'Do I feel lucky?'

Not too bad for a first-timer.

I've blogged a lot in the past year and a half about how part of this journey is about trying new things. Tonight, I joined two of my friends for ladies' night at a local shooting range. I'd shot a BB gun as a kid, but never a real gun. I actually hate guns and wish people didn't feel the need to own them. But I also sort of felt like I shoot learn to shoot a gun and do it just for the experience of it.

I was quite nervous going into it. But the instructor was very nice. We went through a 30-minute class where I learned some interesting facts about guns and bullets. And I learned to load a magazine and how to aim properly. Right away, I noticed that the gun -- a .22 caliber -- was heavier than I expected and the bullets were smaller. Once I had the feel of the gun, I felt pretty comfortable.

Inside the firing range, I felt at ease. I loaded my gun and aimed at the pink and purple target 15 feet in front of me. I fired 10 times and the hardest part was aiming. I was slightly, so I adjusted. All-in-all, I don't think I did too bad. After 30 shots, the instructor told me to start aiming for the smaller target. All total, I fired 80 bullets and 75 hit the paper somewhere. One even hit the yellow bullseye in the smaller target. Woohoo! The lesson ended with us aiming for a balloon 75 feet away. It took me 5 shots to pop it. I think that was about average.

I'm glad I did it because it was fun, but I came away noting, once again, that I don't like guns. I'd probably go to the firing range again with friends, but it's not exactly the kind of thing I plan to do on a regular basis. I'm no Dirty Harry, but I think that with a little practice, I could probably improve my aim.