Tony Grist
This is the third of several student gun range field trip reflection essays from my fall 2024 Sociology of Guns seminar. The assignment to which students are responding can be found here. I am grateful to these students for their willingness to have their thoughts shared publicly.
Previously posted reflection from Fall 2024 are available here: Reflection #1 and Reflection #2.
Reflections from previous semesters of Sociology of Guns are available HERE.
By Lucy Flynn
“I’m going to the gun range today” I excitedly announced to my friends Tuesday morning as I was preparing breakfast in my kitchen. I was met with “oohs” and “woah” and questions about the class and why our first day would include a field trip to a gun range. These questions prompted me to think more deeply about the reasoning behind our adventure to the range and the significance of actually handling guns rather than simply discussing their existence and function in class.
As someone who had only held a gun one time prior to this trip, it was beneficial to learn more about various types of guns through hands-on experience as opposed to exclusively reading about them online. Through actually visualizing and holding a 9mm pistol and AR-15, I was able to enhance my understanding of their impact and power rather than judge their intimidating names through stories and articles on the internet.
Growing up in rural Vermont, guns were a central part of the culture surrounding hunting, and I would frequently be reminded of this each time I drove down my road and passed deer hung up outside my neighbor’s garage. My family did not engage in the hunting world, and my youthful mind thus negatively associated guns as animal-killing weapons. In high school, my distaste for guns evolved in the wake of mass shootings I was hearing about in the news and in my liberal private school classes where the general community mindset was pretty anti-gun and supportive of increased gun regulations. I even attended a march my sophomore year in support of passing stricter gun laws and could not fathom why regular people would need to be in possession of a weapon that was designed to be able to rapidly kill multiple people.
At this point in my life I had never even held a gun or seen one used live and my exposure had primarily occurred online or viewing hunting rifles hung up in people’s garages. It wasn’t until sophomore year of college that I finally had my first experience shooting a gun at a skeet shooting range with my friends just outside of D.C. This was a very positive and exciting trip and it showed me that recreational gun use in a controlled environment could not only be fun, but safe. This altered my view of gun usage and made me see the sport-like nature this activity held and why people may be drawn to using guns.
This past Spring around the time of registration, I was introduced to the existence of the Sociology of Guns class and was instantly intrigued. I heard that the class included a trip to a gun range and thought that sounded really cool and a great way to apply actual experience to our classroom discussions and curriculum. I also felt that it was important for me to expand my education surrounding guns and gun legislation in order to have a more informed opinion and judgment about them. I think the controversy around the upholding and protection of the second amendment is very interesting and I want to engage in conversations about it with actual grounded knowledge and understanding.
At the gun range on Tuesday I felt myself already building upon this understanding simply by identifying the differences in appearance and feeling between the various guns we tried.
I was certainly a little nervous and hesitant to go first and felt the weight of holding an object that could easily kill someone. Just as with driving a car, some intrusive thoughts entered my mind, playing out a scenario of what would happen if someone just decided to turn around and point it at one of our classmates. This was daunting and intimidating, particularly once I felt for myself how easily it was to fire the 9mm.
On the other hand, the sporty side of me was drawn to the game of accuracy and attempting to hit the targets to the best of my ability. I was also surprised by the weight and recoil distinct to each gun and the adjustments that had to be made in order to improve my form.
I left the range with an internal giddiness, adrenaline, and desire to share my experience with family and friends all evening! Despite my continued belief in increasing gun control and regulations, I also have an enhanced appreciation for shooting as a recreational sport and my general distaste for guns overall is dimmed each time I have used one. I am excited to continue to learn more about them in this class and greatly value the hands-on experience we got to have at the range.
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