Sue Seboda, Guns Part 1, March 27, 2020
When you grow up in a house with 4 brothers whose rite of passage was boar hunting, chances are you will know something about guns. It wasn’t much. My sister and I had our rite of passage when Kate came along and whisked us off to New York to learn shopping. What an excellent student I was. My gathering skills are superb to this day. Even though the boys and girls were on divergent hunter/gatherer paths, I dabbled in skeet shooting, but really, I was much better buying a shotgun than using it.
Decades go by and last October I stumbled upon the Everglades. It was love at first site. I go to enjoy nature and photography whenever Earl heads north. Then the questions started. Are you out there all by yourself? Yes, I am good with that. Isn’t that dangerous? No. Aren’t you worried about the alligators? No, they are only dangerous if you are a little person or are stupid enough to feed them. At this point, the questions shift to statements. Listen (dummy) you are out there by yourself miles from anywhere. You should be armed. I then utter the phrase learned from years of marriage that is guaranteed to shut down further nagging – good point.
A friend did join me on the last Everglades trip and we hiked a swamp trail. Even I am not foolish enough to do that on my own. We caught movement a couple feet in front of us and a large cottonmouth was sliding across the path. We all stopped at once and a standoff ensued. The message was clear. I win, you lose. You are afraid of me and I am having too much fun toying with you. Haha haha! And guess what jackass, you are going to turn around and I am going to continue to sun myself on this path. Got it? Hmmmmmm. I didn’t like that. But, yeah, I got it now. A gun won’t protect me from a snake bite, my new snake boots will do that, but one is a bit vulnerable in the back of beyond. Time to level the playing field and stop saying “good point”.
When the student is ready, the teacher appears. Chuck Meier and I set an appointment for a concealed carry class and follow up handgun training. Between setting the appointment and our class, the country erupted into the current insanity. Apparently there are two things Americans must have when in full panic mode, guns and toilet paper. So now I am part of a gun buying clump. I don’t do clumps. Or insanity for that matter. But I digress.
Chuck holds classes in his office and several things were immediately clear. Most people would not mess with him whether he was armed or not, he lost his leg and is a white guy with a black prosthetic foot. I knew as soon as Chuck started speaking that he possessed the knowledge I needed, did not have one politically correct cell in his body and was born without an edit function. While I hoped I would hear the story about the foot, I was certain I had found the right teacher.
After the class, we headed to the gun range. The other two people went first and by the time I went in, I was in quite a state. Note to self, when you are doing something that thoroughly scares you, wear drug store deodorant. That natural stuff is no match for the fear generated by big guns and deafening noise. Chuck walked out for a moment and a guy in the next lane was preparing to shoot. When he did, I let out a yelp and jumped out of my shoes. This was not good.
We started with a Glock 357, a big, loud handgun with a notable kick. Chuck calls it snappy. I learn how to stand and hold the gun. With a proper grip and a deep breath, the moment of truth arrives, it’s time to pull the trigger. WTF. Snappy is a bit of an understatement. Regroup. Do it again but pull the trigger sloooowwwwllllly. Double WTF. Regroup, stop shaking, take a breath. Yes somewhere along the line, I forgot about that breathing business. And repeat. Repeat again. Time for a break. Yes, yes a break is good, very good. Make it a long one. Chuck talks for a while and I am only sort of listening. Instead I am having a serious conversation with myself. Am I picking that gun up again or am I out of here? Pros and cons, back and forth. Then I said to myself, put your big girl panties on and pick up that gun. And I did…
Details:
- Why begin training with a Glock 357? Chuck explained – “I wanted to show that with the proper training, grip, sight picture and follow through, you can hit a target in rapid fire succession with max survivability. We call that a confidence builder. After shooting the Glock 357, any other self defense round is going to be child’s play meaning the recoil will be much more manageable, the report or sound will not be as deafening and the firearms themselves are much more forgiving making the accuracy more precise.” Plus he has tons of 357 ammo. Ammo is as difficult to find right now as toilet paper.
- If you are one of the 550,000 or so people who bought a gun in the last couple weeks and are a first time gun owner, do yourself a favor and get some training. If you are in the Keys, call Chuck Meier . If you want to practice on your own, call Phil at Big Coppit Gun Club. Verify if Phil has ammo for your gun, you may need to bring your own.