Posted on 05/05/2006 11:41:41 PM PDT by tarawa
They get manicures, they wear make-up and some are dead-eye shots.
They're average women, buying guns and learning how to shoot them--- even in a life-or-death situation.
The National Rifle Association has caught on with a new magazine targeting women.
"Women's Outlook" features female gun owners hunting, shooting in competitions and learning how to defend themselves.
Women packing heat is a national trend that’s also happening here in the Valley.
“Partly because we're women, partly because we're so young, when we come in here a lot of people are very surprised,” said Lauren Chase, 20, a regular customer at The Range in Fresno, a firing range that’s open to the public.
A girlfriend brought Lauren brought to The Range a few months ago, and the two young women have been shooting together ever since.
“The first one was so scary,” said Lauren about the first time she fired a shot with her instructor.
“He started me with one of the biggest guns. It was like a 45 caliber,” she added.
Will Ayres teaches Lauren and many other female students how to handle a gun.
He said Lauren and Christine are part of a growing trend.
“Going through most of my private lessons, the majority of my really, really top shooters are females,” Ayes said.
Women take up shooting as a hobby or a competitive sport.
But Ayres said the number one reason female customers at The Range pick up a gun for the first time is self defense.
Keli Maire trains women to defend themselves using martial arts and plain common sense.
She said learning to shoot or buying a gun are decisions women need to make carefully.
“Owning a gun and being able to use a gun are two different things,” Maire said. She also said the question of whether a gun will mean more safety has a different for each woman.
Shooting an attacker or an intruder is also much more difficult than it looks in movies or on television, especially in a high stakes situation.
“Buying a gun for personal defense is a really big responsibility,” Ayres said. “It takes a lot of time to sit down and think about, am I capable of using this to save my own life?”
He said any woman who doesn’t feel she could use a weapon to defend herself under pressure should reconsider bringing a gun into her home.
Statistics from gun control groups may also make some women want to reconsider. By the numbers, you’re 20 times more likely to shoot someone who lives in your home than to shoot an intruder.
It’s also three times more likely that you or someone who lives in your home will be murdered.
That’s why instructors say women need as much professional training as possible.
Becoming an accurate marksman-- or woman-- takes time.
Lauren Chase said she wasn’t ready to buy a gun for her own home just yet, but she was considering getting her own weapon in the future.
“I don't really feel the need for it for self defense,” she said. “I'm just doing it because it's something Ienjoy. Later on down the line, probably, I might.”
But down the line, Chase said she would also know what to do just in case she ever has to pull the trigger.
Basil, this one's up your alley.....
The fear of firearms spread by the gun control groups sets people up to remain unarmed. If you don't have a firearm and haven't taken the time to pracice, you have no means of defending yourself. An attacking criminal isn't going to hold off 40 minutes while the 911 operator finds an officer who can respond to your urgent need for help. You need immediate access to a firearm and skills to use it effectively.
Any reporter printing this most thoroughly debunked 'statistic' should be smacked up side the head just before his or her editor fires them.
L
"Statistics from gun control groups may also make some women want to reconsider. By the numbers, you’re 20 times more likely to shoot someone who lives in your home than to shoot an intruder."
"It’s also three times more likely that you or someone who lives in your home will be murdered. "
Where did these stats come from?????
They were cut from whole cloth.
Looks like a great place to pick up a good woman :)
A 45 caliber would look quite nice in my Gucci purse :). Maybe something in black? Or no, maybe metal . . . but black goes with everything. Oh, decisions I can't decide. I'll take both.
Not sure what this means.
Probably an AP poll.
Cobra64 wrote: Not sure what this means.
Envision, instead of a woman shopping for scarves at Sax Fifth Avenue, a woman (namely myself) shopping for a 45 caliber at Sax or even a gun store, but the woman still has the Sax 'attitude'. The sentences after the smily face, would be what she would be saying. Hope that helps.
I got it. :-)
Gotta match the shoes, the purse - and the gun!
lol!
I've been talking about getting a gun (and learning how to use it) for a long time now. Trouble is, you'd have to know what a klutz I am to know how afraid I am that's I'll shoot myself (or anyone else, for that matter), accidently.
Of course, I guess that's what lessons are for.
Meanwhile;
I have a tazer
And I know how to use it. :-)
A while back I visited my sister who was going through some problems with her ex (stalking and such.) She moved to Texas because the anti-stalking laws are rigorously enforced there and she can use deadly force to defend herself.
She has a very nice .40 caliber handgun that she packs and she is a very good shot -- at a shooting contest she missed only one shot out of 50 at 50 feet.
(Personally I think the reason why she scored so well is that she envisioned her ex as the target.)
freepmail to you sneakers
Oh... I see your afraid that you may shoot yourself or someone else but you have a tazer. Aren't you afraid you might taze yourself or someone else? Taking lessons would make you as comfortable with a gun as you are with the tazer.
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