For those of us in the US, today is Memorial Day (I believe the equivalent is ANZAC day for my friends on the other side of the world). It’s a day to reflect and remember the military who gave their lives to protect freedom and country. Like any other national day off, there are always “blowout” sales. Boy & I partook of a different kind of sale.
We went shooting yesterday to shake some of the dust off our marksmanship. The shooting range offers automatic weapons for rent. Between the rental fee and the ammo cost, it was a bit out of our price range. However, in honor of Memorial Day and celebrating our Second Amendment rights, they weren’t charging a rental fee, just the fee for the ammo. We looked at each other and said “hell yes”. I’m mostly a pistol shooter, but I’ve fired a shotgun a handful of times attempting clay pigeons. While the Tommy gun was tempting, we opted for an MP5 which shoots pistol rounds. This particular gun required some experience with rifle shooting. I have zero experience with rifles. Boy & the range master had to show me how to hold it, then keep their hands to my back to make sure I kept my stance. Then we went through 40 rounds each in about 10 seconds. My arms feel like Jell-o today, but the badassery evens that out. It’s also good prep for the summer Trapeze series I’ll be starting next week. Ouch.
Like all good Southern families, we’re fans of our guns. I first learned to shoot when I was 15 or 16. Without getting too political, I do believe everyone should understand basic gun safety. I believe approaching something with fear makes you more likely to panic and do something stupid. If you approach something with understanding and respect, even if you’re a little shaky on it, you’re less likely to hurt yourself or someone else.
- Treat every gun as if it’s loaded.
- When someone hands you a gun, verify for yourself it’s unloaded.
- Never point it at anything you aren’t ready to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot.
- When handing someone a gun or being handed a gun, point it either toward the floor or away from anything (read-other people or pets) that you could possibly injure.
- Say “thank you” when you have a firm hold on the gun to signal to the other person they can safely let go.
We also saw Godzilla yesterday. I agree with most of the reviews. We didn’t see nearly enough of the titular character. He was on screen in all his glory for maybe 15 minutes of a 2 hour movie. Give me destruction! We saw it in 3D which gave a nice concept of scale. He took out a good portion of San Francisco before peaceing out. The giant, icky moth things got way more screen time. If you haven’t seen it and you’re looking for a classic Godzilla taking down Tokyo movie, give it a pass.
All in all, a full and sufficient day. Even if my delts and rhomboids are calling me nasty names. I’ll need today just to lie around the house, watch mindless TV, and recover.
XOXO!
Beautiful Scars 