Helping newbie blend in
Sally is standing at the shooting bench. The range is hot. “Marj, tell me why…” she begins.
And I don’t recall anything else she said. Because when she starts speaking, she turns to me. She has been shooting. She still has her loaded gun in her hands. And now, that gun is pointed straight at me.
What do you do? Fall to the floor to get out of her range? Scream?
I don’t want to startle her.
“Sally, put the gun down,” I say calmly, but my mind is screaming: “Put the gun down! Put the gun down!”
Sally looks at her hands. She looks horrified. She turns and puts the gun on the shooting bench.
“Marj, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” she says. She holds her hands up, palms forward to show they are empty. “I’m so so sorry,” she says again.
This incident stands out in my mind because it really happened. I’ll never forget it.
It began like this:
Joe and I are usually at the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) range on Wednesday mornings around 10. We practice our shooting skills with others, and we’re ready to assist any people who would like a little help.
I’ll always remember the day my good friend Sally came to the WCSO range for the first time. This was her thinking.
“I don’t want to look like an absolute newbie,” she had said. “So, I’ll wait until Wednesday, when you come to the range to practice. But, when we go, tell me things I need to know.”
Sally is an intelligent, mature woman. She wants to know some basic rules when she shows up at the range. Now she’s here.
“Someone talks about the ‘Big 4.’ Are those people?” she wonders.
The Big 4 are four rules to remember about guns no matter where you are.
Identify your target and what is behind it.
“Marj, when you put your gun away, it’s not loaded,” she objects about Rule 1.
“For me, that’s true. I do empty my gun when I return it to its sack. But, Sally, that’s not the meaning behind this rule.”
“That’s what it says,” she replies.
“Yes. It does say that. But what it means, though, is that every time you see a gun, whether at a store, at a range, at a home… Wherever you see that gun, you must consider it loaded, so you and anyone else should treat it as if it were indeed loaded. When you went to the local gun shop and you looked at guns, did you notice that the owner pulled back the slide and showed you the empty chamber?”
“Yes. He did that every time.”
“This is to prove that no matter where you go, and for everyone’s protection, you must check to know the gun is unloaded.”
“OK. I get that. Let’s go on to Rule 2. Rule 2 is just not possible. What if you’re at your home, about to clean your gun? The muzzle has to be pointing somewhere. And if you’re at the range, there’s a whole berm in front of you. You can’t hurt anything there, can you?”
“Lots of injuries occur when cleaning guns at home. One very good friend lost the knuckle of his finger when he was cleaning his gun. He usually put it away unloaded when he left the range, but this one time, he didn’t. That was a very harsh reminder. Even at home, before you make sure the gun is unloaded, keep that muzzle pointed towards something that won’t be harmed.
“At the range, you always shoot toward you target only. You never sweep your muzzle from one side to another. Your target is the only thing you’ll want to hit at the range.
“If the muzzle of your gun is always pointed in a safe direction, we’ll all be a lot safer.”
“Now I get Rule 2. About Rule 3. What’s this finger off the trigger until ready to shoot? If I’m at the range, I’m going to need to have my finger on the trigger. Isn’t this part of getting ready?”
“Your finger is on the trigger only when you’ve sighted the X-ring of your target and are about to shoot. However, until that moment, you keep your finger off the trigger so you don’t have an accidental discharge. The only time your finger is on the trigger is that moment just before you shoot. Or if you are dry firing, but we’ll discuss dry firing another time.”
“OK. Let’s go to Rule 4. We know where the targets are at the range. Why worry about what’s behind them?”
“Remember the recent mall tragedy where an amazing armed citizen shot a crazed gunman from a great distance? That bad man was shooting innocent people and the armed citizen was able to neutralize him.”
“Yes, but what does that have to do with Rule 4?”
“The good guy was obviously well trained. Now, what if he shot at the bad guy, and the bullet continued to whoever was standing behind the bad guy? Then another innocent person might have been harmed or killed. It’s vitally important to know what you’re shooting at, but also what is behind what you’re shooting at.”
“I’ll just shoot at the range only,” she replies.
“And what if you’re confronted in public with a Mr. Bad who is shooting at people around him? Would you know how to aim so that you didn’t accidentally harm someone else?”
Sally thinks for a while.
“I won’t take my gun out unless we’re at the range,” she states again. “It will take a lot of practice to protect myself and others, and even more practice to shoot toward a target while understanding you can’t shoot until you’re sure nothing behind your target can be harmed.” She thinks for a minute and frowns.
“That’s a lot of responsibility,” she ponders. “I wonder how people feel practiced enough to carry their handguns. I took a ‘carry concealed’ class at the fairgrounds and only shot a revolver one time. It sure wasn’t enough training to satisfy the Big 4.”
Sally’s right. So, there we are one day, standing at the pistol range. Sally forgets she has her gun in her hands and she turns to speak to me.
Yes, Rule 1: Her gun is loaded.
Rule 2: The muzzle is pointed at me; not in a safe direction.
Rule 3: Sally still has her finger on the trigger.
Rule 4: People are standing behind me. If Sally accidentally pulls the trigger, she could harm someone else.
Not in a hundred years would I have expected this to happen.
Rule 5: Keep an extra pair of shorts in your range bag.
The gun is always loaded.
Never let the muzzle cover anything that you’re not willing to destroy.
Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.
Marj Law is the former director of Keep Wakulla County Beautiful who has become an avid shooter in retirement.
