enichols
July 27, 2003, 10:29 PM
So I was sitting in my room at about 4:30, giving my rifles a quick inspection, when my 8 year old sister walked in. "Nic, what are you doing?", she said. "Not much, just doing a check on the rifles". She saw my 10-22 leaning on the wall and asked, "Is that one heavy? It doesn't really look like it. Can I pick it up?". I told her sure, but first there were a couple rules we had to go over before I let her touch it. I proceeded to explain to her the Four Rules in depth, and at about 5:45 I finally told her "OK, now you can hold this".
I picked up another rifle so she could see what I was doing and mirror me. At first, she had a problem shouldering it and holding it comfortably, but after a bit more explanation and posturing she got it just fine. I then explained to her how to use the sights and set up some paper targets across the room that she could aim at (The guns were unloaded, the paper targets against a wall, on the other side of which there is a concrete wall, before anyone nails me with "Be sure of your target and what's beyond it!"). At first, she was closing the wrong eye and complained, "I can't see through the sights!" A little explanation about the dominant eye and how you use it to aim and the problem was solved. She exclaimed proudly, "Oh, I can see it now!"
At this point it was about 6:30-ish, and she asked me "Nic, are guns bad?" My explanation was that guns are neither good nor bad, that they were simply machines or tools, and that they do not have minds of their own. I told her that there were no "good" or "bad" guns, just good and bad people. I told her that good people needed to keep guns to protect themselves from bad people, and that it was the right and responsibility of good people to defend their lives and the lives of the people they cared about. She understood immediately and I think she'll remember exactly what I said.
At 7 it was time to go eat dinner, so we wiped the guns down with a silicon rag and put them away. I thought that would be the end of the session except that afterwards she continued to ask questions and even asked me if I would take her to the range. I said that of course I would, but we would have to clear it with Mom and Dad first. I think I'll be able to convince them to let me take her to shoot.
Now I'm sitting here with a big old grin on my face. I think that she has a genuine interest in firearms, and I was really glad that I could teach her. It just felt really rewarding to be able to share my interest with her and for her to learn so quickly and so well. There isn't much else to say except that the past couple of hours really made my night.
Anyway, I just thought I would share with you all.
-Nic
I picked up another rifle so she could see what I was doing and mirror me. At first, she had a problem shouldering it and holding it comfortably, but after a bit more explanation and posturing she got it just fine. I then explained to her how to use the sights and set up some paper targets across the room that she could aim at (The guns were unloaded, the paper targets against a wall, on the other side of which there is a concrete wall, before anyone nails me with "Be sure of your target and what's beyond it!"). At first, she was closing the wrong eye and complained, "I can't see through the sights!" A little explanation about the dominant eye and how you use it to aim and the problem was solved. She exclaimed proudly, "Oh, I can see it now!"
At this point it was about 6:30-ish, and she asked me "Nic, are guns bad?" My explanation was that guns are neither good nor bad, that they were simply machines or tools, and that they do not have minds of their own. I told her that there were no "good" or "bad" guns, just good and bad people. I told her that good people needed to keep guns to protect themselves from bad people, and that it was the right and responsibility of good people to defend their lives and the lives of the people they cared about. She understood immediately and I think she'll remember exactly what I said.
At 7 it was time to go eat dinner, so we wiped the guns down with a silicon rag and put them away. I thought that would be the end of the session except that afterwards she continued to ask questions and even asked me if I would take her to the range. I said that of course I would, but we would have to clear it with Mom and Dad first. I think I'll be able to convince them to let me take her to shoot.
Now I'm sitting here with a big old grin on my face. I think that she has a genuine interest in firearms, and I was really glad that I could teach her. It just felt really rewarding to be able to share my interest with her and for her to learn so quickly and so well. There isn't much else to say except that the past couple of hours really made my night.
Anyway, I just thought I would share with you all.
-Nic