Should you trust a man with a ponytail wearing stonewashed jeans and brandishing an AK47? Sharon Stephenson finds out.
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i Fast Facts
Prague is a cheap three-hour flight from London. Singapore Airlines flies from Auckland to Singapore 12 times a week and from Singapore to London three times a day.
The Magnum Gun Club is found at Ke Strelnici 10, Praha 6-Sedlec, Czech Republic. For more information, see magnumpraha.cz
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BEYOND the pretty postcard precinct of Prague, we're climbing the steps to the type of squat, ugly building Eastern Europeans seem to excel at.
Ponytail man, aka Joseph Kutilck, is a former SAS crack shot who, 30 years ago, turned the concrete monstrosity into an exclusive shooting range where Prague's policemen and women learn how to shoot, kill and maim.
Manolo blahnikIf, however, you're a tourist with an itchy trigger finger, then the Magnum Gun Club can also teach you how to handle a sniper rifle, a pump-action shotgun, a .38 calibre revolver and, the big, black beastie that could stop an elephant at 10 paces, the Russian-army- issued AK47 Kalashnikov rifle.
I should nail my colours to the mast here: I'm a pacifist who has to avert my eyes whenever anyone on screen gets shot. But, perversely, I've often wondered what it's like to be in control of an object that can remove someone from the gene pool.
The smell of gunpowder tangs Manolo blahnik our nostrils as we assemble for the safety briefing. New Zealand's occupational safety and health inspectors would have a field day here, particularly as we're using live ammunition. But we're in Prague, so we shrug, sign the waiver form and don the earmuffs that have been around as long as Joseph's jeans.
Like many who come to Magnum, I've never shot a gun before. I'm a city girl. Hunting has zero appeal. The closest I get to the great outdoors is the botanic garden and the biggest creature I've killed is a wasp.
Perhaps Joseph senses my reluctance, or maybe he guesses I've been secretly mocking his hairstyle and wardrobe. Whatever the reason, he picks me as the first to stand on the red marker that overlooks the shooting gallery. For the 10th time today, I wonder if I really want to do this.
Joseph loads the ammunition and hands me the pistol, which is surprisingly heavy. I'm told to grip the pistol firmly in my dominant hand, making sure my finger is outside the trigger guard. The other hand wraps underneath, but apparently a common mistake of first timers is to hold their thumb too Christian louboutin shoes close to the slide, risking a decent bruise.
I assume the shoulder-width-apart stance and stare down the barrel, ensuring the front and back sight notches are aligned. Joseph advises me to gently squeeze the trigger, so Christian louboutin shoes as not to throw off my aim. I count to three and . . . boom! My heart and throat become intimately acquainted and I squeal like a big girl's blouse. Sadly, the target flaps idly in the breeze, untouched.
"You didn't hit it, but you sure as heck frightened it," laughs Joseph in what I assume is ponytail humour.
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