The Essays – Part 5

The last essay I chose from the 2004 classes is from Jesse Nemgar.  Jesse was 13 years old at the time he took the course and wrote the following essay.  He writes about respecting firearms, the experience of the hunt with family, and safety in the hunt.

Learning to safely handle a gun is really important.  In our house, my mom wouldn’t even let me have a BB gun without having taken the firearms safety course.  Once when my brother was in the hospital for a broken arm, his roommate was in critical condition and almost died.  His injury?  As he pumped his BB gun, holding the barrel against his stomach, the gun went off.  His inner organs required extensive surgery and when my brother was released, doctors still didn’t know if this little boy would live.  So my mom said absolutely no guns of any kind without training.  Before that, my mom used to say “you’ll shoot your eye out” when I wanted a BB gun.  Now we all knew that the injury could actually kill you, even with a BB gun.

I also really wanted to learn gun safety because my dad just bought hunting land this last year.  He and my older brother went deer hunting last fall and they really had an awesome time.  But I couldn’t go along, because I hadn’t taken the safety training.  I’d hear about the deer stand, the cold, the going in for eating where it’s warm, all that they heard and saw, the waiting quietly in the stand for the moment when that buck came into view.  It was my brother’s first time hunting and it was really exciting when he took that first shot.  I wanted to be a part of this experience so knew I had to get signed up for training.  I want to be safe not only for myself, but for all those that I am hunting with.  And even those that aren’t in my hunting party, but that may be in the vicinity, I know I need to be safe for them as well.

I have appreciated all that I have learned in this course. I feel well prepared to have my first trip to the deer stand this fall.  Lessons on the dangers of firearms have been reinforced.  The need for caution and respect while handling guns has been instilled.  When my mom was my age, her friend’s brother was killed by his own gun while hunting.  A person hears stories like this every year.  I have been learning the correct ways of safe gun handling to prevent tragedies such as this.  Tragedies to myself and others.  Also, besides safety with the gun itself, I have been learning other aspects of safety while hunting.  This would include being prepared in all situations.

I look forward to putting to use all that I have learned.

Jesse Nemgar

Copyright 2008