Interesting clouds in the sky west of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Cancun, Mexico on November 1st.

Saturday, October 7, 2023

I had never fired a handgun... until now.

Being from Canada, where firearms are not as common as they are in the U.S., we never had as much opportunity to be involved with guns. And I've never had any ambition to be a hunter, so I've never needed to own a gun for that reason. I have fired a rifle quite a few times though, and I find target practice to be fun.

But I had never fired a handgun, and always wanted to.

Our daughter's husband Justin is into that kind of thing, so yesterday he took Ruth and I to the firing range for some instruction.

Justin, getting everything ready for us.

Me, with ear and eye protection.

Ready... aim...

Fire!

I tell you, it's a lot more difficult than they make it look in the movies! I fired twenty rounds and only hit the target three or four times. Now, the targets are only about 6" square, but I didn't think they were that far away and I honestly thought I would have done better. But Justin had warned us that it takes a lot of practice.

Justin, giving Ruth some instruction.


Ruth fired 15 rounds and hit the target once, on her 14th shot.

Then we had a go with the rifle.

We both did much better with the rifle, but as I said, the targets were pretty close...


Anyway, that was fun and we're glad we went out and did that. 

But at fifty cents a bullet, it can add up quickly! Of course any hobby costs money. 

Later in the afternoon we all went up to Justin's father Alan's woodlot a half an hour from here and had a big campfire...

The Annapolis Valley.

Part of the Bay of Fundy.

Cameron on the 4 wheeler.

Sadie had a friend with her, and Justin's sister was there with her two kids.

Roasting hot dogs.

Sunset.

Lindsey and Justin.

Cameron being funny.

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Record low deal on the LogicMate Pro+ RV Leveling System.

And in Canada...

14 comments:

  1. The perspective on firearms is interesting.....In Oklahoma (where I live), you make the assumption that everyone has a firearm on them and for sure in their homes. We have (as in many states) open carry with no requirements for a license or any training....crazy.....

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    1. Yes, the whole firearms thing is very different between Canada and the US and although most states have an open carry requirement I can only think of maybe one time seeing someone carrying a firearm in all our travels in the US. It is a bit scary to think that they don't have to have a license or training though!

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    2. The bad guys don’t carry openly because they don’t want any attention from the police. A whole lot of good people carry concealed because they don’t want the bad guys to know. As for shooting at a firing range with a handgun, start at 1 yard, then 3.5,10, and 15.

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    3. Agreed, and the bad guys also don't have registered guns!

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  2. Wow, that is crazy. Other than Justin, in my 63 years of living in Canada I've never heard of anyone owning a gun, other than for hunting purposes. Even reading this post makes me nervous.

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    1. I have to say that we don't know of anyone that has had a handgun in Canada other than Justin. My dad used to have a 22m rifle that I remember us doing target practice with when we were kids and a few other people that have had rifles but again that was it.

      Not sure why this post would make you nervous!

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  3. Only my son and grandson have guns one in law enforce and my grandson is Canadian Military. The gun laws in the US scare me.

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    1. Yeah, I am pretty sure most people in Canada don't know too many people that own a gun unless they are hunters.

      Despite the way the gun laws are in the US, we know of or have seen very little in the way of guns through all of our travels there.

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  4. Growing up we went rabbit and squirrel hunting along with fishing and frogging.
    Anything to put protein on the table for 10 kids. I never liked it and did everything to miss the target. It looks like a fun day ending with the campfire. Nice sunset too!

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    1. Lol, I think I would probably have done what I could do to miss hitting the target of a live animal too!

      It was another great day with the family. We are so enjoying our time with them. :-)

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  5. When my wife and I got our CC license we had to take a class. I wasn't required to since I was prior military but since my wife had only fired a hand gun a couple different times I took the class with her. I believe taking a required class is a great idea no matter what. Since we have done this our state has changed its laws to where a CC is no longer required except for if you go to a reciprocating state that allows you to CC.

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    1. We also think that taking a hand gun course is a good thing. It's a shame that many states don't require these courses to get a license to carry a hand gun.

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  6. I see folks carrying guns while shopping but the guns are usually in their holsters. At first, I'd get nervous but now not so much. My sister owns both a hand gun and shot gun and she once had to shoot a rabied coyote down....it was clawing at her fence trying to get in. She called the animal control folks to let them know.

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    1. As I mentioned above, out of all the times we have traveled in the US, we have only seen someone carry a gun once or twice. There may have been more carrying guns and we just never noticed them or they weree concealed.

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