It was November of 2012 when a friend invited me to a firing range. As random as that is, it started this special fondness to target shooting that I have now.
My first try was heart pumping! I was so scared to even hold a single bullet but once I fired the second shot, my adrenaline spiked up and I was even more excited. Target shooting has given me countless of memorable experiences. One of which was when I was named champion and considered as the Top Shooter of the Club. Here in the Philippines, the most anticipated event in shooting is a level 3 match. I have participated in many of them and have placed on the top 50 shooters.
Target shooting is a competitive sport involving tests of proficiency – accuracy and speed – using various types of guns such as a pistol or a long rifle. Anyone who passes the exams and requirements needed to acquire a pistol can have this as a sport. Everyone is welcome here.
Shooting a handgun at a target is a thrill in itself. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You load bullets into a clip, push it up into the gun, turn off the safety catch, take careful hold of the gun with two hands, aim, and then shoot. The thing jumps in your hand and you see the bullet knock a hole in the target and spark off the floor at the back of the range. There is an extraordinary rush and then you do it again. Another spark – perhaps this time the hole in the target is a little closer to the center. Soon you have fired the whole clip and you’re loading the weapon in your hand again. It is a continuous learning experience and you get better with every practice you make.
This sport has changed me with every bullet I fire. Becoming more patient is one and valuing life a lot more is another. With one bullet, the course of someone’s life can change in an instant. A child may become an orphan; a wife to a widow, and; a father, childless. Even an entire nation is affected. That in mind, target shooting becomes not only a sport but a training of responsibility, and a vivid reminder of a life’s importance – not just mine but every life there is.
