A couple of summers ago, my brother-in-law taught me how to shoot a gun.

It wasn’t the first time I had handled a gun: I had fired a shot gun twice during a camping trip when I was 18.  It wasn’t like I had target practice or anything, though — I didn’t give a crap about hitting anything, I just though it was cool to fire a gun for the first time.

Fast forward 8 years, and you’ll find me, my husband-to-be, and his brother firing at paper bulls-eyes.  My brother-in-law is a cop and had a makeshift firing range set up on his property for practice.  He taught me how to hold a gun properly, gave me the rundown on firearms safety, and let me try to hit something.

Let me tell you, I sucked.  Admittedly, it wasn’t like I’d had a chance to practice — not like my husband and his brother.  They grew up with guns around, from BB guns and airsoft guns to the real McCoy.

I didn’t even know before meeting my husband what airsoft guns were.  Evidently they’re kind of like BB guns — they fire a harmless little pellet instead of a bullet.  Technically, airsoft guns should use compressed air or gas in order to fire the pellet, but I guess some use a spring mechanism.  There are different varieties, too, such as the classic army.

Anyway, my first target practice went okay.  It ended up being one of those things that I was glad I did, but never felt any burning desire to do again.

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