I'm a pretty terrible American. So I was told by the German girl. I hadn't even shot a gun, let alone own one. And if foreigners have a stereotype about American men, it's that we have guns. Which I did not, as she so kindly pointed out.
So I decided to fix it. Owning and learning how to shoot a gun could be a useful skill. Just in case.
When I get bored, I tend to make things happen. So one summer morning, I was up early and had nothing to do. So I went to the Fremont police department, filled out an application for a permit to buy/own a handgun. A quick state patrol background check later and I was in.
While I wasn't going to go buy a handgun, I still felt obligated to at least shoot one. So on the Fourth of July, I did just that.
Two of my friends just happen to own guns. One of them also lived outside the city on what I will call a farm, even if he doesn't.
As we walked back to the field, I examined all weapons we and I would be firing. From memory, I believe they were:
An AR-15 Assault Rifle
An AK-$7 semi auto
A .45 handgun
A .22 handgun
A WWII rifle used by the Allied forces (8 bullets in a clip that"biiingged" out the top when empty.
Having never shot anything in my life outside of a paintball gun, I was given the task of filling clips up with bullets.
I watched my friends fire off a few rounds, noting how they held and shot the guns. Then it was my turn. Apparently, I thought I would be starting off with something subtle, like a .22 handgun.
".22s are weak. Here, try this.", my friend said, handing me the AR-15 assault rifle.
And so, as I do with pretty much every other thing, I jumped off the deep end.
We set up some pop cans (Pepsi One, the only thing worth buying them for) about 50-70 yards out for targets. On the very first shot, I blew one up. I then managed to either shoot just a little too high or low so that puffs of dirt would blow up in the wind. Surprisingly, the AR-15 was incredibly easy to shoot accurately.
The rest of the day was spent shooting the other variety of guns.
One thing I did notice was the difference between the .22 and the .45 handguns.
The .45 hand the power of a hand cannon. It blew holes in side of a computer we brought along. Getting hit by that would drop anyone.
The .22 on the other hand, had these little, flimsy looking bullets. Very small, and fairly inaccurate. They left holes the size of a tiny pea in the case of the computer. I could see a large person getting shot by this and not feeling the slightest bit stopped by it.
By the end of the day, I felt like a new person. A true American, if you will.
The whole experience left me wanting to use my new-found "skillset". Kind of like someone who spends years learning survival techniques or martial arts. It's all moot unless something happens.
I look forward to the zombie apocalypse.
