More women want to learn how to shoot guns. Look at the growth of groups like A Girl & A Gun, the Sure Shots. NPR just did a story on it.

And in the two classes we held yesterday at KR Training, there’s no question about women’s growing interest in shooting. About half the folks in both classes were women.

I don’t know all their reasons, but it’s evident many come to overcome. It may be to overcome lack of knowledge about guns. It may be to overcome their fear of guns. It may be to overcome fear of the crazy ex. Some come because they accept their male partner nor society’s appointed protectors won’t and cannot always be around to protect them. Some come because it’s just a fun time to do something with their girlfriends. Whatever the reason, it’s great they come.

I support a woman’s right to chose. She can choose to remain ignorant, or choose to gain knowledge. She can choose to remain at the mercy of others, or choose to empower herself. She can choose to remain in fear, or choose to gain confidence. She can choose Glock or choose Smith & Wesson… just please, don’t choose Sig. 😉

And so, Basic Pistol 1 proceeded as it does, introducing folks to handguns, with a large emphasis on safety, and laying good foundations to build upon. It’s always a trip to watch people’s expressions after they shoot for the first time. You see some overcome their fears — especially evident when they look at you and eagerly ask “Can I shoot that again?” 🙂

Yes, guns can be scary, but it’s amazing how gaining even a little bit of truthful knowledge overcomes that fear.

Basic Rifle 1 is a brand new course. There’s a growing curiosity in rifles, but many don’t know how to jump into the pool. So we took the Basic Pistol curriculum and modified it for rifle, since at that level, a lot of the structure remains the same. Big emphasis on safety, fundamental shooting positions and skills, and then shooting a lot of rifles. One difference was instead of being more “brand-focused” like Basic Pistol 1 is, there’s such a wider variety of options with rifles be it brands, models, actions, calibers, purposes, that instead we focused on action types. What’s a pump? what’s a semi-auto? what’s a lever-action? what’s a bolt-action? What’s this “AR” thing and why is it so cool? Shoot a few of them, see how they work, roll from there.

BTW, there are some that think AR’s are too hard for women to use and “traditional rifles” are better. Hogwash and ignorance. You should have seen the ladies in this BR1 class.

For a first class, it went alright. John, Tom, and I spoke afterwards and we’ve got ideas on what to improve, what to refine. Always striving to be better.

Oh, where was Karl? He and Penny were helping with the NSSF’s Scholastic Pistol Program. I hope there will be a write-up of the event soon, because I spoke with Karl on the phone during my drive home. He told me about what went on and it sounded like a spectacular day. What sounds even better is hearing about the caliber (pun intended) of the kids involved in that program. Hard-working, dedicated, good sportsmanship, no drama, positive, happy… gives me hope for our future.

The weather was awesome, the people great. And I got to stop into Buc-Ee’s. Made for a great day. 🙂