Firing Range

I went to the firing range for the first time last night. They have half price ladies night on Mondays. Ladies night at a firing range? I was expecting to see what TV shows present. People standing in stalls all looking serious with seemingly perfect stances and perfect aim. Instead, I was greeted with a crowd of young 21+ year old Chinese kids, pale skinny looking boys with gelled up hair, accompanied by pale skinny flat-ironed long haired girls chatting in Cantonese. I was really taken back by the age of the crowd. Shouldn’t they be doing homework on a Monday night? Go drink some beer or something. I can’t believe how easy it is to mess around with hand guns in this country.

I handed over my BC drivers, “does she know how to use a gun?” yes said CB, I gave a puzzled look then looked back down, I guess I’ve used a gun, water gun, BB-gun, pellet gun, paintball??? I gave my signature, put in my ear plugs and put on my protective eye wear then we stepped into the shooting room.

I immediately broke into a sweat at the sound of guns firing. It seems to shake the whole room and you can smell gun powder in the air. We slipped into stall #3. Each stal was divided by a concrete wall and people were shooting adjacent to us. I was scared shitless. I wanted to leave but was too scared to even leave the stall again. It was a strange feeling, it’s not like they’re going to turn around and shoot me, but the thought that bullets were flying in the room and shells ejecting everywhere made me feel vulnerable. Or it might have been the thought that I was in the same room as 21yr kids messing around with guns. CB was loading his gun. I kept close to the concrete wall covering my ears. I could feel the shooting from the guy next to us. By this time I was sweating as much as I do after a 6 mi run. The sound of guns firing endlessly was overwhelming. CB handed me the gun, I stared back blankly and shook my head. So he took the first few shots trying to explain to me what to do, but I could barely hear over the guns firing and the ear plug. Finally, I took my turn and was pleasantly (I’m being sarcastic here) surprised to learn that should I need to shoot someone standing 15 feet away, I can do some serious damage. Not that I can shoot them between the eyes, but it is somewhat unsettling to experience how easy it is to hit a body. It wasn't hard pulling the trigger either, which means you can easily miss fire a gun if the safety isn't on. I did a few more rounds and we started working on target practice. Suddenly I felt like I was at the driving range. My bullets had a tendency to veer to one direction, just like my golf balls did.


Target Practice 

I spoke to Mag this morning about it, she laughed at the idea of a ladies night at a firing range. Is that supposed to be an angry X-girlfriend stress relief night? Where you can bring a blown up picture of your X-man and use it as target practice? I don’t think that’ll be a good idea. I'd hate to be the one standing next to an angy chick with a loaded gun. Let's stick to the gym and desserts.