Who is Bang Bang?

I shot a gun for the first time in January 2004.  You see, there was this guy I really, really like.  He was into shooting and said he would show me how.  I was terrified, but said yes because I really wanted to impress him with my toughness.

He laid out a variety of guns before me – even though he patiently explained what each one was and what types of bullets it shot – it all went in one headphone protected ear and out the other.  All I gleaned was there were semi-automatic and revolvers.  I liked the revolvers more.

What resulted was the realization that I was a natural.  All my shots stayed within the body outline of my target.  If my aim was to impress my guy friend, it worked.  He kept nudging the other guys in the range going “Check this out!  This is her first time shooting!”   Shortly afterwards, he dubbed me with the nick name “Bang Bang.”

In August of that year, my friend asked me out on our first real date.  It was a great first date, the kind of night that you know is the start of something really special.  The next day we went back to the shooting range.  Three months later, he asked me to marry him.  He still refers to me as “Bang.”

Now I’m not saying that it was my showing an interest in shooting that sealed our fate.  We do have a lot of other things in common – such as we met at work, we are both engineers, we love doing house projects and traveling when we can.  But this blog is about gun ownership and it is a part of our history.

Before my future husband took the time to teach me – guns mystified me.  I was half in awe of anyone who knew how to use one and half terrified of the power it held.  The first time I knew I wanted to learn how to shoot a gun was in 1998.  I had just graduated high school and my church youth group was visiting the FBI in Washington DC.  It was at the time X-Files was the “it” show on TV.  They had a shooting demonstration and I was in love.  I wanted to go to college and become an FBI agent.

Well, although I still sometimes fantasy about becoming an FBI agent, life took me a different direction.  But just because I don’t have a badge or need a gun for work – it didn’t mean I didn’t need to learn how to use one.

You see, whether you like them or hate them, guns are a part of our world.  Just because you don’t own one doesn’t mean you can always avoid them.  You might find yourself married to someone who owns gun and if you are going to live under the same roof as one, you best know how it works, how to load and unload it, how to pick it up and make sure its safe, and how to handle it.  Even if you don’t have a gun in your home, your friend may have a gun – or worse, an attacker may have a gun.  You never know at what point in an attack you may luck out and have that gun in yours hands.  It is just best that you know how to use it.

This is why I’m starting this blog.  It is aimed towards your average woman, one who may or may not have ever been attack, who may or may not have ever picked up a gun, but doesn’t know much about them.  She may feel uneasy around them – either because she doesn’t know how they work or because gun ownership tends to feel so male dominated.  I’m hoping as I document a little of my journey I can de-mystify the process of learning how to shoot a gun, going to a class and purchasing a gun for yourself.

Who knows, you might like the experience and decide that a gun is what you want for self protection.  Or you might hate it, but hey, at least you know how it works incase you and a gun ever cross paths.

After all – despite the hype – guns are not good or bad.  It is a tool – an inanimate object.  It will not go off unless someone pulls the trigger.  Some people choose to use them responsibly and some choose to be criminals.  It is my personal opinion we need many more responsible, law abiding gun owners out there.  And if not gun owners, a more educated society that understands the mechanical workings and safe handling of firearms. 

I also think that there have been great strides to include woman in the sport of shooting and the privilege of gun ownership.  However I also think more can be done.  I plan on using this blog to address that.

And finally, I hope to use this blog as a resource for women’s self defense.  By the grace of God, I have never been physically attack.  I had been close once, but was able to fight my way free before it got out of hand.  I’ve carried around this “It’ll never happen to me” attitude for far too long.  Recently I have started to learn about self defense and even though I haven’t had to use it – thank goodness – it has had such a positive affect on my life.  There is something to be said for feeling capable and prepared.  I feel like before I learned about self defense I was walking around like a scared target.  Now I feel confident, self aware and able to fight back.

All my post will be open to respectful comments.  Also feel free to e-mail me at bangbangvaboom@gmail.com.