Today, I did something completely frightening. For the first time EVER, I shot a gun. For those of you who know me well, you may be laughing a bit. I'm not exactly a gun-girl, but I enjoy learning new things! I'll never be a cop and I hopefully won't need to defend myself with such a weapon, but after watching people like Jack Bauer in action, how could I NOT want to find out for myself?
My pal Ellis, his brother Everett and I were signed up for 11 a.m. skeet shooting today, and as we headed to the site, I sat silently in the suburban, struggling with my internal doubts. Mama always told me guns were dangerous. She made sure my childhood was gun-free. What if I make a fool of myself? What if I pull a Barney Fife and cause the gun to fire by accident? What if I hurt myself or somebody else?
It turned out to be a simple task. The shooting site overlooked the breezy island marshes, and the sunshine provided a blanket of comfort. Our shooting instructor was very helpful and patient with me. He initially had me practice aiming and pulling the trigger with my gun unloaded, while I attempted to follow the moving object in the sky.
The "moving objects" are little clay disks which, controlled by the instructor, machine-eject into the air upon command.I feel sorry for those little clay disks, because many of them were murdered today. I actually hit a few, though there were plenty expected misses. As Sir Issac Newton's law of physics states, "for every action, there is equal and opposite reaction" so as many already understand, when I pulled the trigger, gun's wooden end knocked me a bit in the face. My right cheek wasn't too happy about this, but chilly air and sinuses seemed to numb much of this temporary pain. Since I was unfamiliar with shooting, I tensed up and moved my head on several rounds. However, this didn't stop me from "killing" many pretend birds in the sky.
I can't believe I finally shot a gun. I wonder what's next?
Miss Gaddis you look amazing and fearless with a gun,be a hunter.
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