First and Possibly Last Time Shooting a Gun

My son in law is an avid hunter and also a gun safety instructor. He is part of a gun club which owns a piece of property in the mountains of San Diego County right on the border to Mexico.

I am not a gun enthusiast and had never much of a desire to go hunting or shooting for that matter. Growing up in Germany, guns were just not around that much. Even though most men know how to shoot since military service is mandatory. Well, now you can serve the required time in the social service sector but many young men still fulfill their military service. Unless something has changed in recent years.

We had a relative who was a hunter. With that came a lot of responsibility. The only other gun owner I knew was the father of a friend of mine. He had a gun store and actually lost his life in a robbery at his store. So, yes, these kinds of things happen in Germany as well. But for the most part, gun ownership is very restricted.

When our German family came to visit, one of the entertainment ideas was to take them to the shooting range so they could experience shooting a gun.

My son in law brought his whole collection and $200 worth of ammunition. I cam along on the trip - not because I was particularly interested in shooting but because I wanted to hang out with my family.

We brought beercans, targets and several squashes to sprinkle around the landscape to try to hit.

First, we got a safety lecture and what we can and cannot do when someone is engaged with a gun. We learned how to hold it, how to load and how to be safe at all times.

Even though I didn't set out to go shooting, once there, I figured I should at least try to see what this is all about. As you can see in the video, I didn't do too well. I tried a couple more times after that and got a bit better in controlling the gun.

I even hit something!!! Psst. Don't tell anyone. I had aimed at a completely different target from the one I ended up hitting :)

In conclusion. I can see how it could be fun to practice and get better at this. But I kid you not. We pretty much went through all the ammunition in the few hours we spent at the club. That is one expensive hobby!! And we created a lot of waste! Some of the bullets can be recycled or rather refilled. But others can't. Too many accidents happened.

I didn't like shooting enough to justify the expense and the environmental impact. So, I will stay gun free for the time being.