I know, I know, guns are bad. Trust me, the majority of my friends gave me a good moral scrubbing when I told them that I was going to try shooting instead of attending our Halloween bop. That still didn’t prevent me, as I was getting ready on Wednesday night, from feeling like a Cambridge version of Lara Croft. So I put on my leather jacket and went on my exciting mission.

Half an hour later I was already having second thoughts. It turns out that the range where the Cambridge University Revolver and Pistol Club (CURPC) meet is quite far away, on the banks of the Cam, under the Elizabeth Way bridge. Walking alone in the dark, holding a machine with killing potential was the last thing on my mind – not being kidnapped was my top priority.

But when I finally arrived at the bridge, a door opened out of nowhere and I was invited into the well-lit shooting range. If you think that the people you’d find in a place like this are all potential maniacs, training to shoot their cheating wife or annoying neighbour, you’d be dead wrong. While they consider shooting fun, the people here think of it as a sport – which, as I was about to discover, it really is.

First, the CURPC Captain, Alex Hackmann, showed me how to use an air pistol (named ‘Magpie’). I expected a dislocated shoulder upon firing it and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there was no recoil whatsoever. This didn’t make things easier, though. While my first shot actually hit the target, the next few got further and further away. It turns out shooting really is a sport – after a couple of minutes, my arms were shaking violently under the weight of the gun.

And the wonders it could do for my concentration! I can never normally keep my mind on something for more than 30 seconds at a time – but I was most definitely captivated while aiming again and again.

Things got even more exciting when I took the rifle. It was heavier than I expected – and after about five attempts at trying to find a way to hold it, I was sure my only way of getting a target would be to hit it with the back of the rifle rather than shoot at it. But when I finally got it right, the scariest thing happened – I loved it!

Although it was heavier, I found it much more comfortable to hold than the air pistol – and easier to aim. It still required a lot of concentration, but this felt like ‘the real thing’. The end result was fantastic – I didn’t shoot off the target once, and I managed to get three shots right in the centre (and no, it had nothing to do with the Captain showing me how to use it by firing it three times).

It only occurred to me when walking back that I had used a machine which could have killed someone if they had been in range. The thought did make me a bit wobbly. Regardless, I am impressed by the skills required in this sport, though I’m still slightly mortified by my newfound love for guns

If you feel like shooting might be to your liking as well, get in touch with the CURPC Captain, Alex Hackmann (ah658).