You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out

A few weeks ago Buddy’s Godfather gave him his first gun. A single shot .22 rifle. Of course Buddy was really excited and initially I had some hesitation. But Buddy made that hesitation go away quickly. Apparently our efforts in teaching Buddy gun safety and respect were not in vain.

As soon as they walked in the door Buddy was overflowing with excitement. He just had to show me what he got. The first words out of his mouth were “Mom, this isn’t a toy so be careful with it.” Next he told me he had to clean it with Dad before he could shoot it. He was literally bouncing off the walls.

So he and Dad went downstairs and began to disassemble the rifle, clean it and put it back together. It was endearing to watch. Buddy had to do everything himself. Again, our safety lessons came out. “Dad, you have to let me do this by myself. Remember, if I can’t clean it by myself I can’t shoot it.”

After cleaning was finished, we grabbed the other safety gear (ear muffs and glasses) and went outside to our “shooting range” (aka huge dirt pile in the pasture).  Dad patiently showed Buddy how to load the rifle, where the safety is, how it works, etc. The only thing left to do was shoot it. So Buddy took hold of the rifle, Dad stood behind him to steady him and they aimed and fired. Buddy’s reaction: “Mom that wasn’t loud at all. This is great.”

He ran a few more round through then we went back inside. He reminded us that we had to clean it again because you have to clean a gun after every use. So they went downstairs and cleaned it again.

Later that day Buddy and his Godfather went to a college football game. On the drive in we were all talking about the rifle. His final statement about the experience made me chuckle out loud.

“Mom, I didn’t even shoot my eye out.”

Now for those of you who really know us, you know why this was so amusing, for the rest of you here is the reasoning. Every Christmas our family watches “A Christmas Story” to get in the holiday spirit. In that movie the main character Ralphie really wants a Red Rider BB gun for Christmas. His mother’s dismissal reaction is always “You’ll shoot your eye out.”

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~ by blacktoprhoades on September 29, 2010.