Conversation with Vinny continues: Mentoring shooting sports

The email conversation with Vinny (not the lawyer) continues. He wrote back to give his gun/hunting background and explain his need for good advice on the topic.

I'll give you a little history about myself. I grew up in a single parent home in a suburban community. I was always intrigued by the outdoors and shooting sports.

I was lucky though to have a family friend who introduced me to hunting, guns, and let me tag along whenever he went. Hunting and shooting is hard to get into, not having the funds and not having a lot of people to guide you along. Not to mention growing up in a suburban community doesn't help. I'm an elementary school teacher so I work with 99% women, so there's no gun talk in the workplace. So basically I rely on reading to get as much info as I can.

Two years ago my hunting mentor passed suddenly, which was just devastating. Not only did I loose my best friend, I lost the right to hunt on the property he took me to. I never thought I could hunt again, but then I thought long and hard about what my friend would have said. He was a rough, tough, raspy voice guy. With a voice like Clint Eastwood he would have said" Vinny, get your _ _ _ in those woulds and get a good one for me".

I went out alone the following year, but wasn't mentally prepared for my first trip out. On my first morning, I walked passed Billy's stand and saw his bow rope hanging from the tree, swaying in the wind ever so peacefully. Billy never got to see me take my first deer. He always put me first, but things just never worked out. Just about a year from our last hunt, and six months after his passing, I got my first deer. I've found a few little spots that are ok to hunt, but nothing is special. I don't have access to much land, so I figured I'd get more into target shooting.

Billy was the guy I brought all my hunting and gun questions to, but obviously now I'm stuck trying to figure everything out. I hope you don't mind the long dragged out story, but you 'll better understand my passion for guns and the outdoors and my yearning to learn more. I'm currently looking into getting certified through the NRA to teach courses. I'm also looking into trying to get young suburban and city kids involved in the outdoors. There is so many good lessons to be learned from the sport of shooting. I understand your probably a busy guy, so I hope my questions don't infringe upon your time.

And here's my response to Vinny's latest:

Never too busy to talk guns, it's my favorite topic. I was privileged to grow up in the country, hunting and fishing with my dad and two brothers, plus other relatives and friends. I'm glad you had a mentor who introduced you to hunting and shooting sports. Follow through on your NRA instructor plans. Or as the Good Book says, Go forth and do likewise. Just as Billy mentored you, now it's your turn to mentor others. Here's the NRA page to get started on it.
http://www.nrahq.org/education/training/index.asp

You can find courses to take in your area, including instructor courses, as well as answer any other questions you might have about the NRA training and education programs.

Now, if you're a shooter/hunter, go forth and do likewise. Introduce some new people to shooting sports and show them the right way and the safe way to enjoy firearms. Young or old, we're never too old to learn. I'm really looking forward to my first NRA Basic Pistol Class, which is set for this coming Saturday. At my daughter's suggestion, this first one is an all-female class.

From what I know of those who have signed up, mostly it's women with limited experience who want to learn how to safely and effective shoot handguns. And I plan to train them as best I can to do just that.

NRA Basic Pistol Shooting Course: Special Class for Women Only

My first class as a newly minted NRA Basic Pistol instructor is now scheduled.

When: Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Where: John Lentz Hunter Education Complex at Millstone 4-H Camp, Millstone Road/Gibson Mill Road, Ellerbe, NC 28338. Telephone at range complex, 910-652-3859. For directions to the Millstone firing range complex from U.S. 1 or U.S. 220, call instructor John Myers at 910-995-3975.

Who: NRA-certified Instructor John Myers will teach the class. To register call 910-995-3975.

What: The NRA Basic Pistol Shooting Course teaches the basic knowledge, skills, and attitude for owning and operating a pistol safely. This course is 8-hours long and includes classroom and range time learning to safely and effectively shoot revolvers and semi-automatic pistols. You can be a beginner or an experienced shooter. The class will be as individualized as possible to fit all students' needs.

How Much: Class fee is $90 for students who bring their own handgun and 50 rounds of ammunition. Class fee is $100 if you wish to use .22 pistol and ammo supplied by instructor.

