Empowering women

Yesterday was such an amazingly fun day. I attended a Women on Target shooting clinic which was held at a gun club in a small town not far from here. Although I groaned about getting up so early on a non-working Saturday, it was a gorgeous morning to be up and going. As I approached the club grounds, I pulled in line of women driving minivans, SUVs, and sedans..almost as if we were turning into the mall. There were 25 of us of all ages. Some were a bit, shall we say, on the rough side, but most were regular gals who wanted to more comfortable handling firearms particularly for self-protection and sport. A few wanted to hunt. That was fine. I'm not that interested in killing critters but I do enjoy the sport of shooting.

The instruction was one on one, done primarily by retired military and cops. They were so patient and skilled and I know they were volunteering their time to teach us. We shot assorted 22. handguns first thing. Later we shot trap. I never thought I could do that, but I did and it was sooooo fun. My next excursion may be to a wingshooting clinic. In fact one of my shotgun instructors will lead one in October and it's absolutely free. It would be excellent practice for the firefighters annual turkey shoot in November.

As I drove home I reflected on the day. We didn't talk about our husbands or boyfriends. We didn't talk about our kids or jobs. We just talked about shooting and our delight at learning new skills. Our confidence soared as the day progressed. We high fived and clapped for one another after a good round and encouraged the gals who had had a disappointing one.

At lunch I sat with one gal who had gone on one of the NRA sponsored women's hunting trips. She'd gone wild boar hunting in Tennessee. Her eyes sparkled as she related the story of getting her boar. The boar was processed there and she brought the meat home. She said it tasted a lot like regular pork. Talk about bringing home the bacon! Her boar's head will soon be hanging on a wall in her home. Wouldn't that be some conversation piece?

A lot of us had not grown up with guns in our homes, but nearly all of us wanted to know how to use one for self-protection. One woman travels up to Chicago a lot and was disappointed to learn the city now has a handgun ban. In a high crime area where it would be very nice for a single woman to carry her own protection, it is illegal. The running joke was the Illinois State Police's web site's suggestion that women carry a teasing brush to ward off any assailants. The gals under forty didn't even know what a teasing brush was! Fortunately most in law enforcement think that recommendation is as silly as we did and that was a big reason we were there.