As I geared up to go target shooting with Illini Target, a Registered Student Organization, I expected that I would be a natural. In my head, I would exclaim to the club members, “Oh, I’ve never done this before, so if I’m horrible, don’t make fun of me!”

Perhaps I would throw in a giggle. Then, as soon as I would step onto the shooting range, BANG! My first shot dead center of the target and, BANG! My second shot slightly to the left, enlarging my original hole.

Suddenly, I would be somersaulting and hitting bull’s-eyes on every target. An operative from the CIA would be there and would offer me a job as a secret agent.

Obviously, I would decline, because even though I am all about shooting inanimate objects, I would never want to use my superior skills on a human. In my head I was James Bond mixed with Lara Croft with a dash of the Waco Kid thrown in.

I was John Wayne with long blonde hair and a passion for lip gloss. I was also delusional but surprisingly not that bad.

The Illini on Target took me shooting with them to learn more about the controversial practice of operating guns for recreational sport. Club president Janusz Wasiolek, senior in LAS, made sure that I was under his watchful eye the entire time.

He devoted his full attention to making sure that I was not only learning how to properly shoot a gun but also having a good time.

“We like to have people shoot early to get comfortable with the gun. We want them to get over a fear of a firearm,” Wasiolek said.

I had been looking forward to target shooting all day and was excited to go to Darnall’s, even if it was a shooting range in Bloomington, Ill. I first met up with the club at Wasiolek’s apartment to go over safety measures.

As I nearly bounced with excitement, he pulled out a handgun. The first sight of the gun was a little unnerving. I felt a chill of apprehension shoot down my spine as he turned the potentially fatal weapon over in his hand. It seemed that in my excitement, I forgot that guns were dangerous.

In theory, I knew that guns could kill or seriously wound people, but it was not until I saw the physical gun a foot away from me that I really realized just how frightening they could be. The gun was not even loaded.

Still, as soon as Wasiolek put the gun in my hand after going through the safety measures, I began to regain my previous excitement.

When we got to Darnall’s, the first thing I noticed was how loud an actual gun sounds even with headphones on to protect my ears. As I stood in the isolated range, I picked up the first handgun and tentatively raised it. After making sure I was doing

everything properly, Wasiolek gave me the OK. I shut my left eye and lined the sight up with the center of the target.

Then, I slowly squeezed the trigger and POP! The first bullet was out of the gun. It was so much fun!

After I had used up the round, they reeled the target back in from five yards away. I actually had a grouping of eight shots all within an inch or two of each other.

I decided then that I loved shooting with the .22-caliber Beretta Neos. I tried a few more guns, including a .22-caliber rifle and a Hi-Power 9 mm pistol, but I was never as good as with the first gun.

Wasiolek said that I still did well for my first time out.

“If you can get everything within 3 to 4 inches, that’s really good,” he said.

So even though I was not the gunslinger in real life that I was in my head, I was not half bad.

Going shooting with the club taught me a lot about guns and gave me more to think about with the issue of gun control.

“If anybody doesn’t believe in gun rights, we ask that they give both sides of the issue a try and to come shoot with us,” Wasiolek said.

The club shoots at Darnall’s about once a month, at a private farm just outside of Champaign and at the Police Training Institute.