Safety continued… There are several ways to acquire training. At the national level, the National Rifle Association or NRA authors many courses used by NRA trained and certified instructors to teach principles of firearm safety. The courses offered are by type of gun, level of experience and desired qualification. Several courses satisfy state Firearms Safety Course requirements needed before purchasing a gun. Others will qualify participants for concealed carry weapons (CCW) permit. Cost of the course range from $80 to $100. To find courses in your area follow the link.

There are local resources as well. Consider Guns and Ammo Warehouse in Manassas. Not too difficult to figure out their main business. In addition they conduct Home Firearm Safety courses and a basic Cartridge reloading course. The reloading course is another facet of gun ownership that can reduce the costs of your new found hobby. I’ll cover that in future blogs. Gander Mountain is a national retail chain of outdoor recreation stores. There is one in Stafford and another in Richmond. They offer a full spectrum of outdoor goods, clothing, equipment, archery equipment and guns. In an effort act as more than just the Walmart of sporting goods, Gander stores are community minded. They have a bulletin board for posting announcements for fishing and hunting events, an online bragging board and a Lodge or classroom that can used for conducting classes in the store. Checking the events in the Richmond store, one finds a listing for ten different events ranging from Basic Handgun Safety to Concealed Weapons Classes.

Last but not least, the wonderful state of Virginia offers Hunter Education safety courses. Sponsored by Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries the course is mandatory for first time hunters and hunters 12 to 15 years of age are required to complete the course before buying a hunting license and to present the certificate when a hunting license is purchased. While focused on the certain age group, they encourage refresher courses to brush up on safety, principles of conservation, and sportsmanship.

Enough on safety, these are just some of the great resources available to those interested in educating and qualifying themselves for the next step, gun ownership.

Safety, Safety, Safety… We have a theme. Can someone guess what it is? First things first, when one handles a gun, always treat it as if it’s loaded and keep it pointed in a safe direction. This applies regardless of the size, big guns like a rifle or shotgun or a small gun like a handgun. I like to think that in the end of the gun there is a laser pointer and that I don’t want to “paint” anyone or anything with that light. Many of us are taught to keep scissors pointed down or in a safe direction, the same goes for a gun.

When you go to handle a gun, always ensure that it is empty, that it is clear it of any ammunition. Do this by opening the guns chamber and visually check with your own eyes that the gun is empty. If you want to handle someone else’s gun, go for it. But, first allow the person handing you the gun to clear it for themselves, confirming they have handed you an unloaded gun. Then, when it’s in your hands clear it again for yourself always keeping it pointed in a safe direction. If you don’t know how to operate it – in order to clear it, ask the person handing it to you how to clear it. Follow their instructions to check it yourself. But why take my word, the NRA, now don’t go thinking this is all political, will tell you the same thing.

Looking back at what I’ve written perhaps I’ve gotten ahead of myself. Like I pointed out earlier, I had gun safety training as a teen and again in the Air Force. I advocate that as a first step towards gun ownership. However, should you find yourself handling a gun then the rules above will prepare you for that encounter and ensure a safe outcome. Should an interest develop, then I recommend a formal training course.

Why create something new when you can copy and enhance someone else’s work? Well no worries. I think I have an instructor that would take exception to that statement, especially since this is for a grade.

Earlier I promised a little background about myself. I’m retired Air Force so while I was in the military, my time wasn’t spent focusing on weapons and their use. I did deploy to Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield and later Desert Storm. That was the most I ever carried a weapon. Additional training or experience would be the annual qualification training at an Air Force range, where I managed to qualify for the Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon several times. Also, a Hunters Safety Course taken as a teen in Minnesota. That would be extent of any weapons formal training and based on that not the reason for this blog.

Earlier I said something about copying someone else’s work; literally speaking that would be wrong and I don’t support that. I should clarify, learning from other people’s endeavors, issues, mistakes, etc… and leveraging that information, those experiences is what I advocate. As I proceed forward in this endeavor, it’s my experiences and information I’ve learned that I would like to share with those interested for their education and quite possibly entertainment.

In my next post I’ll go over safety. The subject speaks for itself but I’ll try to find and discuss some interesting points of my own.

Well lets begin by giving credit to where credit is due. This Blog is for an English course that I am taking. As part of the course, the instructor has taken a different direction than the traditional writing of essays and research papers. Instead the class is exploring online writing, each of us have created blogs. The subject of the blog is of our own choosing. They range from politics, to weaving and gun owenership. Over the next eight weeks our assignment is to regularly go online and post our musings, thoughts and viewpoints. It is the instructors hope and that as this progresses it turns into something permanent. At the moment its wishful thinking but who knows. I see it as a way to improve my writing for both personal and professional reason. Email, reports, meeting minutes and project status do not require much to bang out. Writing like this is requires the writer to tap into creative processes which I could use a little help with.

In order to accomplish this I’ve put together an outline. It will act as a roadmap for my posts and assist me with maintaining my thoughts as I go to accomplish this task. This seemed necessary since its not a blog filled with personal opinions or rants, where spontaneity is all that is needed. Instead a planned approach will allow me to write ahead as I follow the outline but post incrementally as our assignment calls for.

Enough about the English assignment, I have covered my motivation for this blog. Next, I’ll post a tad about my self and begin to discuss the subject I’ve chose to blog about.

Well looky looky...

I've created me a blog. Now what to do. I'll keep it simple for now and post this entry to see what the blog looks like and then see what options there are and what more I can do with it...