I love to shoot, and do so whenever I can. I have a tremendous amount of fun sharing my enjoyment of the shooting sports with other people. Many of the people I hang out with have similar interests and as a result we talk about guns a lot.
Although not a shooter, my wife understands and tolerates this (mostly) . Over the years she actually has learned a lot about the Second Amendment and other guns issues by hearing me tell friends and family about self-defense, new laws, and the politics of gun control.
She recently told me of an acquaintance that mentioned enjoying shooting. This elderly gentleman was in deteriorating health and was hoping to do some shooting this summer but was having difficulty finding .22lr ammo. He wondered if I might know where to find some.
He mentioned hearing of people lining up outside local discount stores in the morning to race back to the Sporting Goods department to see if ammo arrived overnight. He explained to her that due to his health and mobility issues this was not an option for him. During our dinner conversation she considered stopping at the store for him to get some ammo to help him out. I had to explain to her about the difficulty in finding .22lr these days.
Later that evening I got a box of ammo out of storage, one of those 550 round bulk packs that we used to take for granted. The box still had a sticker on it for $8.47. I quickly realized I needed to do a better job of rotating my ammo while I reminisced for the old days of cheap ammo and easy availability.
The next day my wife gave the box of ammo to her friend and I forgot all about it until 2 days later when she reported that over 100 rounds had already been sent downrange. Her friend had spent the afternoon with his 5 year old grandson teaching him to shoot and about gun safety.
My mind suddenly went back to my grandfather teaching me to shoot (also at the age of 5) and although it was over 52 years ago I can still remember that day.
Each of us can help to ensure the continued enjoyment of our 2nd Amendment freedoms by taking someone to the range and expose them to the joys of the Shooting Sports.
There is no better way to:
- Learn gun safety
- Learn proper gun handling skills
- Gain respect for the power and responsibility of a firearm
- Vaccinate someone from the anti-gun media dis-information campaign
And there is no better way to create the memories that will start a youngster on a journey of their own.