In The Eye Of the Beholder...

Today I held a handgun. Fired it. Felt the reverberation in the flats of my feet.

It was like nothing I have ever done.

The range manager spent an hour with me, explaining what I would need to know. Hand placement. How to clear the weapon. How to load the clip. Where my fingers should be. What I should expect for kick back.

Nothing could have prepared me for the sensation of force. For the power. For the thrill of holding something with potential to be so incredibly destructive, but also an equalizer. I don’t think anyone would not feel the weight of it on their hip and not glean some confidence from it. To know, that if needed, the cold steel of it was there.

Each time I rise to taste the well of my dream, I come away only wanting more.