O/T Firearms 101: Have some questions on laws-

Once upon a time I worked as a range officer at a range in Ft.Worth. I shot all kinds of guns (getting about 40 rounds practice most every day, usually with someone else's gun) and the only, ONLY auto I ever had jam was a rim fire.

Some semi auto pistols rely on precise recoil for proper operation. And if you hold it like a pansy they WILL jam.

As far as the qualifying shoot goes, it's easy. (this said by someone who had their NRA Pro Marksman at the age of 10) A friend of mine had been through the CCW course before me and when I asked about the shoot he said "You can score high enough to qualify with your eyes closed" (he has seen me shoot) It was easy They give you 50 rounds to score with. You could count 15 holes in my target when I was done. (one large one, 14 smaller just around the edge of the big hole)

My dad taught me to shoot at the age of 5. We always had guns in the house. I knew where they were, and never "played" with them. I've owned guns since 1977, everything from black powder to a .44Mag. Long guns and scatter guns too. None of them are of any use locked up and unloaded. And to this point, none of them have killed anyone while I've owned them. But with all the whackos out there, I'm certainly more comfortable with than without.

One last thing. Back in the 90's I was stopped by the cops outside of Memphis in a rental car headed for Virginia. I had my Colt .45 Officer's ACP with me. They asked, and I told them. One of them asked me to get the bag from the car. He set it on the trunk of my car and started looking for the .45. I told him where it was and when he pulled it out he just looked at me. I said "Yeah, it's loaded". So he removes the magazine and looks at me again. I said "Yeah, there's one in the pipe". So he starts trying to jack this live round with it POINTED OUT IN TO TRAFFIC!!

Anyway, he says he has to run the numbers and as long as it was clean everything would be fine. It was and it was. He puts it back in the bag telling me "You can reload this after we leave. But if you get stopped by the STATE POLICE, DON'T tell them you have this."

The rest of my trip was uneventful. So take the course and have peace of mind.