So on a whim I organized a range day for some of my co-workers. At first, I got only one response to the invitation, and I was under the impression they all thought I was a nut case for mentioning shooting. But then, I sent out a final invitation with time & directions, etc., and about 10-12 more people expressed an interest.
Now, most of these people had never even SEEN a real gun, let alone held or fired one. A lot of them seemed to have a frightened curiosity. Many were concerned about safety or that they'd somehow get shot by the other people at the range. I had calm and educated discussions with the sheepish ones, and I talked a lot of them into going. In total, we had 12 people, 9 of whom had never even seen or touched a gun.
So I rented out some lanes at the local range, and we went. Some people's eyes were huge as they first set foot inside their first gun shop and shooting range. One woman looked like a deer in the headlights. Another had a .38 special revolver at home bought by her dad for protection, and she was frightened to death to touch it.
So we took to the lanes. Everyone except one person had a blast! One guy is going to buy a pistol now. Another guy was like, "That was sweet! I've gotta take my brother and do this again!". Another guy is going again with his GF & her dad. The woman with the .38 at home rented a .38 special S&W at the range (she was afraid of bringing her own gun), and she loved it and wants to go again. So long story short, we're gonna go again, and more people want to come. Some of our bosses even expressed an interest!
The only down side was that the deer-in-the-headlights woman was horrified. She fired 3 shots from the Glock 19 she rented, and turned to me and said, "I'm done." Try as I might, I couldn't convince her to continue. She was freaked out by the noise and the recoil. She was deathly afraid of the gun. I explained to her how it works and showed her how to use it, but to no avail. Oh well, I guess 8 out of 9 antis converted to anything ranging from at least not being afraid of guns to loving them and wanting one isn't too shabby!
Plus, on the up side, I got to shoot about 10 different handguns without having to rent them myself. 
Of all the rented ones people had, I shot the best with the XD (and, of course, my CZ 75BD was the best in my hands). Everyone loved the CZ rubber grips.
So the moral of the story is... invite people shooting. You never know what kind of response you might get or who you might convert. I was shocked at the level of interest at my workplace. I would have assumed they'd all be too media-brainwashed to even consider coming, but I think my demeanor and calm discussions with them about firearms convinced them.
Now, most of these people had never even SEEN a real gun, let alone held or fired one. A lot of them seemed to have a frightened curiosity. Many were concerned about safety or that they'd somehow get shot by the other people at the range. I had calm and educated discussions with the sheepish ones, and I talked a lot of them into going. In total, we had 12 people, 9 of whom had never even seen or touched a gun.
So I rented out some lanes at the local range, and we went. Some people's eyes were huge as they first set foot inside their first gun shop and shooting range. One woman looked like a deer in the headlights. Another had a .38 special revolver at home bought by her dad for protection, and she was frightened to death to touch it.
So we took to the lanes. Everyone except one person had a blast! One guy is going to buy a pistol now. Another guy was like, "That was sweet! I've gotta take my brother and do this again!". Another guy is going again with his GF & her dad. The woman with the .38 at home rented a .38 special S&W at the range (she was afraid of bringing her own gun), and she loved it and wants to go again. So long story short, we're gonna go again, and more people want to come. Some of our bosses even expressed an interest!
The only down side was that the deer-in-the-headlights woman was horrified. She fired 3 shots from the Glock 19 she rented, and turned to me and said, "I'm done." Try as I might, I couldn't convince her to continue. She was freaked out by the noise and the recoil. She was deathly afraid of the gun. I explained to her how it works and showed her how to use it, but to no avail. Oh well, I guess 8 out of 9 antis converted to anything ranging from at least not being afraid of guns to loving them and wanting one isn't too shabby!
Plus, on the up side, I got to shoot about 10 different handguns without having to rent them myself.
Of all the rented ones people had, I shot the best with the XD (and, of course, my CZ 75BD was the best in my hands). Everyone loved the CZ rubber grips.So the moral of the story is... invite people shooting. You never know what kind of response you might get or who you might convert. I was shocked at the level of interest at my workplace. I would have assumed they'd all be too media-brainwashed to even consider coming, but I think my demeanor and calm discussions with them about firearms convinced them.
