women

Training, Shooting and Fashion

Cornered Cat|Scratching Post always presents such well-reasoned wisdom.  You should read this link in particular, if you’re not already reading her blog.  Then you should remedy the situation by reading it, regularly.

Kathy Jackson walks us through the thought process of the new female shooting student.  After all, generally women are more concerned with fashion dictates.  (Yes, I know, Brigid, not every woman!  )

Some student concerns:

One person expressed it very well when she wrote, “[The Cornered Cat] course requires a holster type I have no intention of ever using. So that means even more money spent on a holster and clothing that would only be used the days of the class.”

Another person wrote something similar: “I’d have to invest in pants with belt loops, belt, and holster that I would probably never use again just to take one or two classes.”

Kathy intones:

Putting a loaded gun into a holster is the single most dangerous thing anyone ever does in a professional firearms training class.

I remember Jeff Cooper poo-pooing fashion with regard to its dictates versus the need to carry safely.  An  no one would have ever called The Colonel a fashion plate.  After all, what’s more important?

And men, don’t gloss over going to Kathy Jackson’s link because it’s aimed at women.  Her above quote applies to you, as well.

Both in training and (daily) carry, safety should be our foremost concern.  We are dealing with lethal instrumentalities, after all.

Fashion should come second.  Or even farther down the list.

As I’m on disability, my daily wear is usually a colored T-shirt, a long-sleeve over-shirt, Wrangler jeans, a belt from The Wilderness and my diabetic orthopedic walking shoes, with my right one built-up (aka ‘Ed’, the really big shoe).  On more formal occasions, I’ve been known to substitute a polo shirt.  George Clooney eat your heart out!  (I know – your bodyguards probably dress better!)

My shooting wear isn’t much different, except for the addition of my Tilly Hat and eyes/ears.  And sunglasses.

If you need to purchase (or perhaps borrow?) some clothes or holsters to meet the requirements of a particular class, I say go for it.  More training is always better.

h/t Kathy Jackson, Jeff Cooper

Some gotta win, some gotta lose…

Guffaw’s got the blues…

I try not to let the state of the World the Nation my life get to me.  I try not to be self-centered.  I do realize that there’s very little I can do regarding the state of either the World or the Nation.  I’ve let my opinions be known, and I voted.  I’ve spoken out on this blog.  In many places on the globe these things are not allowed, and subject to sever penalties.

But, I can do something about my attitude!  I’m approaching a landmark anniversary in my life (if you reckon in Base 10); I’ve no partner to share it with; no money – on disability (which is both a description of lack of funds and physical ability).

I’ve a number of chronic conditions, and seem to acquire more every day.  I owe medical bills.

I drive a 13 year old car, when I can afford gasoline.

And last Summer, because my disability income is 60% lower than my previous meager income,  I lost my home.  (“We lived in a hallway!”  “We dreamed of living in a hallway-we lived in a cardboard box!” – Monty Python)  Fortunately, a good friend offered me a place to stay.

Two weeks ago, my sister had a minor stroke.  (If there is such a thing).  She’s back to work, and coping, but it does get one’s attention.

But all is not lost.

Re: this upcoming calendar mark – My new neighbor and EX-wife (and friend) contacted me, and asked if she could put a little celebration together in my honor!

HOLY SHNIKIES!!

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, “If you have friends, you have everything!”  You know, like the end of that Christmas movie…

Time to remove my head from it’s regular inverted resting place and get moving.

Thanks for listening.

Women and Guns

Or rather one woman and one gun…

Good friend (and hero) Lonnie emailed me this.  With all the negative imagery regarding the young today, I thought this might be better.

And, besides, women and guns, DUH! 

The REAL Miss America
There’s a Proud Papa out there somewhere.

This 19 year old ex-cheerleader now an Air Force Security Forces Sniper, was watching a road in Pakistan that led to a NATO military base when she observed a man digging by the road. She engaged the target (she shot him).  It turned out he was a bomb maker for the Taliban, and he was burying an IED that was to be detonated when a U.S. patrol walked by 30 minutes later. It would have certainly killed and wounded several soldiers. The interesting fact of this story is the shot was measured at 725 yards. She shot him as he was bent over burying the bomb. The shot went through his rectum and into the bomb which detonated; he was blown to pieces. The Air Force made a motivational poster of her. (Folks, that’s a shot 25 yards longer than seven football fields)

If You Can Not Stand Behind Our Troops, please Feel Free To Stand In Front Of Them!

h/t Lonnie

Kathy FINALLY Does It!

