Girl’s Guide is inaugurating our new Guest Blogger segment. We’re thrilled to have Stacy, who was originally one of our readers, contribute as our first guest blogger. As she describes below, her introduction to firearms was less than smooth. In fact, it was downright traumatizing. She conquered her fear, though, and is now one of Girl’s Guides’ treasured experts. Read on to learn which gun she recommends for first-time shooters. Also, if you’re interested in contributing as a guest blogger, click here for more information. -GG
I love guns.
I love how sleek they are, how smoothly they function. From the buttery slide of a Beretta 92 to the easy glide of the Henry Big Boy or Golden Boy, from the metallic clank of a Springfield M1A to the shiver-inducing pump of a Mossberg 500—I love them all. It’s exhilarating to obliterate clay targets with a Browning single-shot, and satisfying to nail 100-yard targets with an SKS. The precise machinery and the power leave me in awe.
I t wasn’t always a love affair for me.
I used to give all guns a very wide berth, certain that if I touched one it would go off and I’d kill someone, most likely myself.
What changed?
Well, my fear didn’t just disappear one day. It took some time and the patience of a few experienced shooters.
I started working at a gun shop in May 2000 when the owner of the shop approached me at the bookstore where I worked. He wanted me to come in part-time and do paperwork. I needed the extra money—I was raising two growing sons by myself, and having a job drop in my lap was a relief. I filed invoices and federal and state paperwork for at least a year before I touched a gun, and even then the revolver he handed to me was like a hot potato in my hands. I mumbled something and handed it over hurriedly, anxious to go back to the paperwork.
But the feel of the gun stayed with me. I was surprised by how heavy it was, almost as surprised as I was by the price. $500!? No freaking way would I plunk down that much money for a piece of metal. Five hundred bucks could snag some nice art, or a TON of books. But a gun? Please. Still… it was kind of cool to heft the weight and imagine shooting it.
When my boss told me he wanted to teach me about guns so I could sell them, I decided to face my fear and to learn everything I could about guns. I began fondling pistols—a Glock 23. A Sig 229. CZ 75. Colt Officer’s Model 1911. That Colt seduced me. The balance was perfect in my hand, and the grip was just right. I decided I wanted to go shooting, and I wanted to shoot a 1911.
A co-worker took me shooting. Bless his heart, he brought ALL his guns out to the range: A 12-gauge. A Smith and Wesson .357mag and a .44 mag. A Colt .45, because I had asked for it, after all. A 9mm something or other, a .22, and a couple of .40s. Probably others as well. It’s a blur to me now, 7 years later. What I do remember: shooting was not fun.
I remember feeling like a bowling ball had exploded in my hands when I shot the .357 mag. I remember the tiny Beretta .22 nearly jumping out of my hands. A .22! And I remember feeling like I had planted myself right behind a monstrous horse and let it slam my shoulder with a nasty kick when I shot the 12 gauge.
I told my co-worker that I would sell the damn things if I had to, but I was not going shooting again. Ever.
When my boss discovered my animosity toward guns, he convinced me to take a private lesson with an NRA shooting instructor who promised to start me off with something that wouldn’t intimidate me. It was right around this time that I first came across the Walther P22.
It was light, and the grip was molded to fit my hand perfectly. Because it was a .22, I knew it wouldn’t feel like a firecracker going off in my hand, so I asked if I could use it for my shooting lesson, and ohhh, that day was the beginning of my passionate love affair with guns.
I’ll tell you more about the Walther P22 another day, but I will say this: if you master shooting with this pistol, there is no other gun, no other caliber you can’t handle.
For more information on Stacy and her writing, check out these links:
https://gunshopgoddess.wordpress.com
https://onegirlriot.wordpress.com
https://publicsafetytrainingassociation.wordpress.com
