Homer Vs. Kidd

This weekend Mark took me trap shooting. Trap shooting is the one with shotguns and moving clay targets where you say “Pull” a lot.

(I’m dead center, left)

Before I continue, I should point out that I’m not a “gun person”. In general, guns make me nervous, and people that own guns make me even more nervous, so when I showed up to the shooting range I fully expected to be swarmed by a bunch of preachy Charlton Heston loving conservative nut jobs, their cars plastered with pro-2nd-amendment bumper stickers, loaded to the hilt with modified assault rifles and rocket launchers.

I was really surprised to find out that they were just normal people, and really respectful and nice. I explained that I was new, and I had never fired a gun before, and the president of the gun club took me off to the side and explained gun safety, etiquette, rules, and how to actually hit stuff. And he assigned a guy to me to make sure I did everything correctly (orange vest, to my right). Everyone was exceedingly patient and friendly. There was even this one guy who had been shooting for a million years that had this stupidly expensive trap gun (8k+ ?) and he offered to let me try it out.

So I left with a really positive impression. As expected, I suck as a marksman, and I have a giant bruise on my shoulder from the gun’s kickback. But I want to go back again, it was pretty cool.

And no, I haven’t turned into a gun nut. And I’m not getting a gun. Why bother. The guy who runs the club said he has plenty of giant guns that anyone can use for the day at no charge.