I know this topic gets quite emotional quickly, but I’m curious about how much experience my fellow Canadians and others where handguns are restricted actually have in shooting one.
I’ve done so a few times - the Canadian university where I went actually had a semi-secret gun club (as apparently many did/do). And when vacationing in the States, D18 junior wanted to go shooting, so I took him to a couple of gun clubs there. We shot a couple of Glocks, a Magnum 357, and a few others.
I frankly found it tedious and really have no interest in it. But before all you open-carry fans in the US jump all over me, at least I tried it, right?
D18 junior on the other hand had a great time.
So:
a) among those who have no professional reason to use a handgun - you ever shot one? If so, what did you think?
b) among those who have a professional reason to use a handgun - do you do so recreationally as well, or do you just keep up your skills for the job?
I’m completely outside your target audience being a Kiwi but yes, I have fired a 357, in the United States. I loved the experience.
And yes, I’d own a handgun if that was lawful here.
Hmmm it has just occurred to me that it is lawful under certain circumstances. The law requires a specialised firearms permit, a locked safe, and membership of a pistol club. But you can’t just drive around with your target pistol and shoot bunnies or magpies.
Sooo…while I find weapons intrinsically interesting, I also think its safer not to have one. Plus my wife would absolutely and totally refuse any gun being near her or the children.
I fired a shotgun of some sort once back in the '80s. I’ve handled a pistol in a couple of shows, but it has never been loaded and I’ve never fired even a blank. I’ve no interest in guns at all.
Nope, never shot a gun in my life, no interest in it. I’ve had opportunities, growing up on a farm, but never wanted to. The machete, though…I thought it was cool.
No professional reason to shoot handguns and also not a hunter.
My brothers got what I think is called a “BB rifle” when they were in high single-digits and I learned how to use it so I’d be able to tell when they were they using it properly and when not; I once got to shoot a friend’s freshly-gifted hunting shotgun (just using an old crate as a target). That’s the extent of my experience shooting firearms; I’ve handled unloaded weapons several times (both long and short).
In my area, target practice seems to involve rifles rather than small firearms; I imagine it’s because of the hunting tradition. The sports club my family has belonged to for the last 30 years is the local shooting club as well, but we’ve never taken up that particular sport.
Canadian - never fired a gun in my life. I don’t think I’ve ever even held an actual fireable handgun. I have no real interest in them.
I have handled prop guns in the theatre - some of which were very realistic, although obviously not dangerous. Even handling those made me a bit nervous*, it’s just so foreign to me.
And before someone says ‘that’s illogical’, yes, I know it’s illogical.
I have my restricted gun license for work. In theatre, occasionally we have guns on stage that shoot blanks. In Canada we are even required to have a license if we are using a replica that can’t physically shoot.
So I have shot all sorts of guns with blanks, but none with real bullets. When I was in theatre school and we took the course, it was taught by a guy who supplies guns for movie shoots. So we got to play with all sorts of restored antique guns.
I think that guns can be beautiful, and can see collecting them for show, but I have never felt a particular desire to own for sport or protection.
Canadian, fired a handgun when I joined the Gun Club, while at university. Which I joined solely because the Ski Club, etc, had such long lines. Also shot several rifles while there.
Most students at the uni didn’t even know there was a range, under one of the buildings. I wonder if it’s still there or has been converted to something else?
Yes, when I was visiting West Edmonton Mall and they had a shooting range there. Well, I don’t know if it can actually be called a shooting “range”, since it was a room with targets. But my friend’s boyfriend and I were going to do it for shits and giggles. Since we were there and it was available, I just wanted to see what the fuss was about. He ended up chickening out at the last minute, so I went in alone. A guy who was fully licensed was looking over my shoulders the whole time. They let me keep the target sheet I was shooting into.
I knew the range was there, but have never been. What is available to shoot? In FUBAR II, they visit it in the movie and look to be shooting automatic weapons of some sort. That can’t be possible, can it?:eek:
That was my first experience, too. I was told back when I was going to school that most Canadian universities have ranges so that the folks in our equivalent to the ROTC (I don’t know what it’s called here) can keep up their shooting skills. It was a guy doing his military training who took me. I was really excited about getting the chance, but it turned out, as I said, to be incredibly tedious.
Well, I was mostly interested in the handguns, so I wasn’t paying too much attention to their other stock. I know they asked me if I wanted to shoot “rifles or handguns”. Their website lists “semi-automatic” guns available for rental, but I honestly have no clue what that means. I just wanted to pull the trigger and go bangbang*.
Interesting. I was under the impression that in Canada if you didn’t have a license (which is very hard to get) you couldn’t even hold an unloaded handgun. (IIRC there was a brouhaha a few years back when the cops in Toronto got new handguns, and they wanted the mayor to hold one at the photo op. The chief of police was there, and gently reminded him and his handlers that that would be a violation of the criminal code.) Now obviously the WEM is doing it, so I wonder how it works. Any Canadian legal dopers reading this thread?
I just want to say that it’s not hard to get a license. You have to take a course, answer some really basic questions, show that you’re not an idiot and voila you have a license. Well I suppose it might be more difficult if you have a record or something like that, but otherwise, no problem.
As for handling guns without a license. My husband went to a firing range with his buddies for part of his stag party. Not all of them were licensed, but they all got to shoot.
