02/03/2008   English German
  Edition # 73  
San Francisco, 02-03-2008

At The Shooting Range
Figure [1]: The intrepid newsletter reporter is shooting with a 9-millimeter handgun.

Michael When a colleague asked me one day if I wanted to go shooting with him over the weekend, I naturally agreed. We have previously reported (Rundbrief 01/2001) that in America, it is quite normal for private individuals to have handguns in their homes.

Shooting ranges, such as for example, "Jackson Arms" in South San Francisco, not far from the supermarket "Costco", offer opportunities for practice.

Now, my aforementioned colleague owns a handgun of the type Springfield XD-9 and we properly packed it into a box secured with a padlock, loaded the box into the trunk of our car and sped 10 minutes down the highway heading south to the shooting range. In California, a firearm must, as previously mentioned (Rundbrief 08/2003), be unloaded, transported separately from the ammunition, and in a locked container. It must not be kept in the glove compartment to prevent the idea of blowing away other road users in a fit of rage.

Figure [2]: Did I really hit it?

At the shooting range, we had to hand over our California driver's licenses and sign a form to accept the club's rules. My colleague had been there before and was therefore classified as a "Coach" (trainer). The instructor led us to the end of hallway with the gun and a practice round, and we went through the loading and unloading process. I had spent some time in the military many years ago, so I was already familiar with everything, and it went quickly.

Figure [3]: At the shooting range "Jackson Arms"

In two sections, separated from the entrance area by double doors, there were eight shooting chutes each. These areas, open at the front and back, were about 10 square feet in size and had a small table on which you could place the gun and load the magazine with bullets. We were given targets that either showed rings with numbers or human silhouettes. These were attached with clips to a cart that ran on wire cables and could be moved 30 to 100 feet onto the shooting range at the push of a button.

Our instructor explained that you are not allowed to wave a loaded gun around or go back to the cashier area from the shooting range. Additionally, randomly shooting at the side walls of the shooting lane will result in a "strike." For the first "strike," you receive a warning, and for the second, you must leave the shooting range and can only return the next day. Naturally, all of us were well behaved. We recorded everything and put it on Youtube.

We had a hell of a time, each firing around 60 shots, and found out that it's not so easy to hit a person at a distance of 10 meters with a 9mm gun. The thing has quite a recoil, and you really have to aim carefully and hold steady to hit the target.

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