OT: New Night Owl On The Block and Gun Range Learning Experience

[Big Bob]

Last month I got hired for a new job (Medical Lab Tech). On Wednesday of last week I started training for the night shift (7pm-7am). As a result of this, I've effectively become a night owl. I've been off the last few days and have been trying to return to my past sleeping habits. As a result, I should be back to where I was Tuesday night. I do another four day midnight shift starting Wednesday, so my efforts will ultimately prove futile. Oh well, I'll find ways to pass the time.

This morning...er Tuesday morning (these new hours for me are so great) me and dad head over to the nearby gun club/shooting range. There are already a couple of people there, including a guy in his late thirties to mid-forties with a 15 year old high school freshman who I presumed was her stepdaughter. One of the club members was taking a weedeater to the grass downrange so after putting up a target, me and dad got to chatting with the pair. The guy had brought the girl out there to teach her the basics of shooting and to help dispel the stereotype of gun clubbers being backwards inbred racists (the girl happened to be black), the latter reason apparently being for a school project. As the club considers itself to be the friendlist group of gun nuts in Southern Illinois, they had come to the right place.

After the one member finished with his weedeater, I got ready to go to 7-yard pistol line. The freshman had taken an interest in my pistol and, with her stepdad's permission, wanted to try it. I took her to the line and let her watch me shoot six rounds at my target before deciding for sure to try it. I put a clip in with two rounds in the pistol (I would let her chamber it herself as a precaution) and handed it to her after giving her a few safety tips and warning her about my pistol's lack of a safety lever. This is a 15-year old girl who has never fired a pistol in her life, so looking back at it a Glock model 22 in .40 S&W might not have been the best choice in this situation. When she was ready, she chambered the first round, took aim, and pulled the trigger. The recoil sent her back a few steps, but after recovering from the shock (and a with a reminder to always keep a gun pointed downrange), she shot the second round. She hit her target once, high and to the right, but the seed had been planted. I could tell that she'll become hooked on target shooting in the near future. The two hung around for a while longer to watch another guy shoot a few rounds from his blackpowder rifle before leaving. I advised the guy to start her off with a small caliber handgun, though I'm sure I didn't need to after that first round.

I enjoyed doing my part in passing on the tradition of shooting to the youth of the nation. It was a learning experience for both the girl and me (mainly being to use a lighter caliber gun, preferably with one bullet in the clip for the first couple of times).

Bob

 

[Green Ice]

Good for you Bob and welcome to the Cantina. One of the things I enjoy the most is helping young people develop an interest in firearms, knives and the outdoors.

Ice

 

[Andros]

Interesting story and well narrated Bob.

This brings me a lot of memories and even more thoughts. I’ve spent some time living in San Diego, California as an MBA student. Being always fond of guns and having already served my time in the army prior to my coming to the U.S. I took advantage of the abundance of shooting ranges found in Southern California. To say that I truly enjoyed my time there is a gross understatement.

Now here I am back to Athens where you need a special permit to own even an airgun! I think this is plain pathetic, period. The limitations are such that even if you want to go for target shooting you are not allowed to have a pistol of your own for that matter for the first two years. You need to go to a shooting range and get a handgun from these guys and start practicing with it. If you have a certain high level of performance while participating in shooting contests during this period then you can apply for a handgun. If however you stop participating in shooting contests later on, you should not keep your gun! The thing is that you don’t get an assigned particular handgun for good but every time you go there they will give you whatever they have available at the time! Well, for everyone who knows a little bit about shooting this is crap, the reason being that even the best made custom gun in the world has its own minor imperfection. That’s why you need to keep on firing YOUR gun to know the standard deviation it has. If you keep changing guns every time you go shooting then you can never make a marksman out of you.

Bows are also banned. Only hunters, fishermen and butchers are allowed to carry knives. What about campers? From what I know, the law doesn't mention anything about them.

What about self defense? Simple; you are allowed to use the means the attacker is using to defend your self. That is to say if a 6ft6” 300 pounds thug attacks a 130 5ft5” woman or a much smaller guy than him using his fists then the victim of this attack should use their own fists as well! And then they can tango together till the end of time… BTW, Champaign is on the house, brought to you and your loved ones by your dear legislators :foot: .

