I admit it: When Ben Julian of Precision Point Armory announced he wanted to teach me how to shoot a gun, I was a little hesitant.
Precision Point Armory, based in Bethalto, offers firearm training, from basic safety refreshers to concealed carry classes. It’s all run by Ben, who has a deep passion for firearms — and, more importantly, firearm safety. He has spoken on “Our Daily Show!” about his belief that people should take a class like his that emphasizes firearm safety.
I agree with the idea, but I didn’t necessarily think it applied to me. I grew up in the country, around guns, so I wasn’t a total newbie. But I’m not a gun owner and had no real interest in getting up close and personal with a gun anytime soon. In fact, they kind of scare me.
But it’s the year of yes! I’m always down for a new experience. No harm in learning something new, right?
That was the attitude I took into it, but my nerves quickly caught up with me as I arrived at Precision Point and found my way to the classroom. Ben greeted me and immediately showed me that, while he had guns on the table, there was no live ammo in the room.
I appreciated his determination to make me feel safe, even if I was still nervous. I know logically that an unloaded gun can’t hurt you. But even just seeing Ben’s collection, completely unloaded, made me a little fidgety.
Maybe that’s not such a bad thing? These are, after all, serious machines. But as Ben has said before, it’s better to be comfortable handling a gun than scared of it. Scared is how you make mistakes.
We went over the four universal safety rules first. These rules — treat every firearm as if it’s loaded, never point the firearm at anything you aren’t willing to destroy, keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot, and be sure of your target and what’s beyond it — are all things I had heard before. Ben and I talked through each one.
Then, the fun part. He took guns from his collection and began showing me how they worked. Remember, all the guns were unloaded, so there was no danger as he cocked them and switched the safety on and off and even took a Glock apart to demonstrate. In fact, looking at the disassembled Glock, the machine suddenly seemed way less threatening.
And then he handed me a SIRT pistol, and all bets were off.
A SIRT pistol, for those who are unaware, is a training pistol that shoots a laser. Ben showed me how to grip the gun and lined me up in front of a target. He adjusted my grip. We both stared at my shaking hands as I lined up my sights and pulled the trigger. Bullseye. Or at least, not totally off the mark. I did a few practice rounds with the SIRT pistol, and then Ben showed me how to cock and aim an actual gun. We were dry firing, but the four universal safety rules still applied. I was careful as I cocked the gun, keeping my finger off the trigger and paying attention to where the muzzle was aimed. Then I took my stance and pulled the trigger. And jumped when it clicked. There wasn’t a bang — it was unloaded — but I was so on-edge that it still surprised me. “It can be scary for people,” Ben said, kindly, as I trembled. I like to think part of the shakiness was simply that I was a bit caffeine’d up, but the truth is that guns are intimidating. And they should be! Guns are not playthings, though it can be fun to shoot at a target. Ben enjoys shooting, but he treats firearms with the respect they deserve. We both understood that these machines have serious potential if not handled correctly. So even though there was no live ammo, we were still careful and serious. But after a while, my nerves started to dissipate. I wasn’t too bad at cocking, aiming and shooting the unloaded gun. My grip started to feel more natural, and I wasn’t as shaky. It started to feel fun. I imagined myself shooting for real, hitting the target, and found that I was looking forward to the opportunity to do so. This was my first of three training sessions with Ben, and I’m eager to return this week for my second class. Ben is planning to make a responsible firearm user out of me, and I’m excited for the chance to prove myself. I’ll be shooting bullseyes before too long while still maintaining a safe, cool-headed approach to firearms, and I can’t wait.
