You've been waiting for the follow up... We have been very busy wrapping up the odds and ends needed to open on March 1st. Orders have been placed (our first shipment came last night - yay!) Nevertheless, as promised, here are 4 MORE reasons to go to the shooting range:
1) Physical Fitness - say what? Yes, whether you are shooting handguns, rifles, or shotguns, it promotes physical fitness. Is it the same as running a mile or doing 50 burpees or 25 overhead presses? No. BUT, it absolutely requires and builds arm strength, solid core, controlled breathing and much more. Physical discipline is a little known side affect to shooting. Worried that you might not be strong enough? Start with a lower caliber firearm. I can say with great confidence that if you are worried about your strength and start with a .22 pistol instead of a .45 you will enjoy shooting much more than if you started with the .45. My goodness, that would probably just scare you away - even if you ARE physically fit already. The smaller the gauge/caliber, the less recoil there is, the easier it is to shoot.
2) Mental Discipline - target shooting, skeet shooting, etc. all requires a great deal of focus. Each type of shooting requires different methods to accurately hit your target. Pistol shooting, for instance, requires that you hold the pistol in one position and focus on the front sight to hit your target (there is much more to it than this, but this is one example.) Skeet shooting; however, requires you to "lead" the target you are trying to hit. In other words, you are swinging your shotgun to hit the target and after you have pulled the trigger, you are going to keep swinging to complete the rotation; this provides follow through. The more mental discipline you have, the more you are able to maintain a level head in the face of pressure or adversity. This affect can trickle into your personal life - not a bad side effect, right?
3) Liberty - this is probably one of the biggest arguments in America right now. Our Pledge of Allegiance does in fact say "with liberty and justice for all," yet so many are against gun ownership right now. They say "guns kill people." Well, an inanimate object cannot kill someone on its own accord. If so, we would say "knives kill people" or "cars kill people" or "spoons kill people." People are afraid of guns. We get it, we really do. It is important that we continue to practice our right to liberty and educate those who do not understand why we feel so strongly about this. Our forefathers put the 2nd Amendment in our Constitution for a reason - so that we may all have the right to protect ourselves and our families. I encourage everyone to be a part of the solution instead of the problem. Take a friend to the shooting range and have an adult conversation about it. Do some research first so you are prepared and have true knowledge to fall back on. Shooting ranges are not the place for heated arguments!
4) Confidence - I mentioned earlier that people are afraid of guns. Guns are powerful weapons, no doubt! I am living proof that going to the shooting range and plinking brass inspires confidence. I, too, was afraid of guns for most of my life. I went shooting with my husband and some family members and absolutely fell in love with it. When taught to shoot properly, hitting those targets with more accuracy becomes a reality. With confidence, comes less fear. The more you practice and handle a gun, the less afraid of it you will become. This is so, so important!
We hope you enjoyed reading 4 MORE reasons to shoot. If any of the reasons we have presented intrigue you, let us know. We are keeping a list of people who have mentioned to us they would like to start shooting, learn how to shoot, etc. Our plan is to hold a range day at a local range to introduce target shooting to this group of folks. Once we have our training certifications, we will be teaching classes through the NRA and hopefully USCCA. We look forward to plinking targets with you one day soon!
Shoot On!
Diva Dawn