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Mister XD · 03-19-2008, 01:22 AM

Allright, so I'm friends with this guy who's been dating this girl for about 3 years. We usually get along fairly well, but she's always been terrified of guns, and we're constantly getting into debates about them.

Well, tonight we got started again (it branched off from the school shooting thing) and she eventually blew up and said "Guns are pointless and they are good for NOTHING but violence!"

I had enough. I made her an offer... I explained to her that she has literally no grounds to stand on, having never shot a gun herself. I offered to take her to the range and let her try it. I told her if she still felt the same way, I'd never mention guns to her again.

Naturally, she refused, saying she didn't need to try it to know the facts. I told her she was wrong, and her argument would never hold any credibility. She's forever complaining that GUNS are the problem, so I offered her a chance to prove herself right. If guns themselves... with all human factors removed... are indeed the problem, and they can be used for nothing but violence, then put your money where your mouth is.

"Come to the range, get geared up, I'll teach you the safety basics on the way, and fire at least one shot. Just ONE shot. I'll give you my .22 which is a tiny little bullet... it's a training gun. If you don't want to shoot anything after that first shot, put the gun down, walk away, and you win: I'll NEVER mention anything to do with guns again in front of you."

It took a little persuading, but she [finally] agreed to it in the end. Well, we all went off to the range, and while my buddy drove, I put her through a quick & dirty version of the more important parts of the NRA basic pistol safety course. You know, I'm sure you've all done this at one point or another..."

We got there, got geared up, and as agreed, she watched me shoot a few shots, then she practiced with the gun unloaded, and then the time came. I thought she was going to get cold feet, but she did it!! She took the shot. One round of .22 LR at a target 10' away, and she put it in the 8 ring. (Not impressive for us, but it was a pretty big deal to her).

I saw the grin spread across her face, and the fire ignite behind her eyes... I leaned over and said "Maybe just one more shot? To make absolutely SURE you still hate it?"

hee hee.. needless to say, I let her boyfriend supervise her shooting while I indulged in some quality time with my XD 45. The first few shots made her jump a little, but she eventually got over that and continued shooting the .22 with her boyfriend.

After eating up about 50 rounds of .22, she took a break, let her boyfriend take over, looked up at me and said "Um, can I try your 45 now?" With a giant cheese-eating grin on her face, looking like a little kid, I loaded 1 round for her and let her have a go at it.

Welllllll the .45 is a bit too much for her right now, but like most new people she experimented with it, got it out of her system, and went back to the .22 (with her tail between her legs, mind you) but said "Someday I'll come back to that one".

On the way home, she confessed that she had the time of her life, and said "Go ahead... rub it in my face.. " To which I respectfully replied "I would never do that. We shooters are a lot more mature and respectful than to do something like that. We're just glad you came around, and can now come out with us and have a lot more fun. Besides, I don't need to tell you how right I was... the gun did a pretty good job of that for me." (Gotta have that attitude with the new converts!)

Before I left for the night, she was actually talking about the possibility of going to the gun store with us one of these days and picking out her own little .22 target pistol. She admits that she's not ready to talk about the self defense world of shooting yet, but her attitude has changed significantly, and she promises to have more of an open mind about it in the future.

This true story is probably a best-case scenario for converting non shooters, and I think if we all spent a little less time fighting with them, and a little more time coaxing them to the range for an hour or two of plinking, I think we could bring a lot more of them over from the dark side.

See, plinking with a .22 in a range environment is like eating a potato chip... you really can't eat just one. Well, in the 15+ years that I've been an instructor, I haven't met an "anti" yet that was able to shoot just one shot. Use that as your way in. It worked well for Melissa (my buddy's girlfriend) and we just might have one more person in our ranks after tonight

trik396 · 03-19-2008, 02:36 AM

Excellent job... keep up the good work. I've got a couple I need to "convince" as well...

**AZXD** · 03-19-2008, 05:56 AM

Nice!!!
"Um, can I try your 45 now?"
Really Nice!!!

Offer to take her again, and the hooks will be set to deep to ever be removed

New2Arms · 03-19-2008, 06:04 AM

Good Job!

I had a very similar experience with my wife, although she was my girlfriend at the time. Her family is very anti-gun (I'm not ready to tackle that), and I grew up around them.

When I expressed to her my feelings and that I was getting a CCW she took a similar "Why do you need one, they only cause violence" approach. Making this a short story, fast forward to last night when she walked up to me and said "We haven't gone shooting in awhile, we should go next weekend!"

I love my wife

Judge · 03-19-2008, 06:08 AM

Outstanding.

Texas-Gun-Man · 03-19-2008, 06:27 AM

Great job Mister XD you did fine thing.

