From the comments to my "True Confession Time" post, Dorothy in FL left the following comment:
I just wanted to let you know that your post helped out a new shooter. I have been shooting for about 4 months. I’ve been around shooters for about 15 years. I just got my first gun last December because of the election. Anyway, I was at our local gun range with my boyfriend when this couple walks in. The girl looks like she’s about to jump out of her skin. I went over and talked to them and found out it was her first time shooting and all that her boyfriend brought was a couple of 9mm automatics. I herded her over to where I was shooting and shared my little Ruger 22 with her. After a few rounds with that I loaded my Glock 17 with two rounds. I fired one so she would see what kind of bang it would make and then let her fire it herself. By the time my boyfriend and I were ready to leave she was back over with her man shooting his guns and looking much more comfortable. Thank you so much for all of your advice. It really made a difference.
People are going to wonder why I can't stop smiling today, but what the heck...
Thank you for your comment, Dorothy, but more importantly, thank you for stepping in to help that young woman. That's one of the things I really like about the shooting community - that willingness to help out a new shooter, to lend a hand (or a more-fitting firearm) to insure that a new shooter's first experience is fun, rather than frightening.
And now, a young woman who perhaps might have been put off from shooting entirely now has a completely different outlook on it. She would have otherwise just melt into the background, fidgeting and uncomfortable because guns are loud intimidating; instead, you took the time to cater to her, offering a better choice of first gun and some private tutoring.
Thanks, Dorothy. Thanks for leaving that comment. Thanks for helping that woman have a much better first time shooting. And finally, thanks for reading...
That is all.
7 comments:
Agreed! One more for our side, and one more Lady that can protect herself!
way to go Jay and Dorothy!
Another one on our side!
In a twist of irony, when we were getting our first gun. It was I who was advocating for a nice .22 target pistol, where as my wife wanted a big killing type of gun.
*lol*
We did get a Ruger MKIII Hunter .22LR pistol for our first. But it was joined a few months later by a Ruger GP100 6" .357 Magnum. My wife is okay with the .38 Specials but dislikes the the magnum loads as they hurt her wrists.
score!!
I can't begin to tell y'all how good that comment made me feel...
Isn't it funny, though? Some yutz in MA pounding away on a keyboard managed to have a positive impact on someone's shooting experience in FL.
That floors me.
Al Gore must be rueing the day he invented teh intarwebz...
Now that is a cool story.
Just think, one bad experience right out of the gate with the 9mm... pinched finger, scary recoil, anything... could have turned the newbie off forever. But with probably 30 minutes of mentoring from random encounter with someone who was willing to step up and lend a friendly, non-judgmental hand, a whole new world has been opened for her.
A lesson for us all. Well done indeed.
I'll bet there's a whole market out there that the gun ranges could capitalize on if they had ladies day (or night) at the range.. an introduction to firearms and the shooting sports by and for the wimmenz.
I shall not watch the news tonight because I'm in a good mood now and don't want to screw it up.
Thank you all for your kind words. I guess Jay isn’t going to be the only on with a grin on his face today. Well as Paul Harvey says now for the rest of the s tory. After I loaded the two rounds in the Gloc, I took aim and pulled the trigger. *click* Oops. I removed the magazine and realized that there were still two rounds in it. I had forgotten to chamber a round. I felt like a moron. I explained to the lady what I did wrong and it was okay. Like I said, I’ve only had the gun for a couple of months. Live and learn. My range doesn’t have a ladies shooting events, but they do have NRA pistol orientation classes and I suggested that she take one.
Dorothy
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