing like taking a kid or first time shooter out and knowing at the end of the day they are hooked.

you never know someday she could become a polotician who casts the deciding vote on weather to keep our right to bear arms. a few weeks ago her vote could have been ban guns due to her ex boyfriend. now the answer is probably keep guns

 

[techres]

Taking a new person shooting is the best thing any of us can do to preserve the 2A. If taught with care, courtesy and a lack of macho, most newbies will leave with a new way of looking at guns and many go ahead and join the ranks of gun owners shortly thereafter.

It really is the best way to secure the future. Plus, it is just plain fun!

 

[Mgderf]

Repped, and I'm REALLY looking forward to that news story.
Wish we had the opportunity to present the concept of responsible gun ownership to EVERY person in the media! It will only take a few to change some attitudes, to make a HUGE difference!
Let's just hope her editor is open-minded as well!

 

[hotfarmboy1]

repped! Great job! I wish more people would do this. Sometime this summer, I'm gonna be teaching a couple friends that wanna get a shotgun for HD proper gun safety and how to shoot, along with a friend that lives in MI. She's gonna come down for a weekend or so, she's friend with the others as well, and I'm gonna teach them all at the same time. The good part about it is, the friend in MI use to be scared of guns and not really like them, was kinda scared of me carrying around her. But now she sees how the country is getting in the way of crime and wants to learn. I may also end up teaching a younger cousin of mine that seems to have an interest in guns now, esp WWII guns. So I'm gonna try to help him out, if his mom will let me....

 

[lilop]

Outstanding. Great job with starting her with the 22! It let her build up her confidence and technique before moving up to the more powerful stuff. That 22 may have contributed more towards her positive experience than any of the other guns.

 

[danmdevries]

Make sure you get your hands on the story that is published and share it here. I'd be really interested to see if she shares her experience as it was told to you on the ride home or if that was just good PR work on her part to keep you happy, than when the piece is published she finds some way to spin it around.

I got an anti gun friend to shoot a few of mine, he thoroughly enjoyed himself or so it seemed while shooting but then later retold the story as "yeah, it's neat but there's no reason whatesoever that a civiliian would need a weapon of that sort" The "weapon of that sort" he was referring to was a 10/22 with black furniture and 30 rd mags.

 

[G-Niner]

I'd be really interested to see if she shares her experience as it was told to you on the ride home or if that was just good PR work on her part to keep you happy, than when the piece is published she finds some way to spin it around.

We're waiting with bated breath!

 

[xamsx]

Awesome! Glad to read this.
to you, VanillaThunder!

 

[243rem700]

I've taken a few people out shooting for their first time also. I have never had anyone who didn't like it. I think if more people tried shooting before forming an oppinion on it, there would be a lot fewer anti-gun people.

 

[redneck919]

always good to hear about a new comer into shooting.my friend and i have gone shooting before and he brought his stepson who is 11 out a couple weeks ago.got him goin on the 10/22.he fell in love with it and is all he ever talks about when i see him.

 

[2ridgebacks]

I usually try to take a newcomer shooting a couple of times per year. I figure my money spent on ammo is as good as extra money donated to the NRA.

 

[r6vr6]

Hopefully the story is as positive as you think it will be. About the only gun stories I see are robberies and kids shooting themselves.

 

[MeltonLaw]

It is always a favorable thing to take someone and show them that their fears and misgivings are unreasonable. Between dashman and myself there have been nearly 30 people who either have not shot or loathed the thought of guns taken to a range and given the basics. None of them have been shot and all of them took home a different perspective than what they arrived with.

 

[VanillaThunder]

thanks all for the nice comments and reps!

the column will be in the Journal on Monday, i will post a link when available!

 

[VanillaThunder]

here's the link to the story...

while not 100% accurate, it's a fair column.

Firing guns made me feel like a big shot | The Journal Gazette, Fort Wayne, Ind.

 

[CulpeperMM]

atta-boy!

 

[Mgderf]

A little boisterous, but acceptable.
I DID like the part about hanging the target up in her office to scare her co-workers.
Something tells me she WILL be firing another gun sometime soon!
Thanks for the follow-up VT