time at the gun range with CBug

I was always around guns as a kid. I had a BB gun and a .22 rifle growing up. My Dad had his guns in our basement in a locked gun rack, as well as all of my uncles. Neighbors and my Dad would take me duck and deer hunting routinely. I would go shooting with my friends in the fields around our town. I took hunter’s safety as a teenager. I never thought much about them one way or another.

The Columbine high school mass shooting in Colorado happened in 1999. I remember it clearly. The movie The Matrix was being maligned due to the characters wearing long black trench coats that mirrored the two shooters. It changed the way I looked at guns, as well as opened my eyes to how different the United States was in comparison to the rest of the world regarding personal gun ownership.

For the next twenty five years or so, I had very little to do with guns. I didn’t own one. I had no desire to go hunting or even shoot for recreation. But as my only nephew got older, he became more interested in guns and hunting. When the guns his Grandpa had while he was alive were passed down to Cbug once he turned eighteen, his desire for hunting and guns only increased.

Cbug left his guns at home in Utah when he moved down to Arizona to live with me while attending college. When he decided on a career though, he moved back to Utah to go to a college that would help him pursue in becoming an airline pilot. I got some pictures and stories of his first elk hunt that Fall, and when I was up there for the Summer earlier this year he was passionate about the various hunting tags he was hoping to get. He also wanted to go to a shooting range to get in some practice. He asked if I would be interested in tagging along. Secretly I wasn’t a big fan of going, as I still harbored strong beliefs about guns. The mass shootings have only continued since Columbine. I also acknowledge that many people practiced very safe gun ownership. I agreed to go with him.

Out west of Salt Lake City, past the industrial areas and west side neighborhoods, is the Salt Lake public gun shooting range. Cbug picks out our targets as I pay the entrance fee. We get a quick tutorial about the rules and gun safety practices, then we set up. I start with the .22 rifle and Cbug has the .22 handgun.

The rush of adrenaline hits my brain quickly. My eyesight hinders me from hitting the target as well as I would have wanted. I try the handgun and I missed the target completely. It is not as easy as the movies make it look out to be. Cbug does much better than I, and I think I see him silently laugh to himself about how foolish I am around guns. I remind him that it has been awhile since I last held a gun, let alone shoot one.

We switch to another gun range where you can shoot more high powered rifles as longer distances. Cbug wants to practice with his 30.06 hunting rifle. The 100 yard distance is down, but both the 200 and 300 yard distances are both open. I had no idea that these ranges are built in such a way that you can drive and set up your targets all while guns are being shot above you. It was nerve racking at first to me until I saw how the set up actually works, realizing that it is completely safe.

I didn’t want to hurt my shoulder or arm, so I didn’t shoot the 30.06 rifle. Honestly I was a bit scared of this gun. Cbug takes a few shots, but he admits that it was hurting his shoulder as well. We check the target and come to find out that he didn’t hit the target at all from 200 yards. It is further away than one may think….

I’m still not a fan of guns personally, but I did come away with a greater appreciation for the love my nephew has of his guns, hunting, and the importance of responsible personal gun ownership.