Tuesday, September 12, 2006
This is part of another post I made somewhere else. I work at a firing range, and after the range closes to new customers we are allowed to go out and shoot to our heart's content. I chose to do so tonight, accompanied by a 12 gauge shotgun. This was the experience I had on the range when I did so, and some thoughts.
As some backup to this story, my previous job required me to qualify with a 12 gauge pump action shotgun, which included firing it in various positions, standard and combat loading, etc. So I have some experience with a shotgun like I used tonight, although I do not yet own my own.
The shotgun was just glorious. I love shotguns and must own one. And it must be pump action. The only non-pump shotguns I have ever given a second glance were double barreled. But this shotgun made me feel so nice! It was an 870 rip off, but it was still fun.
I take the shotgun and a few buckshot rounds out onto the range and two customers are still out there. They have their own shotgun and are now not even trying to hide the fact that they are snickering at me. Finally, the one guy comes over as I am setting up my target and says, "Would you like me to show you how to use that thing?"
"No, thanks, I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Totally."
"Well, don't hurt yourself. I'll stay here just in case."
"Do what you want."
I popped the five rounds I had into it, and pumped them all off repeatedly. I pretty much removed the bottom half of the target, and just to be a smart ass to the guy standing behind me, I wracked the last spent round out while facing him and holding it with one hand.
Now, the range officers had seen the guy come up to me, and as they do, they spied. So they heard the whole exchange, and they know me well enough to know that I do not take kindly to men treating me like a fragile little girl around guns. So once I'd pumped the last shell out, I look over his shoulder and see them laughing so hard they were crying.
The two guys were so embarrassed by their own stupidity that they packed up and left right after this. Which is good for them. If you see someone walk out onto a range by themselves holding a 12 gauge shotgun, don't assume they need your help. If I needed help, one of the range officers would have come out with me. It is far too large of a weapon for someone to attempt alone. The first time I fired off a 12 gauge, I had someone with me. And it was by my request that they came out with me. I admit when I need help. Especially with a weapon. Which is why I am trying to find someone to teach me the proper way to use a bow. I may be shooting it for stress relief and fun, but I know still that this is a deadly weapon, whether it is a 12 gauge shotgun or a longbow. And female + shotgun does not equal needing the assistance of someone else unrequested. Sure, I haven't fired a shotgun many times, and the last time I did I cried because it really beat the shit out of me. But when I did that I was qualifying with the damn thing and still scored 100%!
I have never seen someone, especially a female, go out onto the range with a weapon they didn't think they could handle or had no experience with without any kind of help. Most people who come in there with no shooting experience ask for help with a .22 revolver. So obviously, with a large shotgun, help would be requested, because it doesn't take much to realize that this weapon can easily put you on your ass. So these guys thought it was funny that a girl was coming out with a shotgun and decided I needed their help. Yes, I was offended. First of all, you laughed at me. Secondly, you thought I was too stupid to realize this weapon can kick my ass. And thirdly, you thought I was too fragile to handle it even though I was bigger than you. No shit, I stood a head taller than both of these guys and they were your typical scrawny nerd Urkel wanna-bes. They couldn't handle their shotgun, I'd been watching them. Neither one could pull the trigger without stumbling backwards after every shot. But they were tougher than me, I guess. At least the shotgun didn't move me from the spot I was standing in.
Ya know, it just pisses me off. In their defense, most guys I have met at the range didn't doubt a woman with guns, no matter the size. Not one guy has snickered or questioned me when I have told them I have managed to put a full box of ammo through the S&W 500. No one has said a word when I went out with the AR-15. I didn't even get a raised eyebrow when I walked out on the range that one time with a fully automatic sub machinegun. But every so often, I run into that guy who tells other guys they should talk about cookies and flowers when I'm around and not guns, or that one guy who decides I can't handle a shotgun unless he stands behind me. (Remember, I like big. I like my guns like I like my cars... big, ugly, and long. So if a gun has some punch to it, I want to fire it. Even if I only put one round through it, I want to give it a go. LOL! I don't know why I'm like that, I just am.)
But you know what pisses me off even more? When a woman comes in to the range and plays into that. One out of every ten women who come in there plays that. Now, I know some of these women can't handle the weapons their boyfriends hand them. A girl standing 5' and weighing 100 lbs. isn't going to be able to handle a .44 magnum the first time she ever steps out onto a firing range (but holy cow, did that one woman of that description try, and kudos to her!). But does that say she never will? No. Maybe in a few months she'll be buying herself a .44 magnum. The first time I stepped onto a firing range, yeah, I needed Max to stand behind me when I fired off a .38 special. But Max would be tickled pink if he saw me out there today with a 12 gauge. And I'm just as tickled because I worked myself to that point. But some of these women come in with their boyfriends or whatever and giggle and swoon at their 9mm pistols, then take out a .22 and do the whole dropping it on the range thing. Bullshit! Hold onto the fucking gun and pull the trigger! If you are the size of me, you can handle a .22 at the very least. And after your 15th trip to the range, being surprised and dropping the gun is no longer acceptable.
Why do women do this? Why do they dummy themselves down? Yeah, I'm going to walk out onto the range day in and day out with a .40 and a .357 magnum, and maybe I'll remain single to the end of my days because I refuse to play stupid and weak for anyone. But to me, that is completely worth it. Because I know I am strong and intelligent and I can take care of myself. If someone breaks into my house, I'm not going to run and hide behind my man. I'm gonna pump that shotgun and I'm gonna give him a way to shit twice as fast. My man is either going to stand next to me or hide behind me, but I will not hide behind him. And every time I see one of these girls who plays like she needs her man just to move a few feet, I feel sorry for her. And him, too. He's stuck with a leach and she's stuck with no sense of self. I prefer the women who come in and rent a .22 to get the feel for the sport but start working their way up (or, like my mom, realize they have physical limitations preventing them from doing so and work to be as good as they can with that .22). I like the girl who listens to the range officers give their speech but when they come to "he can stand in the lane and coach you..." they say, "How do you know I'm not teaching him?" I prefer the women who ask for help seriously instead of acting frightened and helpless until the help is offered. I prefer the women who know damn well they don't need him to survive.
There goes another soapbox.
Note: I made mention of a man named Max. For clarification for those who haven't known me this long, Max was the firearms instructor for my first armored company. I'd never handled a real gun prior to qualifying for that company, and it was Max who taught me to shoot. Max never gave up when I almost did, and it was because of him that my first time firing live ammo I scored 86% accuracy. I haven't seen Max since that day, but if I ever do... man, he's gonna die laughing when he finds out I own three handguns and am saving up for a shotgun. I am very much a changed person since that day.
Suck Lead did something BAAAAD at 9/12/2006 11:14:00 PM
