If only my house were at risk of being overrun by bear, I might have an excuse to buy one...

So as I mentioned in a comment to a post earlier in the week, I spent an afternoon this weekend shooting what amounts to an elephant gun. The .50 caliber revolver shown above is similar to what I got to use except I had the additional advantage of a telescopic sight attached to the top. The picture doesn't really give you any reference to how big and heavy this thing is, but I'll just say, I was a bit scared to even shoot the thing, and it took a bit of coaxing before I was convinced to even pull the trigger once. With the right ammunition, this gun is capable of stopping an elephant, and with the rounds I used, I supposedly could have killed a grizzly bear.

This experience was all thanks to a guy I know through one of my wife's friends who's been offering to take me out to the gun range for quite a while. To say he's a gun connoisseur might be an understatement. Not only does he have an impressive collection of firearms, he regularly takes gun courses that probably puts the typical policeman to shame, and even reloads his own bullets from spent casings. As a result of all his training, though, gun safety always seems to be on the top of his mind, and in fact, he probably spent 99% of the 30 minute drive up to the range reviewing such things with me.

By days end, I had the chance to shoot a 9mm pistol, two different models of .45 caliber pistols, a simple .22 caliber rifle, an AR-15 rifle equipped with a holographic sight, a vintage M1 rifle from World War II (complete with the "pa-ting!" as the clip flies out the top after shooting your last round), and finally finishing out with the "elephant gun." Now, you might be a bit concerned that I'd be exposed to so many firearms at one time. It sounds a bit nutty, and in truth, it was kind of strange unloading that arsenal from the car. But I think I learned a few things that day, and even erased some preconceived notions I had about firearms:

1. It's not easy to hit things with a pistol - I usually spend many a television show rolling my eyes because someone like Jack Bauer on 24 can't simply shoot out the tires of a fleeing car with his Sig Sauer. Little did I know that, gosh darn it, it's really hard to hit a stationary object, let alone a moving one. I was shooting steel targets from probably 25 yards away, which I hit pretty consistently, although with a considerable amount of time spent thinking about my aim, my grip, and my trigger pressure. I moved out only 10 yards, and hitting targets was exponentially harder. I've been told that a police officer recently had her pistol stolen off of her by a guy she was trying to bring into custody. The guy, standing over her, emptied out the entire magazine and only hit her twice.
   
2. Ammunition is heavy - I always seem to forget that bullets are made out of lead. Pile all that lead in an ammunition box, and boy, it's heavy! Yet again, more appreciation of the soldier in the field carrying around ammo.
   
3. Guns are still a bit scary, but not quite as scary as I first thought - Shooting something that can stop an elephant still scares me a bit, which is why he loaded it with the bear-stopping rounds instead. Still, it seems unlikely that a gun would just go off spontaneously. You still have to have someone put their finger on the trigger and pull. As long as you're always aware of where your gun is pointed and where your trigger finger is resting, shooting can be a relatively safe endeavor. Unfortunately, there are enough idiots out there to make this dangerous in the wrong hands. Perhaps mandatory gun safety courses, extensive background checks, and wait periods aren't such a bad idea.
   
4. Shooting something 100 yards away is A REALLY LONG WAYS AWAY - Again, one of those things I never really appreciated until I tried it myself.
   
5. Shooting is kind of relaxing - Trying to hit a small target from a distance certainly takes some concentration, and can be relaxing as you focus on your mark instead of whatever worries have been troubling you for the day. It's actually a bit like golf, except you don't have to go chase your ball. Granted, you can't easily kill someone with a golf ball (unless you're Tiger Woods), but still...
   

Now after this whole experience, I'm not sure I'm quite ready to go buy a gun or join the NRA. However, it has given me a whole new perspective on the issue of gun control and a very minute glimpse of the challenges of the U.S. Armed Forces in battle that, at least, makes me a more informed citizen.

UPDATE: My friend/firearms instructor just emailed me a picture of my day with the scary revolver. You can probably imagine the goofy grin I had on my face under the censor (since I still am holding to my relative anonymity on this blog)--the gun is practically bigger than my head!