Then again look at what is going on in the U.K.: they are in the process, if not already there, to ban completely the possession of pointed kitchen knives (pass the size of a paring knife) unless you can provide the authorities with a reasonable justification for the need you have to own such a knife :thumbdn: ! Furthermore, folders with a locking blade are banned too! If it were up to me, I would ban all folders that DO NOT have a locking blade !

I wonder, is this democracy? I mean has anybody ever thought about the profile of the people who come up with laws like these? They are quill drivers, pen pushers who would not put up a fight to defend their loved ones from any villain whatsoever and they want to make all others like them. It is the syndrome of the lingering ill who doesn’t want him to get better; he just wants others to fall sick just like them.

I believe this devious approach of severing people’s ties from self reliance is part of a greater plan that wants all of us to become cup cakes easily manipulated homuncules. They claim guns kill; they DO NOT – people kill! Look at what happened in New Orleans: who did all this looting and raping and killing? Was it guns? Maybe knives? How about those evil bows or slingshots for that matter? We all know that it was people with no love in their hearts who have made all these atrocities.

Do, politicians, legislators, sociologists, philosophers, psychologists and all other professional BSers want to help stop crime and contribute towards a better every day life? Do we as normal every day people want that too? The solution is simple: we need to alter our mindsets and stop seeing the other person as our enemy. It is that simple.

Would anyone squeeze the trigger of a gun pointing at their most beloved person? Of course NOT! Anything other than that is “beating around the bush”! And as long as this mentality doesn’t change there will always be more and more crime and more and more banning of whatever any ignorant perceives as a lethal weapon. Are you skeptical about it? Do you have your doubts? Think of why there are so many different laws as to what is allowed and what is not in all states of the U.S alone. This is because people have different perceptions of what should be allowed and what should be banned. Remember how the first assassination took place: Kain killed his brother Abel by hitting him with a rock!

I hope I didn’t tyre you with my rumination.

Take care,

George

 

[Big Bob]

I've actually be here for some time, Ice (though I'm not the most prolific poster). I'd had meant that I was new to the night owl life.

George, sorry to hear about the situation in Greece (and in most of Europe).

Bob

 

[Spectre]

Alright, Bob. Way to go.

John

 

[munk]

I got a kick out of your story, Big Bob.
Way to go.



munk

 

[ed tank]

Having worked the night shift for most of he past 20 years, I also go to the local gun range on week days. Some days, I have it all to myself. Other days, I shoot with the older, long time shooters. Amazing, the things you can learn from some of them.

 

[Dave Rishar]

Good stuff, Bob. I don't shoot nearly as often as I ought to, but we're in the midst of the use-up-the-NCEA-before-the-end-of-the-fiscal-year mode currently and we got to do a bit of shooting today.

There are a few parts of my job that I will miss. A few.

 

[Svashtar]

I remember taking my boy when he was 14 or so with me to the county range, and they wouldn't let either of us shoot. They wouldn't let him shoot because he was a minor, and there was a county ordinance about that. It was just assumed that guns+kids=bad, which infuriated me. They wouldn't let me shoot because I had my AR-15, and that was an "assault weapon" as far as CA was concerned, and was on their "list" that was prominently displayed. A Mini-14 was OK though. Go figure. PC morons. I drove 20 miles to an indoor range, and we've been shooting there ever since.

I bought him a Glock 23 to match my Glock 19 last year, and a few thousand rounds later he is a damned good shot, and safe to boot. When he was at the academy he had to provide his own weapon, but they had all the .40 S&W you could shoot for free. Since then I have taught my 16 year old daughter and she is a fine shot now as well.

So, the county ordinance worked fine. All his friends don't know how to be safe around guns and are defenseless. Good plan there!

Anytime you can teach a young person to handle firearms you are potentially saving not just their life but several lives. Can't think of a better use of your time, so good for you Bob! :thumbup:

Regards,

Norm

 

[ERdept]

First time was tough. I almost fell asleep at the stop lights after shift was over. Then when I got home, I couldn't fall asleep from the sounds of the day and the light.

Now Ambien solves all my problems. I take it when I get home and sleep for hours.

Cliff