There was also a seminar put on by some trappers. More on that later.

My brother is the hunter and gun owner. Before this, I've only ever shot a 22 rifle before, and that was many years ago. He thought it would be a fun day out for them, and so did I. But, I also wanted my girls to learn some fundamentals on the safe handling of firearms, and the experience of actually using them at least once in their lives.

The conditions were very controled, and safety was ground into the kids heads. Besides the safe handling of the firearms, there was no shooting without safety glasses and hearing protection. And each person shooting was under direct and attentative supervision at all times.

My eldest was very much opposed to firearms on principle. I convinced her to try it. I'm ambivolent on the subject myself. I choose not to own firearms, and I choose not to hunt. I also like living in a country where if you want to do those things responsibly, you can. So, with a lot of cajoling, my eldest started off with the 20 gauge shotgun. A rather intimidating firearm to start with, I think. However, when she found that she had put a good amount of pellets into to the stationary target, she became less intimidated, and went on to shoot a dozen or so skeets, and felt very satisfied when she made one of the terra cotta flying discs explode in mid air. I managed to hit one of six shots, and it's rather satisfying when you do.

My youngest had a very difficult time handling the shotgun. They are designed for adults, after all, and her short arms and unfamiliarity with the gun made her look very awkward at first. Well, comically awkward. At one point, she had the stock above her shoulder, as the instructor tried to get her hands on the firearm properly. There's a tendancy, even after verbal instruction, to put one's finger on the trigger as soon as one put's one's hands on a gun. That's a big safety violation, and the instructor was more concerned with making sure she understood that. But, she got squared away, and managed to fire a round at the target, getting a few pellets into the cardboard.

My 17 year old took to the skeet shooting. She's the video game enthusiast in the house, and I'm sure she linked video games and skeet shooting in her head. She only stopped skeet shooting when her shoulder got sore.

My Eldest didn't enjoy the handgun section of the course. She associates criminality with handguns, and couldn't really get passed that. My youngest got to fire a 357, although with a light cartridge, I think. Still, the pistol jumped in her hands pretty good after every shot.

I think the three of them enjoyed the rifles most of all. They are easier to aim than a hand gun, and the satisfaction of hitting a target comes faster. They are also not as intimidating as a shotgun. So, my brother will probably take them out to his gun club for some target shooting in the future.

My 17 year old is intent on getting the licences and such so she can take up the sport. It would be target only. As it is, she nearly cries when she sees road kill. I can't see her ever taking up hunting.

I got to shoot some skeet, as I mentioned. I also got to shoot a 22 calibre revolver. I find the hand gun a bit harder to aim. Even squeezing the trigger had the gun moving a bit in my hand, messing up my aim on the smallest target. I nailed the large one, and the intermediate one with my first two shots (accompanied by oo's and aah's of my daughters-- which made me feel momentarily pretty cool.) but the small target remained elusive on my next five shots.

I'm not sure what you all think. Most here I guess are not gun enthusiasts, and niether am I, to be honest. I had fun, but I'm not sure I had enough fun that I'd take up target shooting as a hobby. I think if I did, I'd probably take up black powder, and get either a musket or more likely, a Baker Rifle. This is more due to my history nerdishness than enthusiasm for guns.

I don't think there's any harm in teaching everyone the principles of safe gun handling. One never knows. Maybe if more kids learned safe gun handling at an early age, there would be less accidental shootings. This doesn't happen as often in Canada as it does in the States, but cripes, one is too many. And, even if you are "anti-gun" it doesn't hurt to get just a introductory experience, so you at least get an inkling of why gun enthusiasts are, well, enthusiastic.

And, oh, they had some fur trappers there. They were quite knowledgable about the industry and the animals they trap. We all listened respectfully, but none of us, my brother included, could manage to see leg hold traps as anything but gratuitously cruel. The trappers insisted that they check their traps first thing in the morning, and because these animals are for the most part nocturnal, they don't spend many hours in the trap, I still think even a second in such a device cruel.

On the other hand, the cruelest (in my view) animal trap is sold to anyone at the hardware store. The sticky paper used to trap mice is, if you've ever seen the distorted, frozen in struggle body of a mouse, is undeniably the cruelest device. I don't like mice. They are vermine. They are not cute. They not only get in your house and raid your foodstuffs, they urinate constantly, over everything they walk over. Your dishes, your food, your floor and your kitchen counter.

But, as sure as I'd kill a mouse or mice in my house, I wouldn't use that dam sticky paper. (shudder)

So, while I'm not against the fur industry, I sure wish they'd move more quickly to the sudden death type traps.