Shooting with Mama

Four unknown rottweilers in the yard + 3 children in the same yard = A day at the range for Mama.That's right, after 7 years I got my wonderful wife to the range with me. She has been "talking" about it for quite a while but we haven't had the chance to until 4 big dogs decided to use our yard as their new playground. Funny how the safety of your children can shake off any fear of firearms. It was actually our valentines date (do I have a great wife or what) so it had been planned for a while, the dogs just made her see the urgency of it. Well we arrived at Sanners Lake Sportsman's Club around 2:30 and set up at the IDPA range. I had recently acquired 2 new small caliber pistols, a Beretta model 34 in .380, and a Taurus PT-22 in.22LR. I started the day by reviewing all the parts of each gun she would be shooting, and how to operate it safely (so I don't get shot in the butt) And I told her what to expect when she pulled the trigger. Now that may seem silly, but if you've ever seen a gun fly 15 feet in the air because the person shooting it didn't realize that it was gonna go BANG, you would understand. Then I had her rack the slide a couple times, and now its time to shoot. Now I didn't tell her at the time, but her first few shots told me that she is a much better shot than me. I say this because after the first few shots, which were surprisingly on target, I realized that her eyes were closed. All jokes aside, she did great. She chose to shoot our sons Smith & Wesson .22 first and did well, keeping her shots inside a 3" circle. But I don't think that was fast enough for her. So I let her take the Beretta .380 for a test drive. That’s better! BOOMBOOMBOOM, now were havin fun. she did real good with this one too. At this point I had put out some clay pidgins, holes in paper is only fun for a while. When the clay started burstin, she was hooked. Then I put up a "bad guy" target. That’s a full size cartoon bad guy pointing a gun at you. I don't think she was too keen on shooting people targets but, I asked, "why are you learning how to shoot?" You should know you can hit the type of target you might have to hit one day, even if the techniques don't give you warm and fuzzy feelings. And she did fine. besides, I already knew if we were ever attacked by clay pigeons, I wanted her shooting by my side. After a while with the .380, she was feeling bold. I had been shooting my 1911 .45ACP for a bit when she asked, "can I shot the big one?" "Are you sure?" I said, "It really goes bang." "Yup, I want to try it." "OK" She took hold of the .45 after a brief overview of the gun and went to the line. KABOOM, eyes closed, slight grin, KABOOM, eyes closed, beginnings of a smile, KABOOM, one eye open, ear to ear smile, that’s my girl. After a few more shots with the.45 her wrists were a bit sore but she did great, and now she can shoot the gun I leave loaded an accessible. Well all in all it was a wonderful day at the range with Jess(my wife) and what started out as a wonderful woman doing something for her husband, ended up being lots of fun for us both.
Now I know most Mamas don’t like Big Daddies guns, but that doesn’t amount to very much when yours or your children’s life is in jeopardy. If your husband owns guns, for his piece of mind and for the safety of your family, you should know how to use them. I can now feel confident that when the dogs (canine or two legged) threaten my family when I’m not there, the phone won’t be the first thing she reaches for. And besides, not liking guns is a lousy excuse for not learning how to use them, how many women really “like” to use the vacuum cleaner?