singlestacksig
Master
from wlfi.com;
Kristin Maiorano
Jul 8, 2010 8:37 p.m.
I can think of no other way to begin this blog post than being completely honest: I hate guns. More accurately, I think, I am afraid of guns. I have no qualms with the second amendment, but the last few days leading up to tonight's police academy class have filled me with a mixture of about 25 percent excitement and 75 percent anxiety.
About two hours ago, I locked and loaded a .40 caliber handgun and fired a bullet for the first time.
It was at once scarier and easier than I expected. Through Purdue's police academy I fired 12 rounds (six at a distance of seven yards and six at a distance of fifteen yards), and from the first jolting pull of the trigger it confirmed for me the power of a firearm.
This is what went through my head:
"Please don't misfire, please don't misfire. Ok, push with the right arm, pull with the left. Keep my left eye shut, line up the three squares. (Lieutenant John Moore tells me to squeeze of the first round.) Sloooow squeeze. Wow, that looks like a fireball moving away from me in slow motion! Holy cow, did I actually hit the center of the target??"
Not to brag, but it turns out I'm kind of a shooting ace. All 12 of my rounds hit the target and seven of those were within the three center-most rings.
I bragged to Lieutenant Moore that I play a lot of video games. But in reality, we're not talking about Duck Hunt here. The handgun I shot was just as powerful as I anticipated, if not more. I was surprised to see what looked like fire come out of the gun and to see just how rapidly I recoiled, when I looked back at our video footage of my shooting experience. I can't imagine how painful it would feel to be in the line of one of those bullets.
And I was amazed by the sheer strength and concentration it took to fire off an accurate shot. I asked Lieutenant Moore about this after our session: How do you manage to get an accurate shot when you're on duty, under pressure? He laughed and said that's exactly why they spend time practicing at the shooting range. He said statistics show most police shots are from a distance of 3-7 yards, and yet police miss 80 percent of the shots they fire.
While today was exhilarating and I'm proud of my shooting accuracy, I don't see myself running off and buying a gun any time soon. I think Sergeant Matt Rosenbarger hit the nail on the head last week, when he said, "If you don't like guns, I want you to know why you don't like them." After today, I have such a better understanding of how guns work and when they're effective. And I have so much appreciation for the people who can use a gun properly, accurately and with respect.
Kristin Maiorano
Jul 8, 2010 8:37 p.m.
I can think of no other way to begin this blog post than being completely honest: I hate guns. More accurately, I think, I am afraid of guns. I have no qualms with the second amendment, but the last few days leading up to tonight's police academy class have filled me with a mixture of about 25 percent excitement and 75 percent anxiety.
About two hours ago, I locked and loaded a .40 caliber handgun and fired a bullet for the first time.
It was at once scarier and easier than I expected. Through Purdue's police academy I fired 12 rounds (six at a distance of seven yards and six at a distance of fifteen yards), and from the first jolting pull of the trigger it confirmed for me the power of a firearm.
This is what went through my head:
"Please don't misfire, please don't misfire. Ok, push with the right arm, pull with the left. Keep my left eye shut, line up the three squares. (Lieutenant John Moore tells me to squeeze of the first round.) Sloooow squeeze. Wow, that looks like a fireball moving away from me in slow motion! Holy cow, did I actually hit the center of the target??"
Not to brag, but it turns out I'm kind of a shooting ace. All 12 of my rounds hit the target and seven of those were within the three center-most rings.
I bragged to Lieutenant Moore that I play a lot of video games. But in reality, we're not talking about Duck Hunt here. The handgun I shot was just as powerful as I anticipated, if not more. I was surprised to see what looked like fire come out of the gun and to see just how rapidly I recoiled, when I looked back at our video footage of my shooting experience. I can't imagine how painful it would feel to be in the line of one of those bullets.
And I was amazed by the sheer strength and concentration it took to fire off an accurate shot. I asked Lieutenant Moore about this after our session: How do you manage to get an accurate shot when you're on duty, under pressure? He laughed and said that's exactly why they spend time practicing at the shooting range. He said statistics show most police shots are from a distance of 3-7 yards, and yet police miss 80 percent of the shots they fire.
While today was exhilarating and I'm proud of my shooting accuracy, I don't see myself running off and buying a gun any time soon. I think Sergeant Matt Rosenbarger hit the nail on the head last week, when he said, "If you don't like guns, I want you to know why you don't like them." After today, I have such a better understanding of how guns work and when they're effective. And I have so much appreciation for the people who can use a gun properly, accurately and with respect.
