I Shot a Handgun

I shot a handgun last week for the first time.

To be honest, I've always been a little afraid of guns. I grew up in the suburbs and have never been around guns and haven't had a lot of education about how they work. I had never seen a gun in person until I met Calhoun and came up north to his house for the first time.

Calhoun grew up here in northwest Minnesota and has hunted since he was a kid. When we first moved in together he moved in a few hunting rifles right along with all of his other stuff. Over the years, he's educated me about his shotguns and the various kinds of birdshot stored in our house. I've had the opportunity to shoot his shotgun, a rifle, and even a muzzleloader - but never a handgun. To me, hunting guns and handguns are different and I've never had reason, or an opportunity, to shoot a handgun.

But then I got this new job.  I have contact with law enforcement and I read reports that sometimes mention guns. I decided it was time to learn about handguns and once I started voicing an interest in shooting one I found that I had an opportunity to go to the range and shoot.

It was kinda cool. It was interesting to learn about the machine and how it works. I was also very impressed by the people around me who knew so much about guns. I often forget that a lot of people up here have a firearms endorsements and have grown up with guns. Most people get their firearms endorsement as soon as they can when they're kids, which means that they get them when they're twelve. That's a lot of years of experience and familiarity with firearms, and it shows.

I'm still not sure how I feel about handguns. I did like shooting the gun at the target on the range, and I actually did pretty well. But, I don't own a handgun and it's not on the list of northern Minnesota things to acquire. But, it was a cool thing to do and I'm glad I went and shot a handgun.