I will totally admit I was scared shitless at first. Even when we got there and they were explaining what to do and what not to do, I had a ton of butterflies in my stomach. When we first walked in we were a little overwhelmed...there were a ton of people in the store. Like around 30 people. That completely surprised me thinking this many people had guns/wanted guns/shot guns. So we walked up to the counter and told them we were here for the shooting range. Our guy, I forget his name so I'll call him Bob, asked if we've ever been here before. Since we hadn't, we had to sign a waiver and give them all of our license information. I mean you are handling guns so this is no joking matter. It asked you questions about your background, if you have ever committed a crime, have you ever been submitted to a hospital for mental reasons, etc. After we finished filling out the paperwork, Bob started explaining to us what to do and how to handle the gun. One of the main things he told us, which now I always watch out for on TV shows, is never to put your finger on the trigger unless you are shooting. You are to rest your finger above the trigger on the side. He said that is a way you can tell if someone actually knows how to operate a gun. If their hand is automatically placed on the trigger, you're in trouble. They most likely don't know what they're doing and you could really get hurt. Another key note is to make sure both of your thumbs are on the same side; otherwise you could break your knuckles. Bob also told us how to load the bullets, where to look when you're shooting (obviously), and to always point the gun straight ahead. When you were finished shooting, you had to put the gun down and then walk away. We were never allowed to walk away with the gun still in our hand.
After we got our lesson, we put on our ear plugs, eye glasses, and "headphones" because it's soooo loud in there. You could hear the guns being shot from inside the store. We walked into the shooting area. One of the misconceptions you have from TV is that everyone gets their own lane. This is not the case. Jay and I shared a lane and would take turns. The same goes for everyone else. It is extremely loud in there and you could feel the vibrations every time a gun was shot. Sometimes when other guns would go off, I would jump even though I knew people were ready to shoot them. We did pretty good! Our gun jammed once and we got a little scared but Bob came out and helped us. He was really nice (I need to go back and find out his real name!). We had 4 "people" that we were shooting at. I was a much better shot than Jay :) Bob even said women are typically better than men. But it was a ton of fun and gave me a little confidence. God forbid I was ever in some kind of trouble, now I know I can handle myself.
Ashley
