A Shot in the Dark

I spent Tuesday evening learning how to shoot a shotgun. The first shot knocked me back a bit but I quickly learned to brace my leg and lean forward. First we shot a nine-pellet blast at a human shaped target from 25 yards. Six of the pellets hit the target within the body area. Next, we shot from 10 yards at the face which created a large hole from the chin to the eyebrows. Then, we shot two shotgun slugs (one large lead slug instead of multiple pieces of buckshot). The slugs were more accurate and tore a quarter-sized hole in the target.

Next, we practiced reaction drills. There were a line of targets turned sideways that had different pictures of people holding guns, cell phones, knives, or nothing. As we tactically side-stepped down the line, the targets would turn and we had a few seconds to decide who to shoot and who not to. All the while, the instructors were yelling and screaming to distract us. I was amazed how fast I emptied my 15 shot magazine and how long it took to reload while under stress. I only shot one innocent person (he was holding a black object but it wasn't a gun). I 'killed' all of the bad guys but had some stray bullets that missed the target.

As darkness fell, it was time to qualify for night shooting. We shot a total of 25 rounds from 15, 7, and 3 yards using flashlights, one-handed (strong hand and weak hand), timed re-loads and quick-draw from the holster. I have a gun mounted light that I was planning on using but after three shots it went dead. This meant I had to hold my three battery maglight while shooting. A perfect score is 250 with a minimum of 210 needed to qualify. I scored a 244 (anything over 240 is considered 'expert' by the department).

Wednesday and Thursday will be spent at the driving track learning high speed pursuits. I heard we get to chase each other around the track code 3 (lights and sirens).

Police term of the day: ADAM HENRY
Phonetic code for the letters "A"and "H" (abbreviation for a**-hole)

Example: That guy was a total Adam Henry.