Much Needed

The last day or so has been a bit frustrating and leaving me feel very small and ganged up on.  I feel I desperately need a day at the range but that's not going to happen any time soon.

PBS Documentary on Guns and school shootings

I haven't made it through all of them, just watching: After Newton: Guns in America.

PBS Documentary on Guns

This Hobby of Mine

Last night was my second time cleaning my guns unsupervised by a novice, I successfully reassembled them, I’m feeling a lot more confident about taking the 1911 apart and reassembling, the .380 is really easy so I took to it pretty easy.  I feel pretty proud and certain that I did a more thorough job than I’ve done before.

I started feeling a bit defeatist and negative about this hobby last night while talking with a friend via messenger.  The costs of shooting is so expensive, range time, ammo, the guns cost money but once they are bought it’s good and it’s just a matter of restraining myself from buying more.  I know if I learn to reload, I’ll save money there but the initial cost is going to be high as well as classes so I can properly do it.  A lot of ranges near me offer lady’s days so I can shoot for free and that will save some money there so I do try to keep the expense down but I think last month I spent over $200 on ammo.  I have just enough .380 left to fill my magazine so there will be no more firing that one until I can find more and I think I have maybe 250 rounds of .45 so until ammo becomes more available, I won’t be shooting.

I’m certainly not ready to give up this hobby that I so love but it is easy to feel frustrated about the expense.  I had the thought about my sewing hobby, that’s expensive too but at least I can make money by selling the stuff that I make on eBay or something.  I need to set up a budget for my gun hobby or else I’ll end up going way over board. (12.1)

Ruger LCP

This weekend my friend bought the Ruger LCP and the Smith and Wesson .500.  I have to say out of all the calibers of handguns, shotguns and rifles that I have shot, I have met a gun I do not like and it is the Smith and Wesson .500.  I'm not a big fan of revolvers anyways because I don't like the weight distribution in my hand, they just feel awkward to me.  But the S&W is way too big of a gun for me to be handling and I only shot the 325 grain, I wasn't about to touch the 500 grain and I can't believe they make a 700 grain.

As for the Ruger LCP, cheap little gun, very light weight and would be great for a conceal carry, I tried it out with my thigh holster and it was a lot easier to carry than my Sig Sauer P238 but I doubt that I'll be buying myself a Ruger LCP.  I didn't like the sites on it, the recoil due to the lighter weight and I also don't like not having an actual safety.  I understand the double pull trigger being the safety on it but it just tweaks my senses a bit.

Tonight, I'm going to sit down, clean my guns and play with my new toy.
My New Toy

With ammunition being difficult to find around here, I figured this will help me get my trigger control down better and save a fortune on ammunition and not waste it.

First Post - My Gun History/Experience Thus Far

I made the decision to have a dedicated journal for my interest in guns, I want it separate from my livejournal account, which most people there don't understand the passion I feel for guns.

I didn't grow up in a family that revered guns, my dad had a couple of shotguns, which my mother wouldn't allow him to keep in the house.  There was a  time in my life when I was 19, where a guy I worked with had told me he thought about getting me a revolver for my birthday.  I politely declined and told him that I would probably end up using it on myself.  I was a teenager who hadn't mastered or had a good understanding of my emotions, very reactionary but what teen isn't?

I'm fairly new to guns and my experience starts just four years ago.  The company that I've worked for twelve years now, sponsors an Easter Seal's clay shoot each year.  I didn't go for the first few years because I just didn't have much of an interest in guns due to my mother's beliefs.

The year I decided to go was the biggest change of my life, I began down a path that changed my thinking about myself and life in general.  The day before the shoot, I had some serious depression going on, not sure what was going on, it was probably more hormonal than anything.  I went home early that day because I just felt so sad, work even offered me the next week off but I knew that was a bad idea because sitting around the house wasn't going to do me any good.

The next day I headed out to shoot clays (I can't remember the name of the place because we now go to Colorado Clays instead).  After a brief instruction on the use of a shotgun, safety, etc I was at my first station, poised and ready to try to shoot my first clay, BAM! and it was a hit.  The feeling inside of such power.  Long story short, I've not felt depressed since that day and I go with my company every year to the shoot with the intentions of doing better than the year before and I do.

A funny note on that day, after I got home; sore, tired but ecstatic I immediately posted to my facebook account about how much I loved guns, than proceeded to read my friend's posts only to come across a post from my mom that was anti-gun.  I found this humorous.

I think a year or two later my coworker took me to a gun range to shoot handguns, this was my first experience with a handgun.  After firing one I realized that  there was no way I could ever use such a weapon on myself.  I didn't take to handguns as quickly as I did to shotguns until the mid part of 2012 when I met a guy who is a gun nut and owns a lot of guns.  He took me out shooting regularly and I found that I really enjoyed it, I have shot so many different calibers but my truest love is the .45, mmmm purrr.  It was nice to get such a broad range of calibers and really decide what I liked best.

Getting my CCW was an idea I started to play with but honestly probably wouldn't have followed through if it were not for an ex boyfriend going scary and my feeling threatened.  So in December I took the step of signing up for a CCW class to get my certificate.  Side note: I was not impressed with the class and the trainer, he seemed to want to share stories more than information but honestly I was just happy to get my certificate.

Once I got my certificate, I called the Denver Sheriff's department to register, turns out it takes two months to get an appointment just to register, do fingerprints and pictures and another ninety days to actually get the permit.  Fortunately in January someone cancelled and I got bumped up and I currently have sixty more days to wait.  I can't wait for the day I get my approval letter and get my permit.

I have already purchased a thigh holster and I've been practicing carrying around my house.  I chose a thigh holster because I wear dresses mostly.