"It makes a loud, very loud, loud, loud sound." Was the response from 7 year old Jonathan Rodriguez.
"It was really loud and you could feel the vibration in your body." Is how Allisa Jackson described the sounds inside the shooting range.
Symphony Webber seemed a bit shaken, and said, "I thought it would be a lot quieter."
5 year old Abigail Jackson simply said; "It was like kind of scary."
Those responses were what their parents were hoping for.
Margarita Hernandez of Fresno brought her boys here; "Because I want them to know a real firearm is dangerous and is not a toy."
Shelly Jackson of Prather had the same idea;"We kind of wanted them to get scared of guns so that they wouldn't feel free to pick up a gun when they saw one."
Kendra Webber of Fresno said her daughter Symphony; "Knows the rules but I think tonight with all the nose, it really hammered it home for her."
Along with the shooting demonstration, there were safety "skits" one emphasized how to say no to a firearm, even if a friend offers it to them.
Kendra Webber said keeping her child safe, away from home is important. "We have firearms in our house and she knows the rules but there's always a concern she goes somewhere else and other parents aren't as careful as we are."
Event organizer Ron Sawl believes the children did get the message. "Some of them did appear to be a little bit frightened. But then, afterwards they walked away with a very different perspective of what a firearm is."
7 year old Jonathan Rodriguez now knows guns aren't toys.
I asked him; "Have you ever shot a gun before?"
"No," he said.
"Do you want to?"
"No, I don't want to kill people."
Ron Sawl owns "The Range" pistol club and said he planned on starting a class like this in the fall. But the recent shooting of 6 year old /*Emily Lavender*/, by her two year old brother prompted him to move the class up. He hopes kids learn guns are not toys, and hopes the tragic incident motivates parents to keep their guns locked up, and away from their children.