03-19-2008, 01:22 AM	#1
Mister XD XDTalk 100 Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 310	1 down, 1 million to go... Allright, so I'm friends with this guy who's been dating this girl for about 3 years. We usually get along fairly well, but she's always been terrified of guns, and we're constantly getting into debates about them. Well, tonight we got started again (it branched off from the school shooting thing) and she eventually blew up and said "Guns are pointless and they are good for NOTHING but violence!" I had enough. I made her an offer... I explained to her that she has literally no grounds to stand on, having never shot a gun herself. I offered to take her to the range and let her try it. I told her if she still felt the same way, I'd never mention guns to her again. Naturally, she refused, saying she didn't need to try it to know the facts. I told her she was wrong, and her argument would never hold any credibility. She's forever complaining that GUNS are the problem, so I offered her a chance to prove herself right. If guns themselves... with all human factors removed... are indeed the problem, and they can be used for nothing but violence, then put your money where your mouth is. "Come to the range, get geared up, I'll teach you the safety basics on the way, and fire at least one shot. Just ONE shot. I'll give you my .22 which is a tiny little bullet... it's a training gun. If you don't want to shoot anything after that first shot, put the gun down, walk away, and you win: I'll NEVER mention anything to do with guns again in front of you." It took a little persuading, but she [finally] agreed to it in the end. Well, we all went off to the range, and while my buddy drove, I put her through a quick & dirty version of the more important parts of the NRA basic pistol safety course. You know, I'm sure you've all done this at one point or another..." We got there, got geared up, and as agreed, she watched me shoot a few shots, then she practiced with the gun unloaded, and then the time came. I thought she was going to get cold feet, but she did it!! She took the shot. One round of .22 LR at a target 10' away, and she put it in the 8 ring. (Not impressive for us, but it was a pretty big deal to her). I saw the grin spread across her face, and the fire ignite behind her eyes... I leaned over and said "Maybe just one more shot? To make absolutely SURE you still hate it?" hee hee.. needless to say, I let her boyfriend supervise her shooting while I indulged in some quality time with my XD 45. The first few shots made her jump a little, but she eventually got over that and continued shooting the .22 with her boyfriend. After eating up about 50 rounds of .22, she took a break, let her boyfriend take over, looked up at me and said "Um, can I try your 45 now?" With a giant cheese-eating grin on her face, looking like a little kid, I loaded 1 round for her and let her have a go at it. Welllllll the .45 is a bit too much for her right now, but like most new people she experimented with it, got it out of her system, and went back to the .22 (with her tail between her legs, mind you) but said "Someday I'll come back to that one". On the way home, she confessed that she had the time of her life, and said "Go ahead... rub it in my face.. " To which I respectfully replied "I would never do that. We shooters are a lot more mature and respectful than to do something like that. We're just glad you came around, and can now come out with us and have a lot more fun. Besides, I don't need to tell you how right I was... the gun did a pretty good job of that for me." (Gotta have that attitude with the new converts!) Before I left for the night, she was actually talking about the possibility of going to the gun store with us one of these days and picking out her own little .22 target pistol. She admits that she's not ready to talk about the self defense world of shooting yet, but her attitude has changed significantly, and she promises to have more of an open mind about it in the future. This true story is probably a best-case scenario for converting non shooters, and I think if we all spent a little less time fighting with them, and a little more time coaxing them to the range for an hour or two of plinking, I think we could bring a lot more of them over from the dark side. See, plinking with a .22 in a range environment is like eating a potato chip... you really can't eat just one. Well, in the 15+ years that I've been an instructor, I haven't met an "anti" yet that was able to shoot just one shot. Use that as your way in. It worked well for Melissa (my buddy's girlfriend) and we just might have one more person in our ranks after tonight

03-19-2008, 02:36 AM	#2
trik396 XDTalk 1K Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: currently elsewhere Posts: 1,297	Excellent job... keep up the good work. I've got a couple I need to "convince" as well... __________________ ‘‘When we got organized as a country and we wrote a fairly radical Constitution with a radical Bill of Rights, giving a radical amount of individual freedom to Americans ...... And so a lot of people say there's too much personal freedom. When personal freedom's being abused, you have to move to limit it.’’ — Bill Clinton, 3-22-94

03-19-2008, 05:56 AM	#3
AZXD XDTalk 10K Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Valley of the GUN Posts: 12,798	Nice!!! "Um, can I try your 45 now?" Really Nice!!! Offer to take her again, and the hooks will be set to deep to ever be removed __________________ Voting for Obama is like putting a gun to your head and hoping he calls for its confiscation before you can pull the trigger - AZXD They tell you they are not going to tax your family. No, they’re just going to tax “businesses”! So unless you buy something from a “business”, like groceries or clothes or gasoline … or unless you get a paycheck from a big or a small “business”, don’t worry … it’s not going to affect you. Fred Thompson RNC Convention Speech

03-19-2008, 06:04 AM	#4
New2Arms XDTalk 100 Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 185	Good Job! I had a very similar experience with my wife, although she was my girlfriend at the time. Her family is very anti-gun (I'm not ready to tackle that), and I grew up around them. When I expressed to her my feelings and that I was getting a CCW she took a similar "Why do you need one, they only cause violence" approach. Making this a short story, fast forward to last night when she walked up to me and said "We haven't gone shooting in awhile, we should go next weekend!" I love my wife __________________ Never confuse paranoia with preparedness "You have a pistol to defend your life and home. Now get a rifle to defend your country." - Caribou

03-19-2008, 06:27 AM	#6
Texas-Gun-Man XDTalk 100 Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 211	Great job Mister XD you did fine thing. __________________ "This will be the best security for maintaining our liberties. A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the religion of ignorance that tyranny begins." Benjamin Franklin No matter how the liberal media spins it Barrack Obama Still stinks!!!

03-19-2008, 06:08 AM	#5
Judge XDTalk 2K Member Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 2,814	Outstanding.

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