Yeah, I moved to PA, but my heart belongs with you guys and NJ.

 

 

Anyway, I had some work done at the house by a handyman.  He is a really good guy and I like him a lot.  He has been working around my place since before I bought it and has been doing work for me for a few months, on and off.

 

At some point in time, our conversations got around to guns and politics and he is a good man, Charlie Brown.

 

The other day, he was finished working, and I suggested we go on the back porch and do some shooting.  (One of the advantages of having land, few neighbors and living in a free state)

 

He owns pistols, rifles and shotguns and is a hunter.  All that being said, HOLY CRAP his gun handling scared me, right off the bat.

 

Before we started shooting, I handed him an unloaded pistol under the pretense of "hey check out my favorite toy".  What I was really doing was making sure he knew how to handle a firearm, etc.  He didn't.

 

After seeing this, I steered the conversation towards training and where we each learned how to shoot etc.  I already knew the answer, but he was very forthcoming.  No one ever taught him how to shoot a pistol.

 

He was very open minded and accepting of suggestions, such as:

 

Keep your god damned left hand away from the front of the pistol

Keep your booger hook off the bang switch until you are ready to shoot

 

These were the only two dangerous things he was doing, and those were quickly corrected.

 

We then started shooting and he was bad.  Bad form, bad accuracy, bad stance, bad habits, just ewwwww.

 

I worked with him on some of the basics, stance, grip, sight picture, etc.  He listened well, learned and adopted the suggestions.  His accuracy immediately went way up and he was much more comfortable shooting.

 

At the end, he was drilling a 8" target at 20 yards and was very comfortable doing it.

 

All smiles and thanks.

 

 

So I am happy I could help him a bit and make him a safer shooter.

 

 

So that is my positive story.  Anyone else have one, or one that turned out differently?

 My dad did introduce me to shooting with an air rifle and then a .22 rifle and we shot clays when I was young a few times as a little kid but never took me to shoot  hand guns although he did have 3 hand guns at the time. So on fathers day last year I decided to take him to the range to shoot some of my handguns, that was the first and last time that will ever happen. Thank god that no one else was at the range! He swept me and himself (yes that's right he did sweep himself) quite a few times. the first few times I reprimanded him and explained what he did and how not to do it again. I also had to show him the proper grip because he was using that old tea cup grip. The last time he hit near the bulls eye with my 1911 and was so happy that he turned around with his finger on the trigger and pointed it right at me. I had to hit the deck almost. I lost my cool and blew up at him full on Italian style. I packed up everything and took him home with a silent ride back. I will never take him shooting handguns again! I don't really get it though because he does not ever sweep anyone or keep his finger on the trigger with long guns but he is not very accurate with long guns and does not take kindly to my tips on how to improve so I have more or less given up on taking him shooting.

This is the scary part when I take friends to the range.  I always ask if they have shot handguns and long arms before.  Most of them have done so before but never properly trained (minus 2).  Before we ever step foot in the range I go over the rules with them.  I repeat the important ones numerous times!  It still blows my mind how some people have shot before and still even after being told the proper techniques they still can't make it second nature to keep all fire arms pointed down range.  Everyone should take a beginner class when they start out.  Even if they have been out before and consider themselves "professionals".

What you guys are describing is why Old Bridge has a Safety Check with hand guns prior to letting new members join.  For some reason, some folks throw the rules out the window when it comes to hand guns, and YES it does get SCARY!  It sounds like Anthony did all of the right things with the Handyman and fishnut's Dad needs some serious help from someone other than a family member.

 

The problem most guys have mentoring fellow males is that there tends to be some sort of automatic assumption that since you're dealing with another male that owns firearms, that said male automatically is SAFE in their gun handling skill sets, which the above stories of course prove the opposite.  That combined with guys not being good listeners and wanting to take instruction (UNLESS it's THEIR idea--like in Anthony's case--or the guy is PAYING for professional instruction) leads to a lot of unsafe gun handling.  I find that women in general are MUCH safer when handling firearms, because they tend to make no assumptions that they already know how to do something involving a device, that if mishandled, could KILL themselves or a loved one.

 

Sometimes in addition to doing what Anthony did (by handing his Handyman an unloaded gun to check for technique), when mentoring someone with no known training, I'll volunteer to "go first" and ask the guy I'm with to check me out to make sure "my sciatica doesn't interfere with good shooting posture".....now the one with unknown skills is hopefully paying attention to the Shooter's position and handling instead of merely watching for hits at the target!  These and other "Osmosis techniques" are ways of softly encouraging someone who says he knows it all (or is presumed to), especially when you hit consistently!  If they guy you're with can't match your hitting percentage, often he'll ask how YOU do so well, which then leads right into a teachable moment.  

 

In short fixing the problem of firearms owners' gun handling is OUR responsibility (for the sake of all others).  Since gun ownership is a RIGHT and not a privilege (like driving), a blind quadriplegic can inherit a 100 gun collection...

 

Showing-up to Action Shooting, Bowling Pin Matches, and other disciplines gave me the skill sets I have.  When I started shooting I learned from my Dad when I was 10 yrs old (a WW2 Combat-hardened Veteran who landed at Anzio and marched to Rome with the 5th Army) and then made friends with folks who I looked up to who had a natural ability to shoot AND mentor, including folks at Old Bridge's U.S.P.S.A. Action League, Monmouth County's Bowling Pin League, etc.  It was a tremendous learning experience.  One that NO amount of money could buy.  Once you know the basics, it's time to LEARN from folks who do it all of the time.  I wish some members here would stop poo-pooing organized league shooting.......

 

Anyway those are just some of my thoughts as I wake-up (with COFFEE) on a Sunday morning prior to going to the club to do some mentoring, some BS-ing and smoke a nice cigar.

 

Everybody have a SAFE Sunday shooting experience!  And Anthony--I've saved some smoked pork chops from the PA Hog Hunt to put on yer grill (and maybe do some "plinking" from the deck too, lol) so let me know when the time is right, lol!

 

Dave

44+ years behind the trigger

I got swept at a range in Delaware by a guy who was taking a concealed carry class. The instructor wasn't watching him. Shortly after he swept me, I and my shooting partner backed away from the firing line. The guy's Baretta cheetah misfired and no more than 1 second later, he upturned the gun and pointed it at his own eye.

 

You take club membership for granted until you see something like that.

 

*shudder*

Sounds good, Smokin. If I ever get this place done, that is.

I learned at Fort Dix before I was 8yrs old via my father and his DI buddies.  I swept them after shooting an Uzi at 11 and that was the last time I ever..EVER...did that, my a$$ still hurts

Finger in the trigger guard. And you point it out to them and they say "no I didn't"

 

"Yes your finger was on the trigger when you racked the slide. "

 

"No it wasn't. "

 

It always goes like that.

Always best to be around newbies with long guns - harder to sweep (or at least more apparent). 

Many people don't understand the amount of discipline it takes to be a responsible gun owner.

 

I once explained to a friend of mine (who wanted to buy a gun) that every time I touch my Tavor I perform a safety/clearance check as soon as it comes out of the case and a safety/clearance check right before it goes back in.  Even if its taken out 100 times a day, that means 100 safety/clearance checks.

 

He seemed to be very turned off by that.  I think a lot of people just want the gun and not the responsibility.

....

Also the requirement of shooting or participating in the events reenforces safety.  In all the matches I've been at, no one got upset over anything other than potential safety violations.  And you have 8-10 people watching so a potential unsafe conditions can be handled before an accident occurs.