The newest newbie at the range
By MARJ LAW
A friend of ours had said he would bring a new person to the range. He did.
Eleanor is a mature woman, tall, thin, has curly white hair and is extremely pretty.
But…
Eleanor leaves her car and walks to the pistol range. No one is shooting at the moment, but Eleanor is shaking. Her face is pale.
We are introduced.
“Are you sure you want to shoot a gun?” I ask. If she is under pressure from someone to be at the range, I’ll have to decline helping her. It isn’t helping to work with someone who really doesn’t want to be there. Wielding a handgun is a serious business. You can easily hurt yourself or someone else with a gun. I try to find out more about her. That’s why I ask if she really wants to consider being here at the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office range.
“Yes. I want to.”
“Why?” I’m curious, but not challenging her.
“I’m about to travel by myself across the country. My daughter thinks I need a gun for protection.”
“And what about you? Do you think you need a gun for protection?”
Eleanor stands up straighter.
“Yes, I do,” she speaks with resolve. “I need to know I can defend myself if I have to.”
OK. If she is on board herself, and has the support of her family, then her reasoning is sound, However, it is hard to see her looking so afraid. Maybe we can help her feel more secure.
A couple people start shooting. Eleanor jumps with each pop.
I give her the squishy in-your-ear type ear plugs to soften the noise. On top of those, I loan her the ear muff type ear protection. The combination of the two is excellent to deaden the noise of shooting. However, it doesn’t take away every bit of noise; just plenty to safeguard your hearing.
Eleanor still jumps at every pop. The sounds are well muffled, so her reaction is due to fear and not to the noise.
We pass her ANSI rated shooting glasses.
I face her and speak loudly, so she can understand.
“Here is a Smith & Wesson .380 EZ. It has very little recoil. The trigger is soft and easy. It’s a good beginner gun.”
The sound of others shooting still makes Eleanor jump. I’m sorry it is so distracting to her.
After loading and racking the slide, I let her know that I’ll shoot it first, then it will be her turn.
Pop! She’s right beside me and I feel her jump.
She gets ready to shoot. I help her with her stance and grip.
Eleanor shoots and jumps, shaking all over. Then not to be stopped, she squeezes the trigger again. She is a bit calmer.
We step back from the shooting bench.
Sally (you remember Sally who used to be a newbie?) is in the stall next to us, and has a Sig Sauer P238. This Sig easily fits in a purse because it is so small. It is also a .380, like the EZ that Eleanor just shot.
Eleanor looks over at Sally’s Sig.
“That’s a really small gun,” she says, interested.
Sally, who is here for only her fifth trip to the WCSO range, and who is barely not a newbie herself anymore, steps up to the plate.
“Would you like to shoot my gun?” she offers, and steps away so Eleanor can look over the gun and then shoot it.
“It’s ready to shoot,” Sally reassures Eleanor. “You don’t need to rack the slide. I’ve done that already. Just point to the target.
“See how you have two white dot rear sights and one white dot front sight? Keep the dots of the rear sight so they form an imaginary line with the white dot front sight. When they are aligned, the bullseye will be directly above the front sight. Don’t pull the trigger, but squeeze it. Now, take a deep breath, let it go, and aim and shoot.”
I am surprised. Sally has just taken over teaching. On her fifth trip yet! She speaks loudly enough to be heard, but in a firm and reassuring manner.
Eleanor shoots Sally’s Sig P238 a couple times. She hits the edge of the 8-inch target with one of her shots.
“Great shooting!” I’m glad to see that although she is so nervous, she is still able to hit the target. It’s also impressive to see Sally turn into a teacher.
“So, which gun do you prefer?” I ask Eleanor.
“I like the EZ better. I get a better grip on it,” she replies.
“Would you like to shoot the EZ again?”
She takes the EZ. She has remembered her stance and her grip. She shoots another round, puts the gun down on the shooting bench, and steps back.
“I think you’ve had it for the day,” I suggest.
She is certainly ready to leave. I hate to see anyone so nervous and yet so resolved. If she would like it, I’d prefer to take her back to the range on a day when there are fewer shooters, so their pops would not be distracting. Since she is determined to shoot, I’d like her experience to be as calm and peaceful as possible.
“What did you think of Eleanor?” I ask Sally, when Eleanor has left. “By the way, you are an impressive teacher. I didn’t expect you to take over like you did. You acted like you do this all the time!”
“I like Eleanor. She can handle a gun and she is intelligent. She has a fear factor that she has to get over.”
“What do you think will make the difference?”
“For me, it meant finding the right gun. So, I think Eleanor needs to come back to the range and try out several guns. She preferred the EZ to the Sig. That may be because she has long fingers, and the grip on the Sig is better for those of us with smaller hands. Coming to the range and trying out several handguns made the difference for me, even though I had a small Glock already.”
“Why did you want to try out other guns when you had the Glock? What made you come here on a Wednesday morning?”
“I saw your article in The Wakulla Sun about the three .380 handguns. I wanted to try them out to see if any worked better for me than my Glock. I didn’t like the Glock.”
“Had you tried other handguns?”
“Yes, I tried a Taurus, a Glock 9mm and a Cowboy gun. I was encouraged to buy a Glock, so I did. It was a mistake. I hadn’t tried it before I bought it,” Sally adds ruefully.
She continues: “I’m really lucky because my husband said he would buy the Glock from me if I found I preferred another gun. So, that’s why I contacted you. Then, when we got together, I liked the Sig so much better than the Glock. While the Glock is also a .380, the Sig fit my hand better. To me, it had less recoil and to me, the trigger was easier. With the Sig, I found my gun. Eleanor needs to find her gun, too.”
“What do you think is the best thing these articles in the paper do for you?” I ask her.
“Well, besides getting to try out other handguns, I had to overcome the fear factor of newly owning a gun. I think Eleanor needs to become comfortable with a gun. Knowing from the articles that I could come to the range on Wednesday morning and try out several guns helped me to overcome that fear factor, and at the same time, find the gun that is right for me. And that is most important… Finding the gun that is right for me. If Eleanor finds the right gun, it will cut down on her fear.
“It helps too, to shoot with another woman. Sometimes, men can be so judgmental of ‘man things.’”
Sally and I had a good giggle over that statement. Fortunately, my Joe is super supportive of women handling and learning about firearms.
Last week, I noted that it would be the last time we’d speak of Sally as a newbie at the range. I figured time with newbie Sally was over.
It wasn’t. Now we have Sally: assisting at the range.
Marj Law is the former director of Keep Wakulla County Beautiful who has become an avid shooter in retirement.