Lost weekend? Not really

[R9SCarry]

This is boring to most I expect but gotta say ...... I lost a coupla days but gained a lot of satisfaction.

Spend most of this weekend instructing on an NRA Basic Pistol Course .... the first full deal actually since gaining my certification earlier this year. There were six of us - spread over 18 ''pupils'' ..... not a bad working ratio.

The club at which we ran this is an excellent facility - all classromm stuff was done in a generous size club house ... and all range aspects were in a very adequate indoor range. Two squads of eight each worked well during all live fire aspects.

We had a good many ladies ... very encouraging ... plus two teenage girls ... the folks included two doctors, an attorney .. and other professionals.

Some had guns .. but even they had relatively little shooting experience. One guy brought his new-in-box GP100 ... he had had it ten years and never fired it! LOL.

I took my #1 R9 with me ... and that generated a huge amount of interest ... couple of fellow instructors tried that out (dang it - now it needs cleaned!) ...... there was tho the old expected ''how much??'' ... but having said that, folks were impressed with that cal in such a small well made gun ..... many remarked on the sweet trigger.  I think price will always dissuade many but - for others - it can easily become a ''must have''.  I think overall it was very well received ... and when we run a personal protection course, could well be it'll be even more interesting!

End result? 18 very happy people ... who had enjoyed their time, were radically more conversant with things handgun oriented .. and who also gained an enormous lift in proficiency and safety. if comments from them as they left today were anything to go by - we did OK.

Quite simply - it is as satisfying as heck to bring in new or novice shooters, and have them enthusiastic and ready to spread the word even more. We plan another in new year and Personal Protection in Spring .... I even ''converted'' one or two semi folks to revo!!

[DDGator]

Not a lost weekend at all -- I very good service to the cause!

Once again this year my office is having a silent auction to raise money for charities we support.  People donate all kinds of personal services and such for auction -- car washing, pet sitting, baby sitting ,etc.

For the second year, I am offering a session of basic gun handling/marksmanship, including range time and ammo.  Last year it went for over $100 and was one of the most popular items.  It gives me an opportunity to raise some money for charity and get one more person to understand a little bit more about what we are about.

I always volunteer to take people shooting if they have an interest.  The only way we are going to win over the people who don't understand is one person at a time.

Good job, Chris -- keep it up!

[R9SCarry]

And ..... good job for you too Duane .. I like that approach.  Indeed - every one we win over is another ''disciple'' ... surprisingly (well, perhaps not!) .. in so many cases the borderline folks do when exposed to the real deal .. find that there is fun to be had ... and safe fun at that ... it ain't all about killing! .. as one guy commented!

I like that idea of yours . I may even follow that up locally ... it sounds good.