Teaching Our Youth

Today I went out shooting with the son of a friend. Lee is a young man who has an interest in pistol weilding, as well as old military guns. He had been waiting for this shooting opportunity for months. I gathered up a box of pistols, everything from Ruger MKIIs to a HK P7, to some 1911s, along with a CETME, an Kalashnikov, and a couple of Riot Guns. I lugged a crate of ammo and all my range stuff to the car, and took off. Five days prior, I had sent Lee an email containing the Four Rules to memorize, and a short list of what to bring, including a good attitude. I instructed Lee to learn the Four Rules, that he would be tested.

When I arrived, I had Lee recite the Four Rules before getting in my SUV to go shoot. He recited them without error or hesitation. Very good! I started Lee out on his father's Ruger MKII. I had him shooting at 10 yards, into paper plates. Lee did fine with the Ruger, and I kept him on it for about 200 rounds. I taught him that 90 percent of pistol marksmanship is trigger control. More specifically, being able to move a trigger while holding a gun in your extended hands without altering sight alignment. Lee got to where he was shooting 3 inch groups, but I could tell he wanted to move up in caliber. I explained that this might be a mistake, but Lee wanted to shoot centerfire.

I broke out a Beretta 92FS, and demonstrated it's functions to Lee. He was liking this a lot more. His groups expanded and left the paper plates a bit. I had him slow down, and work to get those groups back. I put him on the HK squeeze-cocker, and Lee saw how important his grip was to maintaining trigger control. He got back on the plates, and I shot the Beretta a bit to get the point across that it was not the equipment.

When Lee was back on the plates, he wanted to try out some plastic fantastic stuff. I had brought along two HK USPs, a fullsize and a compact. They were both in .40S&W. Lee shot them both and was all over the cardboard, mainly down below the plates. He didn't like that. Lee asked about Glocks, and I gave my opinion. Then I brought out my 9mm Commander, and Lee began to get on the plates again. He really liked that pistol, and he wanted to try a .45 1911. With a Colt .45 in his hands, Lee spread out his groups a bit, and then brought them back down to about 3 inches, staying on the plates. I told him this was damned good shooting for the first day.

Lee was wanting to explore those long guns, so I broke out the CETME first. Lee liked that one a lot. He was unable to expend my supply of .308 before the desire to shoot a Kalashnikov got the better of him. Finally, Lee went to the Winchester Riot Gun, and saw why it reigns supreme as a home defense tool. I put him on four plates arrayed across 15 feet at varying heights and he was able to hit all four in rapid sucession. Now he was pumped!

When we went back to the .22 pistol, Lee was all over the boards again. To correct this, I had him load just one round at a time into the MKII magazine. Doing that makes a person slow down and really make that one shot count. Lee began to get back on the plates, then to trim his groups a bit. I instructed Lee on dry firing, and again on the Four Rules. In fact, all throughout Lee's shoot, I would quiz him on the Four Rules, and he would unerringly state them.

Lee performed excellently on the range. He had no safety infractions, and he is a credit to his generation in his respect and dedication. I think there is hope for the Second Amendment!