Foe[H]ammer
Member
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2004
- Messages
- 101
My GF who is a well educated and even headed woman just related the most horrible and ignorant story to me that I've heard in a while.
Apparently I did not do my job. A few years ago I bought a gun, a H&K USP .45c, not a terribly sophisticated device but certainly serviceable. I brought it home and showed her my new score. She was kinda intrigued and was curious why I "needed" a gun and the usual tripe. Alarm bells went off, I asked her if she had ever fired a handgun or any firearm for that matter. She answered that her dad "took them shooting when they were kids and always left a gun with the kids when the parents left the house, not in thier possesion but they knew where it was" and that she had even "fired on an intruder when she was 9".
So, I'm thinking some mild refreshers on Safety (FIRST), grip and stance and she should be back in the saddle. Off to the range and I instruct her on all aspects of the gun. Saftey mechanism, decocker, charged chamber indicator, magazine release and strip down. I walk her through the 4 rules several times and ask her if she wants to shoot it. She goes nuts with the thought of it, she's all over the thought, she want's the gun. I'm thinking "wow from mild mannered book worm to Rambette in moments" it would have never occurred to me that she's react like this.
She was not a bad shot at first, she improved with minor troubleshooting and she genuinely seemed happy to do it. She ran (herself, personally) ~700 rounds through the gun before she'd let me do 100.
Cut to 3 years later:
We've been to the range twice a month since, minimum, she's gotten exponentially better at shot placement and wants her own gun for CCW. So we're chatting about what she might like to carry and she gets all somber aftrer some safety discussion and tells me the story.
Apparently she's had a ND and never told me.
She says we had a fight and she asked that I leave for a day or two while she decided whether she was moving out. Apparently (and remember this is from an embarrased girl talking about a moment of collosal stupidity so I can't vouch for the voracity of all statements) she was curious as to whether I'd left her the gun (I had) and she wanted to make sure it was loaded. She found it where I keep it (where I can find it and my pants in the dark) and racked the slide to make sure it was loaded. Now bear in mind I've instructed her that it's always loaded, chambered, decocked, safety off. She's been around this gun alot, it has a loaded chamber indicator and she's been told it always loaded. So ejecting the loaded cartridge and loading another she decides she should put round #8 back in the magazine, which she does. She reloads the now cocked handgun and then in a moment of vacant idiocy decides that instaed of using the built in decocker shes gonna lower the hammer manully using the almost non-existant hammer.
Her words: "all of a sudden I went blind and was, like in a vaccum, then slowly my ears started ringing and it slowy got gradually louder until I couln't hear anything but RIIINNNNGGGGIIIIINNNNGGGG"
She says the gun was resting on her leg and that the muzzel flash burned the polyester pants she was wearing bad enough to melt them, sort of and since we were living in an apartment at the time the bullet hit the baseboard and likely richoched off the foot thick concrete floors never to be seen again. She turned off all the lights and left the house ..... nothing more came of it.
She says she hasn't picked up the gun since except at the range, she's scared of it now but was too scared to tell me why. She was unharmed as was everyone in the neeighborhood. Jesus, what the hell to do now.
I'm not sure I trust her anymore, with guns or the truth.
Apparently I did not do my job. A few years ago I bought a gun, a H&K USP .45c, not a terribly sophisticated device but certainly serviceable. I brought it home and showed her my new score. She was kinda intrigued and was curious why I "needed" a gun and the usual tripe. Alarm bells went off, I asked her if she had ever fired a handgun or any firearm for that matter. She answered that her dad "took them shooting when they were kids and always left a gun with the kids when the parents left the house, not in thier possesion but they knew where it was" and that she had even "fired on an intruder when she was 9".
So, I'm thinking some mild refreshers on Safety (FIRST), grip and stance and she should be back in the saddle. Off to the range and I instruct her on all aspects of the gun. Saftey mechanism, decocker, charged chamber indicator, magazine release and strip down. I walk her through the 4 rules several times and ask her if she wants to shoot it. She goes nuts with the thought of it, she's all over the thought, she want's the gun. I'm thinking "wow from mild mannered book worm to Rambette in moments" it would have never occurred to me that she's react like this.
She was not a bad shot at first, she improved with minor troubleshooting and she genuinely seemed happy to do it. She ran (herself, personally) ~700 rounds through the gun before she'd let me do 100.
Cut to 3 years later:
We've been to the range twice a month since, minimum, she's gotten exponentially better at shot placement and wants her own gun for CCW. So we're chatting about what she might like to carry and she gets all somber aftrer some safety discussion and tells me the story.
Apparently she's had a ND and never told me.
She says we had a fight and she asked that I leave for a day or two while she decided whether she was moving out. Apparently (and remember this is from an embarrased girl talking about a moment of collosal stupidity so I can't vouch for the voracity of all statements) she was curious as to whether I'd left her the gun (I had) and she wanted to make sure it was loaded. She found it where I keep it (where I can find it and my pants in the dark) and racked the slide to make sure it was loaded. Now bear in mind I've instructed her that it's always loaded, chambered, decocked, safety off. She's been around this gun alot, it has a loaded chamber indicator and she's been told it always loaded. So ejecting the loaded cartridge and loading another she decides she should put round #8 back in the magazine, which she does. She reloads the now cocked handgun and then in a moment of vacant idiocy decides that instaed of using the built in decocker shes gonna lower the hammer manully using the almost non-existant hammer.
Her words: "all of a sudden I went blind and was, like in a vaccum, then slowly my ears started ringing and it slowy got gradually louder until I couln't hear anything but RIIINNNNGGGGIIIIINNNNGGGG"
She says the gun was resting on her leg and that the muzzel flash burned the polyester pants she was wearing bad enough to melt them, sort of and since we were living in an apartment at the time the bullet hit the baseboard and likely richoched off the foot thick concrete floors never to be seen again. She turned off all the lights and left the house ..... nothing more came of it.
She says she hasn't picked up the gun since except at the range, she's scared of it now but was too scared to tell me why. She was unharmed as was everyone in the neeighborhood. Jesus, what the hell to do now.
I'm not sure I trust her anymore, with guns or the truth.
