Rio Lobo Ranch: Shooting at Targets

I know that I take the privilege of gun ownership as a matter of fact and pretty much a given. I know folks who own guns - some hunt / others do not, I took (and passed) ROTC marksmanship at UWM as well as a firearms training class in MA - I know how to shoot although I don't think I'm very accurate anymore; and I grew up going to Civil War battle reenactments where there were guns and sabers and cannons literally all over the place. So to me, guns are something that if you want one or are interested in them or need one (as in varmint control) ... you have one or ten -- whatever your budget and your storage capacity support. I never really consider that other countries do not offer the same freedom of gun ownership that we have here in the states.

I just recently found out that it is that it is not legal to own guns in India. Since guns are not legal in India, there are no target ranges where one can go to learn about gun safety or how to fire a gun and you can't just pop into your local gun show to see what is new or share the day with folks who share your interest in guns and you can bet your bottom dollar that the local Wal-mart doesn't carry ammunition. That said, my friend Burt has a couple of Indian folks on his team who had expressed an interest in firing a gun before their required return to India and he was thinking about taking them to a range.

And that is when the idea popped in .... why at the ranch? We've got the room. We've got the gun shed and clay thrower. We've got the sandbank to fire into ... we'd have two safety instructors - Burt and Kim. At the Ranch they wouldn't have to worry about crossing over into someone elses space or anything even remotely like that .... So the Ranch it was! Burt and Kim are both experienced marksmen and well versed in firearm safety and were happy to act as Range Marshals providing safety briefings as well as coaching and how-best-to instruction when it came to firing the guns.

It was a blast! In addition to Vance, Asenala, Puneet and MJ, Burt brought his wife (official event photographer) and his son Garrett; Kim brought his wife Kendall - who by the way, is a crack shot. They shot handguns and shotguns and rifles at targets and clays until it started raining for real (and looking like it was going to rain into the night) and the cold moved in.

Ready (a.k.a. Safety Briefing) ....

Kim's a great instructor and Kendall is an awesomely attentive student -- You should know, Kim wasn't just presenting to Kendall, there is an entire group over his left shoulder getting a down barrel view. This shot captured focus and intensity of the instructor.

Aim ..... and Fire!!

Getting an idea of target size and distance

Fine form ...!

Classic stance

Do not mess with this girl, she's got aim ....!!

Kim coaching

I think he's got it!

Garrett (Burt's son) is in fine form

Burt coaching ... "that's it, sight down the barrel and squeeze the trigger"

One at a time to the line - everyone had a turn at the targets

Okay ... "watch how I'm holding the gun"

Take a breath, look down the barrel and squeeze the trigger

Getting the hang of a revolver

Time to check out the targets ... from that grin it looks like Vance (far right) scored a hit.

Photog Carmen "between shots" .. the only time she got a break from her photographer duties, was "between shots" -- ha! Get it??!! ... between shots - between shots! Oh my.