WE GO ARMED

Like many women during the holidays, Sandra Kozak received jewelry from her husband. He also gave her a semiautomatic Bersa Thunder .380 pistol.

Kozak, 24, said her husband gave her the gun so she could protect herself against intruders. She is often at their Freeport home alone with their two young children during his extended shifts at work.

“I’m having to stay at home with two babies,” Kozak said. “It’s just for my safety because there was a break-in next door to where we live.”

Kozak, who never had shot a gun until a private lesson Friday, plans to apply for a concealed handgun license, and next week she plans to take the required class to obtain it.

Learning gun control
Gary Broadus, owner of Brazosport Security & Self-Defense Institute, gives Sandra Kozak of Freeport a gun safety lesson at the Greenwood Gun Club near Brazoria Friday. Brazoria, Galveston and Montgomery counties are among areas in Texas with highest gun ownership per capita.

If her license is approved by the state, Kozak will join the ranks of Brazoria County’s more than 4,100 concealed handgun license owners.

Currently, there are more than 222,800 concealed handgun licenses active in the state, 4,174 of which are in Brazoria County, according to Department of Public Safety records.

Brazoria County is among Texas counties with the most licensed gun holders per capita.

Slightly more than one in every 100 adults in Texas can legally carry a pistol. In Brazoria, Galveston and Montgomery counties that ratio is three in every 100 adults.

According to December DPS statistics, cities having the most active concealed handgun licenses include Alvin, with 815 licenses; Pearland, with 1,215; the Lake Jackson area, with almost 600 and the Angleton area with about 420. The Freeport area, which includes the cities of Jones Creek, Oyster Creek, Surfside Beach and Quintana, had almost 600 permits, state records indicate.

The Brazoria area had 253 active licenses, the Sweeny area had 121, the Danbury area had 52, the Manvel area had 140, the Rosharon area had 143 and the Clute and Richwood area had about 170.

To obtain a concealed handgun license, Texas residents must pay a $140 fee, provide identification and fingerprints and take a handgun course.

Anyone with a felony conviction, certain misdemeanor convictions, pending criminal charges, drug or alcohol dependency or certain psychological diagnoses can not get a license. Also, people with defaults on taxes, governmental fees, student loans or child support are not eligible for a concealed handgun license.

Area law enforcement officers said while the numbers may be high, they have not encountered problems because of people carrying concealed handguns.

“The licensed handgun owner ... has not created a problem, to the best of my knowledge, in Brazoria County so far,” said Charles Wagner, chief deputy for the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Department.

Wagner attributed the high number of licensed handgun owners to the county’s rural nature.

“You have the people that are out in the countryside, out where the roads are a little more lonely,” Wagner said. “They might feel they want the gun along for protection.”

Wagner said the county’s significant number of outdoor sportsmen also might be a cause for some concealed handgun licenses.

“They’ve got licenses so they don’t have to worry about carrying the gun back and forth to the range,” he said.

Alvin Police Chief Mike Merkel agreed sports enthusiasts and people seeking protection were the key component for the county’s high number of licenses.

“I think one of America’s No. 1 fears is the fear of being victimized,” Merkel said. “We spend a lot of money buying security-related items or equipment ... and there are many of us that have never been victimized, but it’s a preventative kind of measure we use to feel good about minimizing the risk, should there be a risk.”

Merkel said Alvin’s high number of licenses also might be because Alvin Community College teaches handgun licensing classes.

Gary Broadus, who teaches one-day handgun license courses in Clute, said more than 3,000 people have taken his courses since 1996.

“The main reason I’ve seen people get the license is the right to go ahead and carry the gun in the car while traveling,” Broadus said.

Broadus said the majority of people who take the class are men aged 35 to 40, but women are increasingly becoming licensed.

After Sandra Kozak fired her first rounds into the target, each bullet hitting within the target’s chest area, she said she was glad for the experience.

Gunfire sounds (and 'feels') twice as loud at an indoor range -- Use good ear protectors and shoot outdoors if you can.

