My neighbor bout a handgun for protection a week ago. He asked me about shooting because he's never fired a gun before. I get real nervous when I meet someone who panic buys a firearm. People usually buy the wrong gun for the application and think that they are John Wick right from the start.
I took him to my range and spent half an hour going over the rules of gun ownership and handling. Mainly don't point it anything you don't want to destroy and DO NOT POINT IT AT ME. He took it well and seems to get that this is not a toy. I finally had him take His gun out of its case, I was surprised at what he bought. He bought a really nice Kimber 1911 in .45 acp mind you he is a slight person weighing no more than 140 pounds. I told him the best that I could that that gun is a but too much for a new shooter but he didn't want to hear it.
I showed him how to stand, hold it and where not to put parts of his hands because of moving parts. I had him load one round in the magazine and shoot it at a cantaloupe. He did it and managed to not hit himself in the face with the gun and was shocked at what happened to the cantaloupe. I had him shoot some more but his hands started killing him. I let him shoot my .22 pistol which made my point about .45 being a bit much. he figured out how he can shoot. He got pretty good after about 50 rounds. I had him finish the box of .45s for his gun to get over his flinch. I'm pretty sure that he "gets it" and isn't going to shoot anything by accident.
My gun club is in a bit of a bind. A bunch of new gun owners that need training and a virus that limits proximity for training.