Jim Geraghty is National Review's go-to reporter/blogger when it comes to gun rights (he writes primarily about political campaigns), yet until yesterday afternoon, he had never shot a firearm. Thanks to the folks at the NRA HQ Range and NRA News' Cam Edwards, we were able to get Geraghty in and introduce him to the funderful (it should be a word) world of guns.
We started him on a .22 LR pistol, but he was shooting the SIG Sauer M400 AR-15 by the end of the day. The AR was a great way to show him why his support for gun rights is so important. Geraghty's initial reaction upon seeing the M400 was to note that it looked like a gun he'd seen in the movies, in the news, etc. and that it looked dangerous. After shooting it, he realized viscerally what he'd known philosophically: those opposed to gun rights use fear of the unknown to misinform people about "scary looking" guns that are functionally identical to "non-scary looking guns" in an effort to curtail our freedoms, ban fun and otherwise dictate what we can and cannot do.
Here, Geraghty shows off his first target. For someone who never shot before, he did quite well. Like everyone I've ever taken shooting, he was grinning from ear to ear after putting rounds downrange with each gun.
I think he'll be back...
