Posted on 06/11/2010 6:32:59 AM PDT by marktwain
FOR MOST of my life, I've been pretty much a "make love, not war" type of North Jersey woman. The very thought of owning, much less firing, a gun was as far from my mind-set as voting for a Republican or rooting for the Boston Red Sox.
So why did I enroll in a National Rifle Association basic pistol class?
I was pretty disgusted with all of the vitriol spewed last summer by the more extreme right-wing politicians, some of whom urged their supporters to become "armed and dangerous." With all of the shouts from the Tea Party crowd about "taking our country back," I thought, "It's my country, too, and I like it just fine the way it is."
Democrats, especially liberal ones, have always had a reputation for being weak. To add to this insult, I found myself (well, my car, anyway) becoming a target of Tea Party sympathizers because of my Obama/Biden bumper sticker. After emerging from the Stop & Shop in Dumont several months ago, I found a flyer tucked beneath the windshield wiper of my car declaring: "The owner of this car owes everyone an apology for supporting the Marxist Obama."
Enough of this already, I thought. It was time for this liberal to become "armed and dangerous," too.
Look to experts
By "dangerous," I didn't mean one of those fools you read about in the paper who shoots himself in the foot because he didn't know how to handle a gun. I have a lot of acquaintances who are polar opposites of me politically, and they are big believers in Second Amendment rights. They suggested that I take a class given by the NRA because the instructors are the experts in firearm instruction.
To my dismay, I learned there was a long waiting list for such a class. Then, one Wednesday in April, serendipity paid me a visit. The NRA instructor I had been e-mailing let me know about an opening in a women-only basic pistol class scheduled for that coming Saturday at the Tenafly Rifle & Pistol Club.
I jumped at the chance, especially since the range was only a four-minute drive from my home. After filling out every kind of form, release and disclaimer created by a bureaucrat (including a medical form with my blood type to be kept in my pocket during class, just in case) I was ready to lock and load.
Several instructors from the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs (volunteers who donated their time, firearms and ammunition to teach our class of seven women) taught us basic firearm safety and storage, the difference between a revolver and a semiautomatic, single action vs. double action, all of the different parts of a pistol (who knew there were so many?) and how cartridges work (no, they aren't called bullets). We learned how to load a revolver and a semiautomatic by practicing on the firing range with dummies (the cartridges, not the students), and finally, we were ready for the most fun part: actually shooting a pistol with live ammunition.
As the range safety officer gave the briefing, a nagging fear that I would break a rule and accidentally shoot someone began to consume me. Well, my fears turned out to be unfounded. Except for two small mistakes — misloading the magazine of a .22 semiautomatic resulting in a misfire, and burning my finger on the hot barrel of a 9mm — my instructor told me I was the best student he ever had. Even the range safety officer complimented me on my fine shooting. To top it off, I scored 100 on the written exam.
Lesson in tolerance
In addition to my newfound sense of empowerment by keeping cool and steady as shell casings flew around my head and the acrid stench of gun powder invaded my nostrils, I learned (or more accurately, relearned) another valuable lesson about stereotyping people, whether they are liberal Democrats or NRA members. The group of NRA instructors who taught our class were the nicest, most patient and professional people one could hope to meet under any circumstances. They taught me to respect the power of a gun and the importance of using it wisely.
But just in case I run into any more flier-wielding right-wingers at the Stop & Shop, I am prepared. I now have an NRA bumper sticker right next to Obama/Biden.
Ellen Bedrosian is a writer who lives in Tenafly.
hey Ellen, don't you find it odd none of your libtard friends showed any concern for your well being?
You can’t support Democrats AND support shooter’s rights. It’s a contradiction in terms. Historically, Democrats have eroded gun rights and Republicans have supported them. So, choose....liberals who will take away your gun rights given the chance, or conservatives who will fight to protect your Constitutional rights,all of them.
Her lies about the tea partiers was sickening.
Armed and dangerous. Those senior citizens? The people demanding that congress READ THE BILL?
Hopefully, her biases won’t be the end of her.
Poser
NRA sticker next to the Bummer/Biden sticker?!?
What keeps this psychos’ head from exploding?
She felt threatened by a flyer under her windshield?
Her logic is bad, but at least she learned something.
Wow. Who knew liberals were capable of learning?
The numbers sky rocketed after Oboma got elected. Unlike any other election, people sensed real danger this time.
In my opinion, people know things without being able to logically explain how they know. They just do.
someone this retarded shouldn’t be a journalist.
Biggest piece of fluffy BS I’ve read in awhile.
Really not that difficult to do so.
What keeps this psychos’ head from exploding?
Where I shop, I saw one car that had a "Pro Life" sticker next to an 0bama sticker.
This is why a liberal with a gun is dangerous. They knee jerk without thinking. What's she going to do? Open fire because someone put a flier on her car?
I hope the guy at the NRA taught her a little restraint as well!
Sigh.
No, she thinks the sticker will scare the person away.
A flier on the windshield! Horrible!
Of course, had it been a pro-life, pro-constitution or pro-Republican sticker, the car would have been keyed, "tagged" with spray paint or otherwise vandalized by your leftist buddies.
“acrid stench of gun powder”
? Hey! I like that smell!
This is a clear and present threat from the libs and progs meant to provoke.
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