The Ambassador Hotel, in Eilat, has a shooting range in basement. They rent a wide variety of handguns, from .22 to Uzi. I'd never shot a pistol heavier than .22, and that was many years ago. 9mm semiautomatics have become so much a part of our media environment that I was interested to see what they were really like. For about $50 I got an Israeli Jericho pistol, 50 rounds of ammunition, and enough instruction to keep me from hurting myself.

If you can think of it as a toy, it's fun. With a little practice it's not hard to group shots in a coffee can at 25 feet. (See my last 13 shots, at upper right). On the other hand, if anyone ever points one at me (God forbid), I'll assume they can hit what they're aiming at.