Future people

They arrived timid, apprehensive and uncertain; a collection of fresh-faced hopefuls who seemed so out of place amongst the older veterans who swaggered about with confidence born of comfort and a sense of belonging; the present people. The newcomers huddled together, safety in numbers they presume I suppose, speaking quietly whilst furtive eyes darted about hoping to be noticed but fearful of it also. It's not a comfortable position to be in, but they came anyway and they endured the discomfort for a chance to become future people.

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Today was a youth, come and try day at my gun range and I was there to help facilitate the process of introducing a lot of young folk to the range, what we do there, how they may fit in and, of course, firearms themselves. The range holds one of these days every so often with the view to bringing new people, particularly younger ones, into the sport and the range as members. Old people get older so it takes these younger future people to keep things moving forward.

It's a military-run gun range where membership is prioritised for active and former military personnel however when positions are available civilians are permitted. There's a few younger members already however overall the average age is quite advanced so the executive have decided on a process of bringing younger members to the range and the come and try days are part of that.

Again, priority is given to military-related youth organisations like the three cadet groups of the Australian Army, Air Force and Navy and it was this group of little tackers mid-late teenagers I was working with today. There were a few other 'civilian' youths also, but primarily the former.

Gun ranges can be intimidating places through the presence of firearms and a bunch of usually closed-off individuals strutting around like wankers turning their noses up at everyone else. It can be off-putting to new or prospective members.

We have a few like that, however mostly they are people like me; welcoming, friendly and generous with time and information. Those that help out at these days also need to be experts with firearms, uncompromising on safety and able to impart knowledge, teach, with a high degree of success. We seek to set good examples with the expectation that they endure long-term with those who manage to get membership.

Over the day we work hard to make the boys and girls feel comfortable and welcomed, go through procedures and rules of the range, introduce the range-safety concepts and train them on various firearms including handguns, rifles and shotguns being careful to ensure they are safe of course.

It's something I really enjoy to be honest; I train people all the time of course, but these young ones are important to the ongoing success of my sport, and firearms ownership in general, so I work hard to make sure they're given the best experience and opportunity.

I had a small group of five future people today and we rotated between several different ranges where various firearms were available for use. I've had difficult groups before where individuals just want to start banging away on the guns, which never goes well for them as future members, but today I had a really attentive and patient group of three lads and a couple girls, all under eighteen years old. They picked up the concepts quickly, because they were patient enough to listen, and their shooting was better for it. All had a great time and I'd expect all will look to submit applications to seek membership.

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I'll admit I'm a little intolerant of the younger generation these days. I see a lot of ill-mannered, entitled little assholes who don't seem to care about anything except themselves, instant gratification and doing as little as possible whilst getting as much as possible for the lack of effort. Their behaviour is often infantile and hubris-loaded and attention to detail seems to have no value. Most are surly, socially inept have little respect or are downright rude. Just my general opinion; it's youths like that we're not interested in...But there's some good ones out there too. I had a group of them today.

In the main the young ones we get coming from those cadet-branches of the armed services are a little different; They're exposed to discipline, ownership, responsibility and leadership concepts and are all volunteers so the quality is generally high.; they want to be there and will mostly move on into the ADF [Australian defence forces] as adults. It was the case with my group today, a good bunch of little tackers and I appreciated their attention, respect and polite demeanors telling them so at the end.

In a world that works so hard to banish firearms it's important for ranges and gun clubs to change their modus operandi which is what my range has done; it helps it is military-oriented of course. Working with these young ones is critical to the continued existence of gun ranges and clubs and I feel honoured to have the opportunity to add some input and influence upon these bright young future people. Today was a pleasure.

Anyway, I hope y'all have a great weekend planned ahead and you deploy with vigor and enthusiasm whether it's active pursuits or more sedentary activities you have planned.