She Shot Me Down..

When my first (and only) roommate Deana and I lived together, I remember telling her that as two single, foxy ladies living together, we should have protection in our apartment. I suggested we take classes to learn how to shoot a gun, and she looked at me like I was insane. I remember her saying something to the effect of..."Hell, no! I'm going to be sneaking in some night, and you'll end up shooting my ass!" So even though I always found guns dangerous and fascinating, I never did get around to taking those shooting lessons. Despite living in Texas, I had also never randomly had to the opportunity to do so, surprisingly.

I googled shooting ranges in EP, and again, surprisingly, didn't find much. I posted on Facebook, and almost everyone recommended I try this shooting range out in the NorthEast. But, due to Easter weekend, it happened to be closed. Then comes in my "friend" C, who I used to date last year. Without getting in to specifics, he kinda screwed up last year, and has been vying for another chance for the past YEAR. I don't know how I feel about this; we hang out occasionally.  So he offers to take me shooting today, and I accept.

He took a ride to Canutillo to pick up the gun (it belongs to his uncle, an ex-cop) on his motorcycle, then took me on a brief ride, then we took his truck out to the far east side, where we drove almost an hour in to the desert. Little did I know, C himself had never shot a gun, so once we found a spot that he found suitable, I started wigging out a little. HE didn't know how to shoot a gun??? Holy shit, one of us was about to lose an eye! Or a lot of blood. Then I started thinking about the legality of it...albeit  a little late. Is it illegal to shoot a gun you don't own or have a permit for? I should have googled extensively. But, I was there, and the moment was upon me, so I figured I should take advantage of it. He set up a beer bottle about 10 feet in the distance, and asked me if I wanted to take the first shot. The gun was heavier than I expected, and it felt powerful just holding it. I told him he could take the first shot. I cowered behind his truck as he took the first shot. I got to witness the recoil, and where the bullet casing flew, so I'd have an idea what to expect.

The first shot was scary, but such a THRILL. It was much louder than I had anticipated, and that made me a little hesitant to try again. Neither of us had great aim, and all we hit was dirt, but I'm glad. Breaking the bottle might have scared the beejesus out of me. I think being out there and realizing we were super uneducated and inexperienced really took away from everything. I would have much rather shot a gun in a range, knowing it was a controlled environment.  Being out there, we both figured that we had come that far, so we kinda had to do it, but any fun we might have had was overshadowed by the logical fear.

Ultimately, we were careful, and no one was injured. I should have been more vocal in making sure he knew what he was doing. He had enough knowledge about guns to know how to work the safety and load it, but still. Fun, but scary.

Alas, Annie Oakley, I am not. Sometimes even my nerdy proclivity to google everything fails me at times, but at least I made it out of the desert with all my limbs, and a full tank of blood.

bang bang!