So....my son is 16 and has been dating a girl (15 years old) for about 9 months. She knows he hunts with me and shoots trap and is a kid that grew up around guns. He's been asking her to go to the range with us for about 2 months but her parents were always the block that said she couldn't go. I know a bit about her parents and can't say they are "antis" but they have never been around guns so I'd say they were just cautious about letting her go. She finally got the ok from her dad to go (I have even invited the parents to go in case they had concerns about it). They didn't want to come so I emailed them the club consent form which he signed for his daughter and she brought it with her. My son of course wanted to bring the m1, SKS, and a few other big rifles. I told him not a chance. She weighs about 100 pounds and is going to be nervous. Told him I'm bringing the 10-22, 2 of the 22 handguns, and start with those. I didn't even bring any of the "carry guns". We're going to start slow, shoot on the indoor range so we can teach her while it's not cold and windy so she can be comfortable. He agreed. I went over all the safety rules on the drive there in case there were others on the range so we could discuss without the noise. She asked plenty of good questions and admitted she was nervous. I told her it's completely normal to be nervous and told her if at any time she's uncomfortable we can leave. She seemed to feel better when I said that. We got there anduckiky had the range to ourselves. Started her with the 10-22 at 50 feet indoors. I let my son do the teaching while I staid close by .he did great. Patient and took his time. She did fantastic .all in the black at 50 feet and she was jumping up and down with excitement. They spent about 30 minutes taking turns with the rifle......then I offered them a turn with the 22-45 handgun. Same thing. He was patient. She had a little trouble with steadying it and I could see she was nervouse......but he was patient and let her take a break while he fired it for a bit. Then she wanted to try again......all in the black at 25 feet. Again....she jumped up and down with excitement. Then she used the single 10 for a bit and keyholed about 6 shots in the bull. She's a natural. We were there for only about an hour and I took them out for dinner. She said she would like to go back and try trap next time. Total win. I plan to call her dad tonight and offer to take them anytime they want.
Good stuff.
Good stuff.