Target Practice

Inspirational song: Annie Get Your Gun (Squeeze)

I had been whining for days about needing a change of scenery, breaking out of my rut. I certainly did that tonight. A bunch of us girls met at the gun range, and put a whole bunch of tiny holes in pieces of paper. It felt really good, in a cathartic skill-test sort of way. I think I have finally found the only gun I would want to own. I have wimpy little artist hands, so I don't need anything very powerful or hard to squeeze. Tonight, even though we each had the choice between a revolver and a semi-automatic, both delicate little 22s, I didn't bother picking up the revolver. I used all of my ammo on the semi-automatic, and from my target, I think I'm proving that I'm getting good at this. I directed most of my shots at center mass, and grouped them well. I tried a dozen or so higher up, but it was less accurate to aim with my hands higher. I never actually missed, per se, but I did get a little sloppy on the last two or three when I got tired and was the last one on the range, my very last shot going through the throat of my target. Now that I am certain this is the right weapon for me, I need to go back and practice with it. I refuse flat-out to have one around unless I am confident that I will not make any stupid mistakes with it. I know how to load it, and how to fire it. We never really discussed what to do when a round is chambered and I want to unload it without firing. Call me crazy, but that seems like a key piece of information to have if the weapon were to be in my home. I think I saw the woman leading the ladies night instruction eject her dummy round when she was giving her tutorial, but we moved past that awfully quickly.

I used to have the other paper targets from the trips to the shooting range over the last few years. I never know what to do with the souvenirs. The girls and I always joke that we'll hang them up in the garage, or make them visible through windows, to discourage burglars from trying to come inside. I've never done that before, however. This time, I hung up the target to get some good pictures of it, where it can be seen from the windows. Maybe for once I will leave it there, for a while. Let anyone foolish enough to peek in my windows see it, in the background over the big sharp teeth that my little red-headed dog will be displaying for all nosy people to consider. And soon, perhaps, I will be ready to have my own little sidearm, so I can keep practicing until I can completely shoot out the little X in the center of the target. I have confidence that I can become a real sharp-shooter one day soon.