Safety First

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Tonight, I have a class up at one of the local gun ranges.  Handgun 2 is the class name, and it involves skills training as well as shooting practice.

Normally, I would take my 9mm automatic, a Taurus G3 that I picked up right before Covid.  I took the Handgun 1 class with this weapon, and am very comfortable with it.  Unfortunately, last month I took the weapon into the gunsmith to have a red-dot sight added.  Of course I haven't received the gun back in time for my class, but I have others.

Yes, I have others.  I have a choice of a .45, or a .22.  Considering the cost differential between the two calibers ($0.41 vs. 0.02 per round), it isn't much of a choice.  Neither is my main handgun, and while the 9mm runs $0.30/round, I have a lot of rounds.

That all aside, I plan on taking the .22, a Taurus TX-22 that I bought for my wife to use.  Yes, I did get her to go shooting, and she likes the lighter recoil of the .22 over that of the hevier weapons.  She even took an introductory class!

Of course, one class does not qualify a person to be considered an accomplished shooter.  I've take 3 or 4 handgun classes, as well as classes for rifles and shotguns, but even so, I am not that accomplished.  I will never reach the level of skill that I would consider adequate... I'm just getting too old to do the more physical things required for the more advanced techniques.  I do know the basics of gun safety.

As long as I'm generally stationary while shooting, I can usually hit the target out to 10 yards or so.  25 yards (the range maximum) is problematic.  In a real self defense situation, I wouldn't attempt the longer shot with a handgun. (That's what rifles and shotguns are for.)

During tonight's class, I expect to go through a couple of hundred rounds of ammo.  Since .22 is so light, I am planning to bring a lot more than I will need.  Almost everything is packed up already... except a holster, which we will be learning to draw from during this class.  I have a number of holsters of course, but they're all fitted for my 9mm.  I hope that the outside the waistband leather holster will be a close enough fit to safely holster the weapon.  I'm not even going to try the inside the waistband kydex holster!  No way will that fit.  I never expected to need to carry the .22 around in a holster.  Maybe I should order one.

There is nothing more unsafe than a person who picks up and gun and does not train to use it properly.

Gun safety rules:

  • Treat every gun as if it were loaded.
  • Keep your finger off the trigger.
  • Never point the gun at anything that you don't want to destroy.
  • Know your target, and what is behind it.


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