When I was a kid, I loved summer camp.
My favorite was Timber Lake Camp (TLC) in Phoenicia NY, which I attended from age 9-13. I loved all the sports, the campfires, hanging out with my fellow bunk-mates and the strong team spirit of color-war. I enjoyed the evening activities and even got involved in some of the plays, scoring a part in Peter Pan as the youngest of Wendy’s siblings. “Me too.” was my line, and I got to say it twice for each performance!
My Mother worked at the camp as the ceramics instructor, and my sister was also there. So in addition to having bunk-mates, my family was nearby as well. I was enrolled in horse-back riding, but this was probably my least favorite camp activity.
The thing that I loved the most were the electives. Each day, campers could choose from a huge number of activities and workshops. I enjoyed woodworking (no surprise here), electronics, jewelry making, ceramics (of course), model rocketry, but surprisingly also archery and riflery. We were taught gun safety and learned to shoot a .22 caliber rifle from the prone (lying down) position. Typically, the targets were 50-100 yards away, and after a bit of time I was good enough to qualify for a marksman certificate. Even at that age, I could not even imagine pointing the gun at a living thing.
Years later, we moved to Glen Cove, Long Island and I began attending the high school in 9th grade. In addition to being a member of the A/V squad, I also learned that the school had a rifle team and a shooting range in the basement! This is totally something we cannot comprehend now, but back then it was all about gun safety and a team sport. I joined the team for a short period of time and found that I liked the concentration, slowing my breath and waiting for the proper still moment to gently squeeze the trigger. Each shot was manually loaded, so the exercise was slow and deliberate, typically shooting 10 rounds in each position: prone, kneeling and standing, with accuracy best in the lower stances.
It has been more than 50 years since I have held a gun, and I thought it would be a great adventure to get qualified to shoot a handgun — something I still had never done. This morning, Ali and I attended a six hour class at Connecticut Firearms Training which is located near our summer home. The course, through our instructor Matt, teaches about Connecticut law, gun safety, ammunition, different types of weapons, proper stance, and sighting. We both participated in the lessons along with five others, and passed our written test. Then we had an opportunity to cold fire the semi-automatic pistol, and practice our aim with a laser pistol.
Once each of us got a feel for the empty handgun, we were brought to the range to shoot two magazines of 10 rounds at a target. The experience instantly brought me back to the high school days. The gun felt mostly comfortable, but I found I needed to readjust my grip a couple of times. The sighting was almost identical experience to the rifle, but the accuracy was lower due to the shorter barrel, and of course the standing position.
Although it was a short exercise, we both did pretty well. Ali connected with the target for almost all of her shots, and I managed to shoot in relatively tight cluster for a rookie, with 25% penetrating the bulls-eye.
I enjoyed this experience and it was especially nice to share it with Ali. I would consider doing it again, with others who might be interested. Again, for me this is all about the sport, and I still cannot imagine how anyone could ever point a weapon at an animal or person.