This kind of coolness NEVER happens to me.
So I'm at a 50th b-day party today and my cousin Katie comes up behind me and whispers in my ear; "I told Amy I knew just who she needed to talk to. Can you come in the house for a minute? She had a really bad experience yesterday and she wants to get a gun for protection."
I said, "Sure...let's go."
Inside the house, there's a smallish group of people listening to Amy telling about how yesterday her husband went somewhere and about 10 minutes after he left, their dog went NUTSO tearing through the house. She heard a man yell "OH ****!!" and turned the corner in time to see him making a hasty exit out the back with their pit bull on his heels.
She doesn't feel safe...wants to get her LTCH, wants to take some instruction, and wants a gun.
Everybody starts talking about what it takes to get a license and 4 year vs lifetime, etc. ...and I discover most of the men have theirs and one other girl cousin is getting hers in a few months (or wants to).
So after talking about the pros & cons of small/light frames vs heavier as relates to their perceived recoil (yada yada), she asks about carrying in a purse. I told about all the reasons I advocate "on body" carry and wouldn't recommend purse carry unless there was no other way possible...and a couple of the guys said they'd never thought about the fact that women get purse snatched, forget purses in restaurants, have purse straps break, etc.
AND the fact that if a purse snatcher gets your stuff, he's not only got your address and house keys if he feels like paying a visit...now he's coming in armed. THAT made the point hit home.
So one of them asked me, "So what do you personally do? Just ride around with it in your car?" and Katie said, "no, I think she pretty much has it all the time, thank goodness."
One of them said, "so even like right now? You have something on you right now? Like a little revolver or something?" I hedged that question a couple different times because I didn't really know how much info I wanted to give up.
Finally when Amy asked it, I said, "No, I carry a semi-automatic in .45, and yes, I have it on me all the time. Because just like you found out...sometimes bad guys show up in your home."
I waited for some kind of backlash that I knew was coming...and instead, it was a room full of "oohs" and "ahhs" and lots of praise from the guys that shoot.
Amy asked a couple times if she could see my gun and wanted to get a good idea what it felt like in hand (and she's gonna start shopping this coming week!) ... so even though I was reluctant at first... I said, "OK, let's go in the other room and I'll unload it so you can handle it."
All the women went, and three guys did too because they wanted to see what I carried.
I cleared it, showed her how to check that it was empty to verify (and stressed to do this at the stores, too) and she was absolutely loving it.
I told her how to line up the sights and let her dry fire a few times and she said, "I really like this. I think I want to look for something similar."
I heard a couple of the guys behind her murmuring Cooper's Rules...and THAT made me smile!
Some of them that live close to her are going to help her and her husband shop around and help her find a class nearby where she lives and she'll be starting LTCH paperwork shortly!
Long story short(er), four girl cousins and my aunt all want to make a time to come shooting with me!
Sorry this was so long, but man oh man, I couldn't wait to tell someone who would be as excited over new shooters as it made me!
So I'm at a 50th b-day party today and my cousin Katie comes up behind me and whispers in my ear; "I told Amy I knew just who she needed to talk to. Can you come in the house for a minute? She had a really bad experience yesterday and she wants to get a gun for protection."
I said, "Sure...let's go."
Inside the house, there's a smallish group of people listening to Amy telling about how yesterday her husband went somewhere and about 10 minutes after he left, their dog went NUTSO tearing through the house. She heard a man yell "OH ****!!" and turned the corner in time to see him making a hasty exit out the back with their pit bull on his heels.
She doesn't feel safe...wants to get her LTCH, wants to take some instruction, and wants a gun.
Everybody starts talking about what it takes to get a license and 4 year vs lifetime, etc. ...and I discover most of the men have theirs and one other girl cousin is getting hers in a few months (or wants to).
So after talking about the pros & cons of small/light frames vs heavier as relates to their perceived recoil (yada yada), she asks about carrying in a purse. I told about all the reasons I advocate "on body" carry and wouldn't recommend purse carry unless there was no other way possible...and a couple of the guys said they'd never thought about the fact that women get purse snatched, forget purses in restaurants, have purse straps break, etc.
AND the fact that if a purse snatcher gets your stuff, he's not only got your address and house keys if he feels like paying a visit...now he's coming in armed. THAT made the point hit home.
So one of them asked me, "So what do you personally do? Just ride around with it in your car?" and Katie said, "no, I think she pretty much has it all the time, thank goodness."
One of them said, "so even like right now? You have something on you right now? Like a little revolver or something?" I hedged that question a couple different times because I didn't really know how much info I wanted to give up.
Finally when Amy asked it, I said, "No, I carry a semi-automatic in .45, and yes, I have it on me all the time. Because just like you found out...sometimes bad guys show up in your home."
I waited for some kind of backlash that I knew was coming...and instead, it was a room full of "oohs" and "ahhs" and lots of praise from the guys that shoot.
Amy asked a couple times if she could see my gun and wanted to get a good idea what it felt like in hand (and she's gonna start shopping this coming week!) ... so even though I was reluctant at first... I said, "OK, let's go in the other room and I'll unload it so you can handle it."
All the women went, and three guys did too because they wanted to see what I carried.
I cleared it, showed her how to check that it was empty to verify (and stressed to do this at the stores, too) and she was absolutely loving it.
I told her how to line up the sights and let her dry fire a few times and she said, "I really like this. I think I want to look for something similar."
I heard a couple of the guys behind her murmuring Cooper's Rules...and THAT made me smile!
Some of them that live close to her are going to help her and her husband shop around and help her find a class nearby where she lives and she'll be starting LTCH paperwork shortly!
Long story short(er), four girl cousins and my aunt all want to make a time to come shooting with me!
Sorry this was so long, but man oh man, I couldn't wait to tell someone who would be as excited over new shooters as it made me!
There...fixed it for you. You know it's true.
