Have you ever shot a real gun?

[Soubriquet]

I don’t agree with lax gun laws like they have in America, but I am intrigued by the gun ranges they have there

I would love the experience of using a gun at a range like that.

A quick google shows there are shooting ranges in the U.K. so one day I might give it a go

So have you ever shot a gun?

Yes, clay pigeon shooting.

People kill people, not weapons

Lot bloody easier with a semi automatic weapon though isn’t it?

If the weapon is so irrelevant, if a knife is just as bad as a gun, you have to wonder why so many Americans choose to arm their homes with guns rather than a kitchen knife...

Yes, just target shooting on a friends farmland. It was okay but I hate guns and this reinforced it.

I prefer archery which I've done a few times and I'm quite good at.

Clay pigeon shooting, yes.

It was fun. I had terrible aim. I didn’t think it had hurt me (the pressure of the gun slamming back into my shoulder after a shot) but I was bruised the next day!

Only air rifles at stationary targets. DH was in cadets and also lived in the US for a while so went to shooting ranges. He took tests and is classed as a marksman. Our son also went to cadets and was very good at it.

Yes - I was in the army cadets as a teen. It's much harder than it looks.

Yes. We had cadets at school. Most of it was about safety precautions, and that was drilled into us. But we did have a range and we used both break action air rifles and one which I think was a .22 rifle, which was rather old fashioned, but we had a lot of them, and we used them on the firing range at school. The latter had a bit of a kick, which I hated (apparently the kick can break your collar bone if you hold it in the wrong way) but the air rifles were fine.

I make ds do the safety checks on his nerf guns, because I think it's good practice to always check a gun, whatever level, properly when you pick one up, or hand it over.

I wouldn't say that I loved doing it, but I didn't mind it. Preferred it to abseiling off the very wobbly tower we had at school anyway.

Shotgun for clays a couple of times. It was fun as a competitive group sport like Archery.

Shot rats with an air rifle. The reality is you catch them in a humane trap and then dispatch quickly, joys of rural living.

Clay pigeon shooting

Yes, again in the army cadets as a teenager. We had a range for .22 rifles at the TA centre we were based at, and used the regular army think they were SA80 rifles on our summer camp. I was an okay shot when I remembered my glasses! As others have said it's like archery, an interesting skill to practice. I don't support private gun ownership though, the American gun culture of I need automatic rifles to protect myself in case the government gets tyrannical is bonkers. As is casual handgun ownership that results in any run-of-the-mill road rage incident, queue jumping or domestic argument situation ending up with someone getting shot instead of 'just' punched.

Yes, I grew up rurally and my dad owned a shotgun (before they were rightfully outlawed), which he used to shoot pigeon and pheasant which we then ate. I had a go a few times. I wouldn’t now though. My views on gun ownership have changed over the last 30 years.

Yea when I visited America I went to a range and shot quite a few. Over here my fiancé and I have air rifles that we shoot often, mainly for pest control but also for fun at ranges

Yes on an army range when when I was younger and providing first aid for them for a camp for cadets. It was great doing it in a controlled situation but it did highlight how scary they are in the wrong hands.

Yes, air rifle (I think) at PGL when I was about 10. It fired little lead pellets.

I've also fired quite a number of blank firers/starting pistols at work. The current legislation in the UK means that in my place of work it is simultaneously legal and illegal to do this...

Yes, I have. Both airguns and automatic rifles. I've handled, though not fired, pistols. I've been on the ground near airborne machinegun fire. I've seen gun injuries.

None of these were in actual battle situations, nor was anyone being attacked.

One of my concerns regarding guns being both banned and glorified, is that people think they know how to handle them because they've played video games. No, guns are nothing like what you see on screen or the facsimiles you might play with. Or even like airguns. They are heavy. They are loud. They recoil. They smell. Guns that are firing are sensorily overwhelming. Even the one you are firing yourself. They have the potential to harm not just the reader, but the shooter, as well as anyone around them.

One of the injuries I have seen was the result of someone thinking he knew what he was doing because he had role-played with replica guns. He injured his friend.

If you want to learn to shoot, go ahead. It is an eye-opener, as well as an interesting challenge.

Anyone who is interested in guns should experience them in a controlled manner, under the guidance of an experienced professional. They are not a romantic dream. They are a dangerous tool.

Yes, for pest control and clays.

Yes, I was slightly alarmed at how much I enjoyed it (shooting range) and vowed not to shoot again.

Yes in a gun club in Vegas, I think we shot about 3 different guns each ranging from little handgun up to much bigger ones that I can't remember the names of! The recoil is shocking to get used to, and the Americans couldn't believe us Europeans had never ever shot guns and didn't have them in our country.

When I was in the US I got the opportunity. What shocked me was how much it jolted your arm backwards after it fired.

What a daft autocorrect: They have the potential to harm not just the target, but the shooter, as well as anyone around them.

Yep, my parents enjoyed shooting clays and we joined them a lot

I haven't, but I feel a know a fair bit more than I care to about firearms. DH was in the army, DS in the army cadets and DSS2 has his own guns for clay pigeon shooting. DS and DSS2 talk about shooting a lot when they meet up, but it's mainly about accuracy and the gun itself, they are nerds. I've never handled one myself though. DS was quite interested in going to a gun range when we go to Florida next.

Yep. I've shot clays a few times with a shotgun and have a firearms licence for rifles. I am a reasonable sniper and can hit a target around half a mile away fairly reliably. Or I could - due to COVID I haven't shot for a year and a half and need to recertify.

I have had a go at target practice using my late Fathers Rifle, it was quite powerful and hurt my shoulder, so never used it since. He sold it when he moved away from the small farm he lived on, l never liked him having it, always feared that someone could break into the place and use it on him.

I haven't however my 9 and 11 year old children have, but their grandad (my dad) is a deer stalking certification examiner with 3000 acres for deer management.
The kids shoot targets not animals and I don't know if they will ever progress to animal shoots. I couldn't. I'm a big ol' meat eating hypocrite.

Dad who spent a lot of time in the US is hugely for tight gun control and despite owning as many guns than Burt Gummer, he despairs of the US lack of any semblance of gun control. Even when I lived at home I wouldn't have been able to get hold of even one of his guns. They're locked away in separate safes, ammo in one, firing pins/bolt or whatever they're called in another, guns in other safes and the keys kept hidden away somewhere known only to him.