"The only thing worth getting up this early in the morning for is shooting things," Ben Shapiro '06, told us as we piled into three cars in H-Lot. It was 10:30 on a Sunday morning, and I was still half asleep. The "Kind of Like Duck Hunt" club was indeed kind of like the classic Nintendo game Duck Hunt. The difference? Instead of using a fake plastic rifle to shoot at pixilated ducks on a TV screen, we used powerful handguns to shoot at paper targets.

We drove about 20 minutes to the shooting range in North Attleboro, Mass. Inside the main store at the American Firearms School were rows of guns, packages of mace, holster lubricants and various other firearm accessories. Five TVs hung from the ceiling, set on the Military Channel-a channel I did not even realize existed. American flags were strung from every possible surface, and posters with bald eagles blessing America were generously distributed around the store. Before doing anything, everyone signed a contract stating that if we shot ourselves, we can't get mad at the school.

After we all signed our lives away, we were herded into the Rec Room, which had a bar, a TV and plush green velvet couches. A majestic bronze chess set and a stack of magazines with creative titles such as Shooting, Guns and Handgunner adorned a sturdy coffee table. Rich the "Gun Guy," a Long Island native, briefly explained how to avoid killing ourselves or others.

"Don't be stupid with the gun," he said after telling us about a particular gun that shoots bullets that ricochet off your bones and stirs things up inside if they hit you.

"But it will only hurt if you get shot," we were assured. This didn't make me feel much better.

After the short lesson, we were given earmuffs, protective glasses and a small box of ammunition. We waited behind an unassuming red door with "Range" printed on the front, and intimidating gunfire coming from the other side. "Beyond this door lies my fate as a sniper," I thought as I snapped on my earmuffs.

Inside there were about 10 lanes, each with little partitions. I was directed to one near the end, and on a little shelf sat a quaint handgun and the magazine that held my bullets. I immediately blanked out on everything Rich told us minutes before. I had no idea what to do next.

I looked up helplessly for Rich to come to my aid. He mouthed instructions to me, but as I am completely unable to read lips, I simply stared at him. Finally he took the gun, loaded the bullets in the magazine, showed me how to insert the magazine into the gun and where the safety, the mechanism that keeps the gun from shooting, was located. I aimed, shot my three bullets, wasn't quite able to tell if I hit the target or not, took the magazine out, put the safety on, and set the gun down. My turn was over. I pushed a switch that brought the target to me, and was somewhat pleased with myself. No bull's-eyes, but I did hit the target and not my foot. Perhaps not sniper worthy, but not too shabby either.

"I feel the power!" Alex Martynov '08 said when he finished his first round.

When everyone fired off a few rounds, we were directed into the Simulation Room. We stood behind a medium-sized window of bulletproof glass, and in front of the glass sat a stool and a wall full of bullet holes. Inside our tight quarters was a computer and lots of buttons. Rich sat at the computer and showed us the possible simulations we could use, with such titillating titles as "Drug Wars", "Holo Shot" and "Sequence". In Drug Wars, you shoot at a projected of various scenarios displaying malcontents holding llamas as hostages and sorting through bags of cocaine. "Holo Shot" consisted of mystical geometric shapes floating sporadically across a brick background that exploded with a satisfying noise when you hit them. And Sequence was just shooting at circles with numbers in them. In my opinion, this part was more fun than shooting in the actual range. When else do you get to shoot with actual handguns at druglords?

Before we left, we talked to Rich the Gun Guy a little more. He showed us a ridiculously intense looking gun that he was sending to a friend in Iraq.

"If I was over there, I'd want one of these," he said, holding it like father would a newborn baby. "They're fun toys," he added nonchalantly.

For those who have never gone shooting but are familiar with computer games, Alain Ackerman '08 put the experience simply.

"It's just like Time Crisis 3, but with real guns."

And if you're like me and are more familiar with comparisons to old video games, Duck Hunt pretty much sums it up.