Recoil and muzzle blast affect everyone, and some are more sensitive than others. Dogs have this problem also -- many are 'gunshy', running from any loud noise.

"Flinch" can be hard to cure, and shooters should avoid its onset. I have shot several sidearms without hearing protection -- a .22 will 'ring' my ears, plugs are a must with a 9mm/.38, and you might want to consult a physician after shooting a magnum pistol without hearing protection.

Be aware of 'side-spit' from revolvers, ported barrels, and recoil brakes -- noise, powder particles , etc. can be nasty if any part of your anatomy is unprotected! ( Long-barrelled rifles and shotguns are much more powerful of course, but with less blast and noise for the shooter.)

As for those tired arms, try a solidly-braced shooting position like the popular 'isosoles stance', with both arms straight out. It's supposed to be the best for accurate fire, and will keep the pistol away from your face!

I've told this story here before, but it's been a while, so here goes-

Goblin tried to carjack my girlfriend (20+ years ago, before we even had the term) in a parking lot in downtown austin around 0200. she'd let her girlfriend in on the passenger side, went around and got in the driver's seat. They're laughin/joking, my GF is starting the car...Suddenly a large guy comes slamming in through the open door, pushing her across the seat, and saying "I'm driving-we're going to have a party." My GF's friend gets her legs across the seat, back against the door, and is trying to push the guy out- while he punches/bites my GF.

GF manages to get the car in reverse, and hit the gas. Door scrapes him off. She stops the car about 25 yards away, and shuts the door. Goblin is starting to get to his knees. Girlie has a case of the @$$...and puts the lever in "D", for "Don't think so." Ran him down like a dog, and kept going.

Now she knows better- should have stopped, put it in "R"- "REALLY Don't Think So" run over him again, and get to a phone. call the police, cry, show bloody lip/bite marks, keep saying "I thought I was going to die" etc. and be vague about the exact sequence of events.

Texas cops, even in Austin, really, really don't like rapists.

final thought: ladies, that car has a HELL of a lot more stopping power than any gun-if some ambulatory stool sample is threatening your life, use it.

I'm glad to see more women shooting.

With CCW permits running 90%-10% in favor of men, there is a huge untapped marked there.

If more gun shop owners would stop treating folks like crap and tyring to rip them off (poor customer service at gun shops seems to be the norm instead of the exception), more women would shoot.

The report and recoil were much more than I expected and I started anticipating and flinching. Plus my arms and shoulders started getting tired.

A good instructor can fix that by loading the magazine with a round and cocking it, or unbeknownst to you, cocked with no round in the chamber.

He carefully hands the gun to you (keeping it pointed downrange), you take up your regular shooting stance and squeeze the trigger. If it goes *click* and the barrel dips violently, you have a flinch. As the instructor randomly either loads or unloads the pistol, you will begin to lose that flinch entirely--until the hammer drops *click* and the gun remains steady...

Get a 'snap-cap' to protect the firing pin and practice dry firing--safely--at home. That really helps to.

Part of my trouble is that I think my ears are particularly sensitive to sudden, loud noises

Get the best ear muffs you can. Don't get the cheapest set out there, pay the extra money to get something that will work for you.

The noise reduction of earmuffs is rated in decibels. All you need to know about that is that a bigger number is better, and every 3 decibel increase doubles the noise suppression.

For indoor shooting. I use a pair of Remington M-31 earmuffs I bought here for $30.

They provide about 8 times the noise suppression as the cheaper muffs. Using these muffs, I can shoot 357 rounds all day at an indoor range with no discomfort at all.

Invest in good ear-plugs AND ear-muffs. Believe me, they help.

And safety glasses. Make sure you have plastic lenses. Don't wear anything with glass lenses: I have a separate pair of polarized sunglasses for driving and a pair with polycarbonate lenses for shooting.

