Yesterday I took 3 friends shooting. One was a self avowed liberal, one moderate, one conservative. Their perception of firearms was pretty much as you would envision. Withing 2 hours, there would be some major shifts in attitudes.

Everyone was excited (and maybe a tad fearful) about shooting despite it being a blustery 38 degrees and windy here in late April in Ohio (bless you Al Gore). The good side to this was that the range was pretty much ours for the morning.

I did a short safety briefing that I find helps put non-shooters at ease with the whole concept of shooting as much as it keeps us from shooting each other. My son and a good friend came along so each shooter had someone to encourage, coach and ensure no safety rules would get broken.

We started out shooting some 22's from a Ruger MK III and a 10-22, 38 special from a model 19, some 45 colt from some open tops and SAA's, some light 12 gauge shotgun and some 45 colt through an Uberti 1873 rifle.

I had hung some splatter targets and set up some steel swingers so there was a nice assortment of targets to choose from, most of which were just mildly challenging. All the ammo was light to moderate loads.

When everyone was comfortable with the shooting, I brought out a pair of Smith 45 ACP's. An 845 and a 4505 which I find immensely easier to shoot well as compared to a 1911. These were obviously a lot of fun to shoot and the new guys started to form opinions about what gun was better than the other.

At the end of the shooting session I told the group that we had one more rifle to shoot and that it was one of those scary black rifles. When I pulled my S&W M&P 15 Sport from the case, it was pretty evident that a couple of the guys were pretty apprehensive about the rifle (to put it mildly). I took a couple of minutes to explain the similarity between the 10-22 and the AR and that the differences were mostly cosmetic.

As each of the shooters took a turn shooting the AR, you could see the change in attitude easily. My liberal friend was able to hit a small active target at 100 yards and was absolutely amazed at how well he was able to shoot with it. All the shooters had big smiles on their faces after a couple of turns with the rifle. We talked about why someone would want to own and shoot one of these modern sporting rifles. One guy wants to get his own, the other two might get one someday but definitely 'get' why I would own one.

I guess the point I'm making is that if we are willing to take friends and acquaintances with differing political views shooting, treat them with respect, bring them along at a comfortable pace, the odds are pretty good that we will end up swelling the ranks of voters who fully support the second amendment.

Kudos to you! That's a way we can all influence friends and "enemies"... educate them in the fine art of shooting safely. Job well done!

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Isaiah 55:8-9
Phil. 4:13

I read a survey not that long ago that reflects your findings. It showed that somewhere around 60% of non-shooters would go hunting if asked. It also showed that a surprising number of non-shooters, somewhere in the high eighties to ninety percent bracket, would go shooting if invited.

I've made it a point to take at least a couple of non-shooters, and preferably a couple of liberal non-shooters, shooting each summer. It's surprising just how easy it is to ruin them if they find out how much fun it can be. I even had one ex-anti ask me to show him how to reload, which I was more than happy to do. The majority of the people I've taken out have purchased their own gun within six months.

I bet there would be some great psychological findings involved if you could compile a large group study. One of the things I'm still chuckling about is how quickly guys form opinions about which gun is 'best' and why.

Generally taking people shooting is the best way to convince them. With only 1 exception, every person I've introduced to shooting has loved it, changed their minds about it, asked lots of questions, and most of them ended up buying their own gun.

That 1 exception was my wife. Can't win them all.

Did you explain to them that your AR is not an assault rifle.

An assault rifle has a switch labeled "Full Auto"!

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A real sucker for the J-frames

I don't explain the difference, but generally I do show them how to bumpfire. They love it.

Whats a liberal? Is it a fur bearing critter? You have done well my friend. My folks used to take neighbours and folks from their church, and your right how they change their minds about what shooters are about. I think there is a challenge here for all of us to follow. Kyle

Great story. How many more people would see our side if they had a chance like you gave your friends? Nicely done.

God job!! The more people who have a chance to have a positive experience will help.

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NRA

A very good, methodical approach!

One of the fastest ways to win converts is to teach in a way that gives the student a chance to demonstrate some success with their own skills. Some sort of reactive target will give instant gratification once they develop enough skill to hit it, giving them a little "psychological kick" each time that can quickly become addictive.

The biggest mistake I see is trying to get a "newbie" interested in just punching holes in paper, and it's worse if they have to use a scope or binoculars to see the result! They may want to develop those skills later, once they're "hooked", but starting out you want it to be easy enough, and most of all, fun! There is much to be said for the simple technique of setting out a bunch of empty cans as targets, the way many of us first learned.