Another Student’s Adventure…

Then, from work, was another shooting student I’ll call Traci.  Traci was a tall, modelesque young woman, who unfortunately had gained serious weight after her teen modeling years.  Now in early 30′s, she was looking to better protect herself.  And, she was referred to me by another work shooting student.
Like me, she lived in an older, ‘not-so-nice’ part of town, just off a main thoroughfare.  Her neighborhood was just a block away from a bar.  And her rented house faced an alley, not an actual street.  A recipe for problems, if I ever saw one.  She had been looking to move.
I trained her in the basics, introducing her first to .38, then to the 9mm, then the .357 and .45.  Most of my students historically, took to the .45.  I suspect this was because it was what I carried, had an affinity for, and leaned toward in the instruction about calibers, stopping power, and Col. Cooper’s teachings.
We’d also done a little unarmed training.
Then, she told me she saw ‘the gun of her dreams’ in a pawn shop, and that was what she was going to buy and carry.  A Smith & Wesson Combat Magnum .357, blue, 2 1/2 barrel!
She’d shot my Model 65, but I’d never dreamed she was leaning toward a revolver.  A .357 revolver snubbie, at that!
Like some students, she liked the blast and flash.  Literally!
She acquired the revolver, and we shot it a few times for familiarization.  She named it her “Little Buddy”.
Some months later, she told me the story of an encounter she had experienced.
She left her house one night, walking in to the dark alley.  Dressed to the nines, evening gown, tiny purse (containing ‘Little Buddy’ and not much else) and stiletto heels.

Just as she got into the alley, a male assailant grabbed her from behind.
We keep hearing we revert to our training in times of stress.
She screamed, stepped backward, placing all her somewhat significant weight with her stiletto heel on the man’s instep.  He released his bear hug, yelled, and fell backward.  She stepped forward, spun around, and cleared her Smith from the purse.  She was now in full-Weaver stance presentation.  I’m certain, even in the blackness, she appeared quite formidable.  The assailant scrambled off, limping hurriedly away.
I asked if she called the PD.  She said no, as she didn’t have much of a description of the bad guy (except the limp) as it was quite dark.  And, she’d not been carrying legally, anyway – no permit, yet.
She did move shortly after.
Always have a gun.  Or at least, a stiletto.

h/t ‘Traci’