Good deed for the week-- took a liberal yankee to the range!

[tartanphantom]

I have a buddy that lives in Philadelphia PA-- while not a full-blown hoplophobe, he had very little experience with firearms, and was generally fearful of them, primarily due to a scary childhood experience. His general take on firearms was the usual "respect your right to own guns but public safety trumps all" mentality.

 

Well, he was in town last weekend, and my fiancee and I decided to take him to OK Corral in Woodbury. We went late Sunday afternoon and the place was practically empty, most likely due to the oppressive July heat.

 

Started him out at the pistol range with simple stuff like a Ruger Single Six, and gradually moved him up the scale to a P226, and a Taurus Judge-- handling empty firearms first to get a feel for each of them before ever putting the first round in. My fiancee is an NRA certified instructor and CRSO, and she took him through each firearm at a relaxed pace, explaining (and making him memorize) the 4 rules of firearm safety, and explaining in detail the differences between each gun. Come to find out he's actually pretty good with a pistol.

 

Before we left, we visited the rifle range, and again started him out easy with a Henry .22-- after running through a couple of boxes of .22, I broke out the Mosin M44, just for a demonstration-- I didn't intend to let him fire it since I didn't want to lose the progress we had made that day by scaring him out of his wits. However, after I ran five rounds through the M44, he was standing there, with his mouth open in awe at the sound and the muzzle blast. He actually insisted that he have a chance to shoot the Mosin. I reluctantly explained that this rifle was nothing like he had shot so far that day, and it probably wasn't a good idea... I lost. As I conceded, I walked him through the basics of the unloaded rifle, explaining how to hold it, how to sight it, etc. just as we had done on the pistol range.

 

The biggest reward was the huge grin on his face when he fired his first shot with the M44. It was so worth it. As we drove home, he kept saying how much fun he had, and how glad he was that he had experienced and patient instructors. We discussed the possibility of him owning a gun in the future, and while he said he probably wouldn't, he did sheepishly admit that we had changed his mind (positively) about quite a few of his misconceptions about guns...

 

So, while he's not a converted firearms enthusiast yet, at least we're off to a positive start! :up:

Edited July 17, 2014 by tartanphantom

[TrickyNicky]

It's a good start :up:

I don't know if I was born loving guns or if it's a product if being around them all my childhood, I just genuinely don't understand a dislike of them. I don't get it, and personally feel weirded out by those that don't. :shrug:

[BrasilNuts]

You planted a seed, soon a sprout will start.

[Raoul]

Cool.

[KKing]

Very well done man. We need more people like you and your fiancé

[BigK]

awesome story!

 

Philly can use more people up there with some common sense when it comes to firearms. I'm happy to hear you sent him home with more sense than he left with.

[Tempest455]

Good job!

[RED333]

1 down and a few more to go, yall did real good.

[Pat]

Did you ask him to wear a diaper just in case?

 

Glad you turned him around. That's good.

[vontar]

I hope you told him how cheap he can obtain a Mosin and how cheap the rounds can be.

[tartanphantom]

I hope you told him how cheap he can obtain a Mosin and how cheap the rounds can be.

 

Good point-- at least for the present.