What to Bring to Class:

1. Semi-automatic pistol or revolver and 50 rounds of the correct caliber ammunition for your handgun. Ammunition should be Full-Metal-Jacket type (FMJs) or Frangible range type.
2. No live ammo allowed in the classroom! You are encouraged to bring your handgun into the classroom at 8 a.m., but be absolutely sure it is unloaded and leave all ammo in your vehicle until we go to the range for the afternoon portion of the class.
3. Ear and eye protection. Ear protection should be ear muffs or ear plugs. Eye protection should be shooting glasses or safety glasses or if you wear prescription glasses, safety goggles that will fit over your glasses.
4. Snack or sandwich for lunch and soft drinks or water in a cooler. The classroom building has a kitchen with refrigerator and microwave. Cooler will be useful at the firing range.
5. Payment for the class in cash or check, $90 if you bring your own handgun and ammo, $100 if you use the instructor's .22LR pistol and ammo.

Basic Pistol topics to be taught in this class include:

• Safe Gun Handling Rules
• Handgun Fundamentals and Practical Handling
• Pistol Ammunition Fundamentals
• Revolver Knowledge
• Semiautomatic Pistol Knowledge
• Caring for the Pistol
• Selecting a Pistol
• Shooting Fundamentals
• Fundamentals of Pistol Shooting
• Two-handed and One-handed Shooting Positions
• Developing and Maintaining Skills
• Pistol Sports and Shooting Activities

Students will receive the Basics of Pistol Shooting handbook, NRA Gun Safety Rules brochure, Winchester/NRA Marksmanship Qualification booklet, take a Basics of Pistol Shooting Student Examination, and receive a course completion certificate. (Lesson Plan 2nd edition, 2009)

One more reason to never go anywhere unarmed

If I ever even briefly consider going anywhere unarmed again, I'll remember Pinelake Rest Home in Carthage.

CARTHAGE -- When Michael Cotten pulled into Pinelake Health and Rehab on Sunday to see his aunt, a big man in overalls fired a shotgun at him before he could even park.

The blast Cotten described was apparently the first in a shooting rampage that left seven elderly residents and one staff member dead, Cotten and two others wounded, and the suspected gunman in custody and hospitalized, police said.

The shootings took place about 10 a.m. at the facility, at 801 Pinehurst Ave. in Carthage, about 60 miles southwest of Raleigh.

"As I was pulling into the parking lot, he started shooting my vehicle before I came to a stop," said Cotten, 53, of Carthage, a food-bank outreach coordinator and retired corrections assistant superintendent.

There's only one hero in this mess, the man in blue who responded to the frantic 911 call.

A Carthage police officer, Justin Garner, 25, was shot in the leg during the incident, but he was treated and released from First Health Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst.

Carthage Police Chief Chris McKenzie said Garner confronted Stewart in the hallway of the nursing home. Both men fired. Both were wounded, McKenzie said.

Translation: Police Officer Justin Garner stopped the murderous rampage with one or more well-aimed shots. He was shot in the leg by the murderer, but he stopped the killing.

I worked in Carthage at the weekly newspaper there in the late '70s and in recent years since I've been Pinelake Rest Home to visit the retired managing editor, Woodrow Wilhoit. Thank God Woody has gone on to glory and wasn't one of the victims at Sunday's shooting rampage.

From reading the news accounts, it seems the murderer was looking for his ex-wife, a nurse assistant working at the rest home, but was stopped by Garner before he would find and kill her.

I probably shouldn't be so critical with such scant knowledge, but it appears to me that one of the goats in this mess is the aforementioned Michael Cotten, apparently the first shooting victim who is identified as a "retired corrections assistant superintendent." Seems he's obviously clueless since he identified the murder weapon as a shotgun, while photos clearly show it's a rifle.

But Cotten is mainly a goat for not being armed. He's retired from working in prisons and isn't armed? He of all people should know the world is full of dangerous people, inside and outside prisons. If Cotten had been armed, he could have stopped this rampage when it started.

But again, I'm probably being too critical without knowing enough facts. It's just that this is real close to home and I'm mad as hell. It could have been my elderly mother in that rest home. It could have been my daughter working as a nurse in that rest home.

And even though Officer Garner responded promptly to the 911 call, he was at least two or three minutes away from downtown Carthage to the rest home on the outskirts of town. As the saying goes, when seconds count, police are minutes away. So if you aren't armed, you oughta be.

Buy yourself a handgun. Learn how to use it. Get yourself a concealed carry permit. And then never go anywhere unarmed again. That's the only way to survive and protect the people you love in these dangerous times. If it hasn't happened already, your quiet hometown could be next.