If you spend an significant time on a shooting range, get electronic hearing protection. You can hear people talking, but the circuit will shut off when the noise exceeds a certain level (i.e. a gunfire). Since you can hear, you will be less likely to remove them, and less likely to forget to put them back on or be caught with them off when someone else is shooting.

Yo! CAT!

Did you get the part about eye protection?

Thanks a million, JustLurking. I plain forgot about the most vital protection that a shooter needs.

Take this to heart, Wimpycat. Even an empty casing from a .22 semi-auto can take your eye out. Much less a case breach (explosion).

Don't worry, the firing range where I took my class was totally professional all the way. Yes, we wore eye protection and those headphone thingies. A lot of cops and state troopers and military reservists hang out there.

My hubby and I were talking about going together to take the same class I took. I'm pro 2nd-Amendment and all that, but personally I am intimidated by guns, not exactly afraid, but intimidated, so if I do this, I'm going to make sure I do everything the right way. I look on it as a challenge, so I'll be confident handling guns the right way. At this point we have no plans on purchasing a handgun, but still, you never know when you'll come into contact with them, so I think it's important to know how to handle them properly.

Thanks, Cat, and you too Lurker.

I seldom give advice about firearms because it is very easy to forget something vital (eye protection being an example).

For someone like myself who was raised with firearms it is easy to forget that they are NOT household appliances.

Exactly. Even learning how to hold a gun properly doesn't come naturally. After a lifetime of cap guns and water pistols, what was the first thing I did when I picked up that rubber dummy revolver in the gun class? My finger went right for the trigger. Holding my index finger to the side of the...stock, I guess you call it, was completely unnatural for me and I had to consciously remember not to put my finger on the trigger until the moment I was ready to fire.

Practice, practice, practice...you don't want someone like me around a gun unless I know what I'm doing. That's why I want to take that beginner's class over again, since it's been a couple of years.

Oh, by the way. I am watching the Mel Gibson flic "We were soldiers".

One of the very first lines in that flic is; "I hope you like training, 'cause me and the Sergeant Major LOVE it.

What I'm getting at here is that you fight the way you train. When the poo-poo hits the fan, you will grab the weapon you have trained with and respond the way you trained.

Now if you are caught without a firearm, you can still make a household fixture a weapon. But that is another thread,

Ma'am.

No disrespect, but you need training from the very basics.

Try to find an NRA certified instructor, and please don't touch a gun without an instructor present.

Hey, we all had to learn sometime! Now it's your turn. :)

For someone like myself who was raised with firearms it is easy to forget that they are NOT household appliances.

LOL, that is my attitude as well, every wednesday I take out my CC weapon, a .32 CZ 70 and clean it and oil it. The neighbor fron next door stopped by, and I thought she was going to have a heart attack. Had no idea why she looked so skocked, then realized, duh, the woman is scared to death of guns. Didn't click with me for like 30 seconds.

Of course, you don't need to tell me this!

I would never get near a gun without a trained person present. And the firing range in the next town has NRA certified instructors. Don't worry about me!! I already told you I want to do it the right way.

I'm thinking of buying a water pistol or a cap gun, just so I can practice picking it up and holding it so that I never point it at anyone...and also keep my damn finger off the trigger! I want to do that before I even think of signing up for the next class. With someone like me, it's better to be underconfident than overconfident, don't you agree?

Don't think I'm that bad with a gun, though. I just don't trust myself. When I was handling the gun, I didn't do anything stupid. I know that all guns are loaded and that they never "just go off" by themselves. Whenever you pick up a gun, the first thing you do is check the safety and then to see if it's loaded, which means checking the chamber, too. I don't remember exactly how you go about doing those things, but I do remember that that is what you do. See? I remember that much from my gun safety class. I couldn't tell you all the parts of the gun anymore, I forgot most of it, but I did remember that much.

Oh yeah, I also remember something about how you load the bullets into the magazine, something about not packing them too tight or there's some careful way you need to do it to avoid...ahhhh...to avoid...oh, shoot, I can't remember. But I know you have to load the bullets a certain way, or else something bad might happen.

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