My wife and I have been thinking about getting a gun. We are getting older and the world crazier so our own self-preservation is a concern. I have decided if someone attacks me or my wife or our home I would rather have a gun than a sign that says, “Gun-free zone.”

We went to Cabela’s for a couple of free seminars on gun safety and general knowledge. Then this past Saturday we went to Norpoint Shooting Center in Arlington.

Instead of going there and just shooting at targets, owner Brian Hallaq recommended taking on a new challenge the center is offering – Action Shooting International. It is “A Move and Shoot Sport for Everyone,” its logo says.

We were nervous because it is a competition, but it’s for beginners. More-advanced shooters belong to other organizations.

Robin Taylor, president of ASI, went over the basics of how a gun works and how the competition takes place. He explained that other organizations have semi professional shooters. But ASI, which started about a year ago, is an effort to get more people interested in shooting.

“ASI is more like a bowling league” for people who don’t shoot that much,” he said. “It’s more interesting than shooting straight ahead.”

Taylor said ASI backs off the athletic requirements of the more-advanced competitions.

Sandy Wylie, also of ASI, said newcomers were often intimidated by the experienced shooters.

“New people would show up, and the number that would do it again was small,” Wylie said, adding there was no growth. “It would be like if someone never played basketball then went up against the UW – they got destroyed. They eliminated a lot of new people that way.”

To compare, ASI welcomes new shooters. It helps people new to the sport become more proficient.

“It raises the level of competency of firearms – for everybody’s sake,” Wylie said. “We want to get people into action shooting in a fun way.”

He added that it is important for people to practice using their weapon.

“Don’t just leave it on your nightstand and suddenly decide to use it” in an emergency, he said.

Doug Exum of Arlington is an experienced gunman, but decided to try ASI. He likes that he can work on his gun-handling skills in a relaxed environment.

He said it is a good way to get women into the sport. He said the increase in women getting into shooting is “exploding, like fifty percent.”

“You don’t have to worry, just have fun,” Exum said.

As for what gun he thought we should use, he said a 9-millimeter like he does. I told him I heard those weren’t very powerful, but he said they are more accurate with less recoil. He said it doesn’t matter how powerful a gun is if you can’t hit the target.

“Try different ones and see what feels good,” Exum said.

We decided to use the 9mm. We were glad we did as we had success.

In the competition there were four courses. Wylie explained what was required on each course. We were told not to shoot at targets with an X on it.

“That’s your girlfriend,” he joked.

We were also told not to shoot target areas that were blackened out. That mean that portion of the target was behind cover.

We also were to hide behind a barrel at a certain point.

“That is to give you the feeling of using cover while shooting,” Wylie said.

Scoring was based on the amount of time it took to get through the course, along with the accuracy of the shots.

About one-third of the ASI competitors Saturday were women. The ages of all involved varied from 20 to 65.

Deb and I liked the 9mm because of the lack of recoil. We felt in control of what we were doing. I’d previously shot bigger handguns and didn’t like the feeling of being out of control after shooting.

I got caught up in the competition and probably tried to go too fast, but was still mostly accurate. Deb went slower, but was actually complimented by instructors on her accuracy. It was fun, and we plan to do it again.

Kegan Therig, who works at Norpoint, added to the debate in our consideration of getting a gun. We’d been told a 45-caliber would be best.

“Accuracy is the key under stress. It needs to be the size of a quarter,” Therig said, referring to the grouping of the bullets.

He added that we should also take a daylong handgun knowledge and safety course. We agree. Lack of knowledge and safety is what scares people the most about guns.