Gretchen Jones

Last July I went to the RWA Conference in Washington D.C.  As part of an on line chapter’s pre-conference events we went to the FBI Academy at Quantico for a special program.  I had no idea ahead of time that we would get to go out on the firing range.  I hadn’t been anywhere near a firearm since I was about 16 but that was another story entirely.

The first weapon I ever fired (besides my mouth oh, and that #2 pencil I jabbed Bobby and Robin with in grade school - sorry about that - impulse control is much better now, thanks)  a thompson sub-machine gun…

A tommygun is definitely a woman’s weapon  I did like the feel of it.  Very solid, heavy, two handles to grab hold of and the butt wedged firmly against your shoulder it felt very secure.  The other rifle that we fired was also a nice piece of equipment that was comfortable to fire, didn’t kick terribly hard, but it just wasn’t the same.  There’s just something about a girl’s first tommy gun…(sigh).

Here’s the view from behind me.  You can see how close the instructors stood behind us.  Brave souls I must say.

Then there was the one round I fired from the shotgun.  It was not my favorite and just felt unsafe and out of control as the business end of the weapon rapidly pivoted up toward the heavens after firing.  I had the opportunity to fire additional rounds with the shotgun but I found it scary and it made me say HOLY CRAP several times quite loud even with ear protection.  So I exercised a judgement call on that and skipped it.

Below you can see my fine shotgun wielding form being corrected prior to taking the shot.

It took awhile to get the photographs from the photographer, but it was well worth the wait.

Some days just can’t be beat and this one was right up there at the top of my list.

Inventory list for world domination, which I’ll get right on just as soon as I finish revisions and sell my first novel:

(WHAT? it could happen)

• tommy gun

• 1964 Oldsmobile Cutlass f-85 Vista Cruiser Station Wagon (after market A/C,  maroon with maroon interior preferred)

• GPS

• Google phone

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 at 9:51 pm and is filed under Foolishness, Memories, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.