I have never been one to play with guns.
Any and all of my knowledge about weapons, as for most of my friends, stems from movies, TV, video games and the Internet.
I was a big player of the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider games, zombie survival-horrors and even my guilty pleasure, Call of Duty.
All I knew was I aimed my weapon at a target, pressed the left-click mouse button and watched my virtual foes fall before me.
No real casualties, no safety issues, and I was perfectly comfortable sitting on my couch. Now fast-forward to Saturday and a cowboy is strapping a leather holster to my hip and placing a six-shooter inside, telling me I've got to pull that thing as fast as possible to defeat my competitors.
No console screen, no virtual terrorist, but a real target while holding a real gun.
Let's just say it was different. Beads of sweat were running down my face as I stood in an awkward position in a lacrosse box, and I stared so intensely at a light and balloon like never before.
I was competing in the women's division of the Celebrity Fast Draw Challenge, put on by the Thunderbird Fast Draw Club. Not only did I come first while representing the paper in my division, but I also picked up a second trophy for having the women's fastest shot at .597 of a second.
I guess my virtual training paid off.
I had never shot a real gun before. A BB gun, sure, a paintball gun, absolutely - I think there was that one time I played laser tag, too.
I went to the Langley Rod and Gun Club, where the Thunderbird club hosted practice the night before for the celebrities to prep for the big day.
I didn't mind paying the $6 bridge toll to get out to Langley, because I needed to know what I had to do and how I was expected to do it.
I'll admit, leading up to the event, my biggest concern was shooting myself before the revolver even left my leather holster, borrowed from a very nice cowboy.
I had many tips thrown at me with the hopes they'd stick - at one point I was told to pretend I was punching someone, or pointing at them like I meant it, and to focus on accuracy as speed would follow.
The next day when I was lined up against my opponents, a variety of female politicians from Langley and the provincial government, all the words of encouragement and direction came together, and I popped my balloon three out of the four times - much to the delight of the fast draw expert whose holster and gun I had borrowed.
Thanks, Dan.
What I took away from the experience, other than I'm one hell of a shot, was that the more I learned about guns the safer I felt handling one.
I don't think you have to be pro-gun to agree, as I'm certainly not on any side of that debate, but as goes with most things, the more you know, the less there is to be nervous about.
Also please note, I beat the Texan from The Real Housewives of Vancouver who, I was told, was a rifle champ. Congrats to her second place win.
Stefania Seccia is a reporter for The Record and the Burnaby NOW.