Kathy Jackson (of The Cornered Cat fame) finally started a blog about carrying a firearm for self-defense, and all the attendant issues.

Not just for Women, although that is her focus.  I steer students of both genders to her work because it is honest, direct and compassionate.

You should make her part of her regular reading regimen.  I have.

Her goal:

My goal in producing all this material is to educate and inspire people to take personal responsibility for their own lives and their own safety.

Sounds good to me! - Guffaw

ANOTHER reason to like having moved!

You’ve undoubtedly read here about my adventures earlier this year of being forced out of my home.  Fortunately, I was given a good place to land.

Of course, I’m STILL unpacking and trying to find places for stuff, and adjusting to living in a household with stairs, but, I’m coming along.

My old neighborhood was in the barrio, or at least barrio-adjacent.  A mis-mosh of cultures which generally seemed to get along, albeit in a high-crime environment.  (My home was burgled three separate times in 18 years! – and there were numerous ‘tagging’* incidents).  But, I liked it there.

This new place I’m sharing with a roommate, is in a still diverse neighborhood, but closer to the collegiate culture.  Less crime, little graffiti, and another nice benefit.  Four miles from the university!

College girls jogging.  (YES, I KNOW, I’m a Dirty Old Man!)

Most mornings I get to see attractive young women working to keep fit.  At no cost to me!  (save shots to my ego).  No burglaries or tagging!

Things could be worse.

*tagging – a politically correct nickname for criminal damage, usually done with paint.

Women, Guns and Training

A Girl and Her Gun has become, in her words, ‘the talk of the town’.  Why is this?  Because she was attacked, survived, and is recovering by taking back her life.  And blogging about it.  Learning about firearms, training with top trainers AND training with a force-on-force trainer on how to actively respond.

Not just with a gun, because lethal force isn’t always appropriate.

Some of the gunnie blogosphere have been questioning the force-on-force training.  She did get injured in training.  Is it too much, too intense training?

My impression of the above question is the unanswered suffix - for a girl?

Many of the guys I know have taken formal firearms and self-defense training.  Not Seal Team 6, but certainly more active than just punching holes in paper.  And some have become injured.  I, myself, suffered two cracked ribs as a voluntary target in a karate class.  But, even in today’s theoretically enlightened age, a man getting injured isn’t questioned.  But, a woman?

I’m glad most of the reaction to her training has been positive, because, based on her writing, she certainly is becoming the well-rounded person we all should be.  I’ve a number of female students who’ve advanced to become range officers and firearm trainers themselves.  And others who have become gunnies in their own right.

h/t AGAHG

James Bond

The Aston Martin DB5 (with modifications), and some Scottish guy

In addition to having been largely raised by television, I was also raised by movies.  In order to get rid of me give me something to do on hot Summer afternoons, my Dad would grab up a neighbor kid or two, stuff some money in my pocket, and drop us off at a theater for the afternoon.  Sometimes the other neighborhood fathers would reciprocate.

After all, two feature films, sandwiched around a cartoon and coming attractions would give him almost five hours of peace-and-quiet.  And not cost more than 75 cents per kid for admission + sodas, candy and popcorn.  The only requirement was to make certain I had a dime for the pay phone to call when all was over.  He usually gave me a five-dollar bill to cover it all.

One August evening, one of the other dads called.  It seemed he was taking his boys (including Carl, my best-childhood-friend) to a local drive-in movie to reciprocate.  And he was inviting me!

I was in the middle of watching The Joey Bishop Show, but, I could go for a movie, sure.

And off we went.  It was a double bill, of course.

Two movies I’d never heard of:  Ferry Cross the Mersey and Goldfinger.

And off we went, Carl’s dad, his older brother Vince, Carl and I.

I was hooked!  Not Ferry Cross the Mersey.  I wasn’t particularly into popular music (preferring Bach and Stan Getz) but Goldfinger!  O…M…G!

What a movie to show a pubescent teenaged boy – girls, guns, a hero with superhero qualities, did I say girls?  And a cool car!

Being a completionist, I had to know more, and the next day walked the two miles to Hills Books and Records @ Tempe Center.  I bought the book From Russia With Love, but soon figured out that I needed all the Ian Fleming books, read in order.  I was just starting Seventh Grade.  (and the girls liked to borrow the books to read the naughty parts! – didn’t get me anywhere, though)

Soon, I had the whole set, and read and re-read them.  I still have them (@ .55/.60 a piece!)

