PART 5: SAFETY WITH YOUR NEW GUN
By MARJ LAW
You sleep better at night now that you know how to handle your new gun. The house creaks in early morning don’t bother you anymore. The sudden howling in the dark by your neighbor’s dog doesn’t fill you with fear. You plan never to need it, but if you do, you have faith in the classes you’ve taken on when and how to use your gun. Fear no longer rules your life and makes you want to check in to an old folks’ home.
Since the gun is on your bedside nightstand, where will you keep it when children and friends stop by?
People are naturally curious.
“Hey Alma! Is this a real gun? Is it loaded? I’m gonna aim for that deer head on the wall!” Jacky Dean pulls the trigger.
Blam!
Well, yikes.
You can’t have that.
Your gun is a huge responsibility. Where will you place your gun when someone comes to your home?
The best place is up high in a metal safe. Not just up high. If you’ve had children, you know how creative they can be in finding cookies and sweets and other things you’ve put “up high.”
Metal safes come with keys, combination and finger locks.
A key lock is quite simple. First, make sure no one can get at your key. Then it’s just a matter of retrieving the key and unlocking your safe.
Combination locks work well too. However, now that you’re a bit, um, mature, will you recall the special set of numbers to unlock your safe? If you leave the sequence on your safe so that you don’t forget, how easy will it be for someone else to pop the lock?
I thought a finger lock would be neat. After looking at the directions to have the safe “read” my finger, I shut the safe. Then opened it again.
Or tried to open it.
I readjusted my finger and tried once more. Didn’t work.
The trick is that you have to place your finger in exactly the same spot and in the same tilt as when you keyed it in the first place.
I still have trouble opening the darn thing. Maybe newer finger lock safes work better.
So, when it comes to safes, where will you keep the key? How will you remember your combination? Which way did you stick your finger on the keypad?
It’s just not so easy, having the responsibility of a handgun.
RANGES
When it comes to practicing with your handgun, which range will you choose?
After spending considerable money on your gun, ammunition and a safe, you may be tempted to go to the range in the National Forest. After all, it doesn’t cost anything.
However, the last time we went out there, someone yells “Cold!” to tell us all not to handle our guns. When the range is cold, you can walk downrange and put up targets. When it’s hot, you can shoot.
Not everyone has been taught to respect the words “hot” and “cold.”
A person on the end of the shooting bench shoots at his target while others are still downrange.
Someone else yells at him: “Hey, the range is cold!”
“I paid the same as you and I can do what I like!” is the reply.
We pack up and leave.
Other ranges are the Tallahassee Pistol and Rifle Club, the Indoor Range in Tallahassee, Talon out in Midway and the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) range.
These are all good ranges and are all well-monitored and safe.
At Talon, you get a whole range area to yourself. I like that. But Talon is kinda far away.
The Tallahassee Pistol and Rifle Club is nearby and is on a good bit of land.
The Indoor Range is neat. You get to put up a paper target and let it go back at a distance of your choosing up to about 50 feet away.
The Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office range always has a deputy on duty. You check in at the office first, so the deputy always knows who is at the range.
These deputies have a lot of knowledge and are always available to help you.
Range rules are clearly written on a large billboard as you enter the pistol range. Often, range safety officers go from one range to another and they’re available to assist you, too.
In summation about ranges…
Range safety is critical. Will people around you abide by the rules you’ve been taught?
Range location is important. If it’s too far away, you won’t want to practice very often.
Certain range personnel will expect your “volunteerism” to help keep the range in good shape. How much time do you have to spare?
Money can be a critical factor. The WCSO range still costs $75/year. This is for you, your spouse and your supervised children under 18 who are living with you. The range is closed Sunday and Monday. Otherwise, while the range is open, you can visit at any time and come as often as you like. I haven’t seen a well-monitored range as safe and as inexpensive as this one.
Owning a handgun is a tremendous responsibility. After reading this article, and the last 4 articles in The Wakulla Sun, you can use these thoughts to consider how and where to be safe when you purchase your new gun.
Marj Law is the former director of Keep Wakulla County Beautiful who has become an avid shooter in retirement.