I am just here for the company.
- parkerelizabeth353
- Jul 17, 2024
- 6 min read
My husband had to work this weekend and could not attend the largest PCSL match that Cheshire County Action Pistol in Keene, NH has had so far, so he asked me to write about it. Bear with me, people. My husband has a way of telling stories that I do not possess, so this may read more like a school essay, and I do touch on things he has already talked about, but this is my side.
I am just here for the company...
We started Action Pistol close to two years ago. Initially, I was timid when handling a pistol. Yes…I grew up around firearms. I had a bb gun when I was 5 and shot .22 rifles growing up. There were guns throughout our home that I knew I was not allowed to touch unless asked to and I knew where all the ammunition was, but also never touched it. I learned how not to use a gun, but I never really learned how (much like editing software that won't do what I want it to do with photographs and how they are aligned...).
Over the years, some people would take me shooting and hand me a loaded pistol and talk me through firing it, but I never got to load it or take it apart or really learn anything other than how to point it at a target and pull the trigger. No corrections to my grip. No insight on how to aim better. Just point and pull. No wonder I never got into pistols or had a desire to use one.
Many years later, while dating my now husband, my father wanted to give me a pistol, but he knew that I should learn more about pistol safety (after all, he knew what he didn’t teach me), so he enrolled me in the NRA program “Women on Target”. After taking the day long course and shooting a few different .22s, I felt okay handling a pistol, but I still wasn’t confident enough to conceal carry, even though I had a permit to. I was still more comfortable, and accurate, with rifles and shotguns.
What is this???
We went to Cheshire County Shooting Sports and Education Foundation (such a mouthful!) in Keene, NH on a Wednesday night unequipped with anything but curiosity. As soon as this group heard that we were curious about it, they offered us equipment to borrow to try it out that night. We declined but knew that we wanted to give it a shot. Saturday morning, I pulled out a folding table and every pistol that we had in the house. I was seeing how each one fit in my hand (I felt a bit like goldilocks) and became frustrated because it didn’t seem that any were actually meant for me (some my husband had purchased, and others were inherited). Knowing that we wanted to give Action Pistol a shot, he brought me to Monadnock Firearms in Fitzwilliam, NH to see if we could find one that felt comfortable for me. I was skeptical about going into the shop because prior to that day, every gun shop I went into by myself I was ignored and if I went in with a guy, they would talk to the guy and not me, so that was the experience I was expecting. I was wrong.
We were both greeted and asked what they could help with. When we explained, the salesman basically stopped addressing my husband and focused on me. He asked all the questions, and I answered as best I could. Many options were placed in my hand and their differences were explained… to me. Always to me. No condescension, just helpfulness. We eventually left the store with a Glock 48 and all the things to go with it to get me started with Action Pistol. I was pleased. This store changed my expectations of what an experience in a sporting goods store should be. It is the standard to which I now hold all others, but I never actually go anywhere else now. I have since changed the pistol I use, but not the shop that I buy them from.
And so, it begins...
Every Wednesday night is now Action Pistol night. Over the two years, I have gained confidence and proficiency. While my husband has excelled, excited about becoming amazing at something and not just good and putting in the time and effort to make that happen, I have not put in as much effort. I have progressed but not excelled because I have not given the time to practice in the way that he does. I have to admit that I am basically there for the company and sense of community that feels like it is part of days gone by, and the pistol practice is a bonus.
At Action Pistol, everyone helps. “Shooting is optional. Taping is mandatory.” If you are not participating, you are still participating. You are part of a community that wants you to be safe while enjoying a sport that could potentially be unsafe if you do not have the discipline to follow the rules. They let you know if they see something you could work on in a positive way. They cheer you on. This community does not put you down if you make a mistake, but they help you to correct it. They want you to succeed.
The day I received the news of my dad’s passing, I knew that I would not be in the headspace needed to handle a firearm carefully. I could have stayed home, but I didn’t. I went to the indoor practice we had that same night without my husband (honestly, he may have been there, but my headspace was so bad that it filtered his consistent supportive presence out. Sorry honey if that was the case.) and without my firearm. I just needed to be
around the people that I knew my dad would have enjoyed had he met them. My Action Pistol family. They greeted me and asked where my bag was and offered me equipment to use if I changed my mind and wanted to shoot, but they all understood and almost took turns checking in on me as I watched others go through the stage that was set up that night.
The group changes, but the mentality and camaraderie remain the same.
Some faces have come and gone throughout the two years we have been involved with Cheshire County Action Pistol. Sometimes they pop back in, like an old friend that you don’t really need to keep in touch with because even if you don’t see each other often, things will pick up right where they left off. This year, a family has joined with their 9-year-old who is determined to be as good as, if not better than, everyone and one day she will. I wish I had been taught firearms safety in such a thorough way at such an age. From what I have witnessed, she is treated the same way as the adults. Everyone is willing to help her succeed.
I was not squadded with that family during this month’s match, but I popped over to see how they were doing. A man I had never met said that he wished he had gotten into the sport at her age and not in his later years and commented on how safe and accurate she is. I smiled as I watched her plan how she was going to run the stage while the others were resetting it for her, a habit that I still struggle with.
Quite the gathering.
We had the largest amount of people sign up for our PCSL Action Pistol match this weekend and my husband was not able to attend. This might sound harsh, but I didn’t miss him. I was amongst friends doing something that I enjoy with a community of participants that I am very comfortable with. I joked around with people I had never met before but knew we all had something in common. The ease of conversation. The pointers that are freely offered even though you are competing against each other. The sense of community. This is why I go. This is why I have become proficient with my pistol in the past two years. Everyone wants you to succeed. Everyone wants to help you succeed.
Largest match Cheshire County Action Pistol has had so far? Record set? Great! More people to get to know and another record to beat!
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