And a life long love of a cool guy with cool guns who got the girls was formed.

It didn’t do much for my development and attitudes about women; I had my Dad to mess that up, though.

Sean Connery taking a break during the filming of “Dr. No”.

At least I didn’t end up like this!

Introducing the Girls to Shooting

Annie Oakley

Introducing the Girls Women to Shooting

Mark of A day in the Life of a Talk Radio Blogger points us to an oldy but goody post from John Ross.  You remember John Ross, of the seminal book Unintended Consequences?

Here is the post:

John Ross Stands in for Dear Abby

A friend pointed me to this.

“One of the Internet discussion boards I visit is an exceptionally civil and well-run shooting-oriented board. Recently, a young man posted there, asking for advice. He had met “the girl of his dreams” and in a few days was going to have his first date with her. He was taking her shooting, something she was eager to try and had never done. He did not explain exactly how he’d made the offer, but it was clear he was putting a lot of hope into the upcoming date, and was desperate to have it go well. He listed the guns he had available, and asked which ones he should bring and how he should structure the date at the range.

Most of the advice others gave him was good, as far as it went. They stressed the importance of safety instruction, using light-recoiling guns like .22s, and suggested bringing targets that did something interesting when hit, instead of just punching holes in paper.

These were all valid points, but from the tone of his post, I saw that this man really needed advice focused on a different area. He was obviously a safe shooter and knew to bring light-recoiling arms for a first-timer. His risk was not that the day would go badly if he brought the wrong guns. It was that he would do the kinds of things that men so often do when they decide a woman is “it.” I began to think of this guy as “Anxious in Austin” and myself as the Relationship Advice Columnist. Here is my reply, edited a bit for Ross in Range.

Dear Anxious:

If this really is “the girl of your dreams” I have a few suggestions that don’t have to do with what guns to bring, as others have given you good input on that score.

1. Maintain an air of quiet competence. People in general dislike motormouthed know-it-alls but are impressed when they see knowledge and skill at work. This is doubly true when the activity in question has the potential for danger if safety concerns are ignored.

Explain, don’t lecture, and early on say something like “If I see you doing something dangerous I’m going to stop you immediately. You probably won’t, but I’m telling you this now so you won’t get upset if I raise my voice. I don’t much care about your marksmanship today but I care a great deal about safe gun handling.”

2. Do not fawn over her. Pretty girls get this so much they lose all interest in the guys who kiss up to them. New mindset: You are LETTING HER join you in something exciting. I hope the invitation was “I’m going shooting this weekend–it’s going to be perfect weather and there’s a great range I use. If you’d like to join me I’ll pick you up at 8:30, if you’ve got something to wear that you won’t cry about if it gets a little dirt on it” (said with a grin.)”

Click to go RTWT

A Girl and Her Gun: Comfort Zone therapy

courtesy: A Girl and Her Gun - after kicking her assailant

A Girl and Her Gun posted about a recent training experience, forcing her out of her comfort zone.
Training we should all have.  Men, as well.

As another wise women is (in)famous for saying:

Sometimes…Ya jus’ gotta go to war in the unnerwear ya got on. – Gabrielle F. Dolly East

Speaking for myself, if I fantasize about a possible dangerous encounter (as a serious training tool), I imagine all my shot placement to be ‘A’ Zone, quickly, stopping the miscreants in their tracks.  With nary a hair on my head, or crease in my shirt having been disturbed.  And no sweat having been broken.
In real life, we might have more than one assailant, already have been cut, shot or forced to the ground.  Our pressed clothing might be now wrinkled.  And we might be laying supine, covered in dirt and towered over by multiple bad people.
We cannot plan the scenario – but, we can plan, and train for, our reaction to it!

Think outside the box, as A Girl and Her Gun did.

h/t agirlandhergun, Gabrielle F. Dolly East,

Armed and Nursing

armed w/child

Armed and Pregnant Nursing! has taken us (well, women) past the pregnancy and birth to post-partum weapon and baby carrying.
Obviously, these are issues needing to be addressed as more women are availing themselves of their rights to keep and bear arms, as mothers.
Her previous posts regarding the pregnancy, clothes, comfort AND weapon concealment are eye-opening, as well.
If you’re a woman contemplating motherhood, or the man in her life, this blog is an interesting and informative read with a different perspective.
PS – Lima is also on Facebook!

h/t Lima