Gun fights are a dime a dozen in the movies and on TV. But if that is the only shooting you know, how can you write convincingly about it? The more you know about what you are writing about, the better you can write about it.
There is a scene in my new novel - Second Law - where people are shooting at each other. I wanted to know what it felt like to hold a pistol in my hand, feel the kick, hear the bang, and smell the smoke. So my son took me to his range in Texas and gave me instructions and introductions to different guns and different calibers. I got to experience how difficult it is to hit the target just standing and shooting at a metal plate that dinged. There was no pressure. No one was shooting back. No lives were at risk. It was very, very controlled and calm - not at all like a high pressure, life or death situation. It was hard enough to get it right.
In a real life - save your life situation - there is noise and terror and adrenaline pumping. Remembering all the steps involved in loading and chambering and pointing requires practice. And how often do the majority of people who own a gun practice?
I was going to try shooting without the ear protection but quickly gave up on that concept. These things are loud! Especially in a confined space. The recorded sound or the sound on TV is greatly muted. Holding the gun two feet away from your ear can be deafening.
The smell was sulfurous. Supposedly there is less smoke with more expensive ammunition, but at a $1 a shot, I thought it was already pretty expensive.
If you put your hand in the wrong place (as I did), the action comes back and bites you. (I’m healing well now, thanks for asking.)
It became very clear to me that shooting is something that should not be attempted without practice. You can’t just go down to the corner gun store, buy some fancy ass shiny gun and be ready to shoot someone. The scene in my book will require adjusting to accommodate the noise, the smell, and the difficulty of hitting what is being shot at. Even on TV the shooters miss a great deal of the time, and that is probably one of the most realistic parts of those scenes. You still don’t want to be ‘up-range’ from lethal weapons.