On The Border
Member
My wife's sister came up from Edinburg this weekend for a visit. Now she's a really great person, as is her husband, but they are both College Professors and pretty liberal. We get along great but always avoid discussing topics like politics and guns and such. We realize that our views differ, so why complicate matters. Besides, we don't see each other but about once a year or so, so there's plenty of other things to catch up on.
So we're sitting around talking Friday evening and I smell a skunk. There have been a lot of rabid skunks found out here in Val Verde Co.. I also have 2 large but somewhat stupid dogs that can't seem to grasp the fact that cornering and barking at those funny looking kitties are the reason that they get sprayed, so I excused myself and grab my XD and my cordless spotlight. As I'm heading for the door, Sis asks "is that an air gun?". I just said "Yea, a 40 caliber air gun" and headed out the door.
Well the skunk was nowhere to be found and I was actually a bit relieved, Sis is an animal lover and I'm sure she would have been upset at the fact I whacked one of God's creatures despite the fact that it possibly posed a threat.
Much to my surprise, when I came back in the house she seemed to show a bit of interest in my hardware. She asked what kind of gun it was, so I seized the moment. I dropped the mag and cleared the weapon, locked the slide back and showed it to her. She said something about it being dangerous and I laughed and told her that was why I grabbed the gun instead of screwdriver, they're both tools, they just have different uses.
That got a chuckle from her so I pushed the envelope a little further. I explained the 4 rules to her and asked her if she would like to hold it. By the time the evening was over, she had her paws on just about all my guns, both handguns and long guns (the look on her face when she saw the AK was priceless). I ended the evening with "if you behave yourself, I may even let you shoot them tomorrow"
Saturday, I gathered up all the guns and some ammo and we went shootin'. I explained to her how to get a sight picture and how to hold each gun (she's only 4'8" so she has really small hands). I started her out on my Makarov and we went to the XD, then the 1911, and then my Trooper MKIII (first with .38's, then some light .357's I loaded up for plinking then some full power loads) and finally the AK. I took my time with her and shot a few rounds of each so she would know what to expect.
She had a blast (pun intended)! By the time we were done she had stopped shaking and had a big ol' Texas size grin on her face. She actually got most of her shots on the paper too! The only thing she had a bit of trouble with was the AK, she needed to use the hood of her truck for a bench rest, but she did real well with it beyond that. After we were done she said "Damn, that was a lot of fun!"
While I doubt she'll ever join the NRA, I think I managed to turn her around. Now I just have to get her hubby up here and start working on him......
Here's a couple of pics:
So we're sitting around talking Friday evening and I smell a skunk. There have been a lot of rabid skunks found out here in Val Verde Co.. I also have 2 large but somewhat stupid dogs that can't seem to grasp the fact that cornering and barking at those funny looking kitties are the reason that they get sprayed, so I excused myself and grab my XD and my cordless spotlight. As I'm heading for the door, Sis asks "is that an air gun?". I just said "Yea, a 40 caliber air gun" and headed out the door.
Well the skunk was nowhere to be found and I was actually a bit relieved, Sis is an animal lover and I'm sure she would have been upset at the fact I whacked one of God's creatures despite the fact that it possibly posed a threat.
Much to my surprise, when I came back in the house she seemed to show a bit of interest in my hardware. She asked what kind of gun it was, so I seized the moment. I dropped the mag and cleared the weapon, locked the slide back and showed it to her. She said something about it being dangerous and I laughed and told her that was why I grabbed the gun instead of screwdriver, they're both tools, they just have different uses.
That got a chuckle from her so I pushed the envelope a little further. I explained the 4 rules to her and asked her if she would like to hold it. By the time the evening was over, she had her paws on just about all my guns, both handguns and long guns (the look on her face when she saw the AK was priceless). I ended the evening with "if you behave yourself, I may even let you shoot them tomorrow"
Saturday, I gathered up all the guns and some ammo and we went shootin'. I explained to her how to get a sight picture and how to hold each gun (she's only 4'8" so she has really small hands). I started her out on my Makarov and we went to the XD, then the 1911, and then my Trooper MKIII (first with .38's, then some light .357's I loaded up for plinking then some full power loads) and finally the AK. I took my time with her and shot a few rounds of each so she would know what to expect.
She had a blast (pun intended)! By the time we were done she had stopped shaking and had a big ol' Texas size grin on her face. She actually got most of her shots on the paper too! The only thing she had a bit of trouble with was the AK, she needed to use the hood of her truck for a bench rest, but she did real well with it beyond that. After we were done she said "Damn, that was a lot of fun!"
While I doubt she'll ever join the NRA, I think I managed to turn her around. Now I just have to get her hubby up here and start working on him......
Here's a couple of pics:
Nice work
Nice thing is, it's the truth. Once a shooter feels the difference in just firing the gun and 'commanding' it by changing their stance, they'll get better at it. Of course everyone has a preference on stances and how they shoot. I've always liked one foot forward and leaning into it. I'm small and this helps control.
