Where to start. These days I am a cranky old man grappling with gradually moving into retirement. My wife and I do not have any children and despite a plethora of nieces and nephews nothing has ever clicked. Recently a friend of my wife's approached me and asked if I could help her with her son. Her son is 14 years old and adopted from Guatemala. She is gay and separated from her partner. It seems the young man has been struggling a bit and she feels that a male influence would be beneficial. I guess he has issues in school and my guess is that he gets bullied a bit. At any rate he has a fascination with guns and this concerns her. Needless to say she is hardly a 2A supporter. However, she is smart enough to realize that a responsible exposure would be better then forbidden fruit .So she approached me and asked if I would be willing to spend some time with him and teach him how to safely and responsibly handle guns. I was not sure, but said I would give it a try. So initially they came to the house and I did a one hour safety class with her present. I said that we do not even touch a gun until all the rules are established. Then she left and he and I went to my shop and I began to show him a few things. I have a lot if antique firearms and i was amazed at his knowledge. Despite not doing very well in school he is a history buff and reads a lot. He knew and recognised almost everything I showed him. Sharps, Spencer, Winchester's, and a dozen more. I was blown away. Later when his mother came back I told her that her son was very smart and I was impressed. I think this might be the first time that anyone had told her that. We agreed that he could come back and we .would do some air gun shooting in my basement. When he returned we went down to my basement range and the first air gun I showed him was a Schofield replica CO2 pellet gun. He just lit up and said "OMG, a Schofield" and proceeded to give me a history lesson .I set up a target at about 20 feet and we proceeded to do some plinking. I was impressed with his calm demeanor and focus. He also shot a Crosman 1077 rifle with a Bugbuster scope. We had a great afternoon. He saved his targets to show his mother. Today he returned for another session. Turns out it is his birthday and part of his present was to spend the afternoon shooting with me . This time I pulled out my PCP's and we did some serious shooting. Condor SS 25, Hatsan Bull Boss .25, Hatsan Flash .22 and Taipan Veteran .25 at 10 yards. All of his groups were touching and with the Taipan he put 5 pellets in one hole. What a fun afternoon. Later when mom came back she gave me permission to take him to the range when the weather gets warmer. I can't wait to see what the little bugger can do at 50 and 100 yards. I apologize for the long winded story, hopefully you guys enjoyed it as much as me .
