Gone Shootin' Verse 2

My friends, Laura and Kelly, and I took an NRA pistol class this weekend, as well as the CHL class necessary to carry concealed handguns. NEVER have I thought that I could have so much fun shooting a gun (Gone Shootin' entry was about the first time I had been to a gun range since high school-- and I wasn't very good "way back then"). But MAN-O-MAN, did we have fun!

We took the classes through Capitol Area Practical Shooting. Our instructors were GREAT--a husband-wife team. Saturday we took the NRS First Steps Pistol and Practical Pistol courses. We shot up close as well as far away. We shot slowly, quickly, and everything in between. My personal favorite was the exercise where John, our instructor, said the color name of a target, and we shot that color twice. It was pretty fast paced; it was the most challenging as far as making the target things we did. I was most impressed with myself in that I made most hits. The reason being is that I have HORRIBLE aim-- well, most of the time. I've never been one for team sports, and don't EVEN ask Stu about my horseshoe playing ability.

As for my shooting partners-- I was WAY impressed with them as well. They've shot way more than I have-- and it definitely shows. Laura is now 28 weeks pregnant, and she ROCKED! She was so cute out there with her little belly...although her hoo-hoos got in the way a bit with moving the gun from "low-ready" to shooting position.

Kelly was quite amusing herself-- couldn't decide which eye to close while aiming-- and couldn't decide which gun to use while shooting. I was impressed with the fact that she wasn't just learning-- but she was working on breaking the habit of closing the wrong eye (she's right handed, and was taught to shoot by her left- handed Dad). She shot the best of all of us during our CHL qualifying test.

Which brings me to the next part. We were the only "trainees" out on the range yesterday. The others were our instructor, John, the gun range "dude", Billy, and Will, the neighbor. While we, "the girls" worked on each exercise, "the boys" kept trying to ensue a sense of competition between us. While I understand that competitiveness is a part of both male and female makeup to some extent, it's not so present BETWEEN the three of us "girls." So pushing to be competitive with each other was...well, to use a Star Trek word...futile. So Kelly shot a hundreth of a second faster-- "It's okay"-- "Good Job, Kelly." OR when I shot a hundredth of a second faster-- "It's okay." The timer buzzer freaked Laura out a little, since she doesn't like that "pressure" feeling so much (she's definitely more of a thinker here)-- Kelly and I said "It's okay. You're doing great."

Kelly "beat" me at our qualifying test. She got a 240/250, and I got 239/250. Billy told Kelly, "Okay, do it now."

"What?"

"Talk smack to your Friend."

"I'm not going to do that. She did a good job."

"So did you, Kelly," I said, "I'm proud of you."

Then men just shook their heads.

Oh-- and Laura got a 231. She was a little upset, but Kelly and I told her that since the average women's score is about 215, 231 was MORE than sufficient. ESPECIALLY at 28 weeks pregnant and 100+ degrees. 231 is WONDERFUL.

Laura had to leave early, so Kelly and I finished up ourselves. Before we left, we shot at a target 126 yards away-- the distance from Billy's porch to the heavy-duty target at the range. Can you believe that I hit the target with EVERY SHOT?!?! Absolutely amazing, if you ask me. I would have never thought I could do it. Kelly missed the first 2 shots, and then realized that she was shooting with the wrong eye closed, and then after that, she shot most of the ones she attempted. Pretty darn good, if you ask me. Especially with a pistol.

Today wasn't near as much fun-- we sat through the CHL class; mostly a sit-and-listen bit. John and Julianna did a great job, though-- given the structure of the class. We did enjoy it, though.

To remember our great day at NRA pistol class, we took a photo with John:

Pretty fun, eh?

Oh-- and my DEAR WONDERFUL LOVING husband cleaned our pistol today while I was at the CHL class. It needed it-- oh, MY-- that gun was NASTY after shooting 500 or so rounds through it yesterday. (It was one that Kelly used, too). I thought he would make me clean it-- as dirty as it was-- but he did it this time.

This time. I have a feeling that next time, it will be me.