Chicks with Guns

"Level with me - are you just a bunch of man-hating, renegade, femme fatale chicks with guns?"

I love it when people ask me stuff like that about our chapter meetings, because at least guys like that have the nerve to say what they're thinking and give me a chance to reshape that image.

So here's the answer: No - No - No - Yes

I won't speak for everyone in the group, but I think for the most part we are not man-hating. I for one am very happily married to my best friend and know beyond a doubt there is no way I could tackle a project like organizing something like this without his input, understanding, and support. No hating going on there. As for the rest of the men in my life, I've been pretty fortunate to have encountered enough of the good ones to offset the ones that aren't so, well, good. No hating there either. We love you... ...man.

Renegade - n, 1. One who rejects a religion, cause, allegiance, or group for another; a deserter.
                       2. An outlaw; a rebel.
                 adj. Of, relating to, or resembling a renegade; traitorous.
Nope - nothing outlaw-ish or traitorous going on here. The one construct I'll admit to there is rebellion. We refuse to give in to the social standard that guns are for guys. If that makes us rebels, well I've been called worse!

La Femme Fatale - deadly woman. Nothing quite as dramatic as all that. We like to talk tough but the reality is we're all mothers (with or without kids) and as such we are all hardwired to protect life, not destroy it.

So that leaves us as "chicks with guns". That might be over simplifying things a bit but maybe not so much. We spend our meetings discussing lofty goals like self-protection, standing up for our 2nd Amendment rights, and teaching our kids how to handle guns. That's all well and good, but let's get to the point. We LIKE guns! There's nothing wrong with that!! Those of us who have been doing this "gun thing" for a little bit know how beneficial an hour at the range can be for our mood. Compound that with the positive energy we get from being around like-minded women and we're virtually unstoppable. We are well armed women - hear our muzzles ROAR!

And that's the gritty truth behind what we're doing. Society has spent decades convincing us we are the weaker sex, that guns and knives and mud tires are frivolous at best and scary at worst and meant only for neanderthals and rednecks (I can say that b/c I am one!)(redneck that is - I'll apologize to any neanderthals reading this). Those aren't things civilized ladies embrace, surely not something our "sugar and spice" role models would encourage us to enjoy. Does that sound about right for a well-balanced universe?

Well - I'm doing everything I can to rock that universe.

See your daughters have new role models these days. Your daughters live in a world where, if they choose to do so, they can defend the country they love on the front lines of combat right alongside their brothers in arms. Your daughters live in a world where evil exists and won't wait for them to call someone else with a gun to come help them. Your daughters live in a world where stereotypes are broken every day, people are stepping outside their comfort zones, and the only thing growing fast enough to rival the national debt is the number of women joining the ranks of the American gun owner.

Women are breaking away from the constructs that for years have let us believe we aren't supposed to like things like guns. Our group is one of many leading the way. We're educating women in the world of firearms but at the same time we're educating the world about women. We don't have to fit the mold, it's time to forge a new mold that fits us.

Our role models, ladies, frequently ARE chicks with guns. They are Olympic champions bringing home the gold for the USA Shooting team. They are the 73 year old woman attending our meetings learning how to protect herself with a firearm, having fun with other ladies, and refusing to be a victim. They are characters in movies asking "Why do I get the girl gun?!?" They are women who see the line drawn in the sand and refuse to back down from what they know is right.

We're working hard to promote a positive image, not only for our group but for women everywhere. At the end of the day, though, we can't deny... girls wanna have fun. And sometimes... girls wanna have guns!

                           "Do you actually get into this whole gun thing?!?" 
We'd been out to dinner with our husbands that evening and the guys were discussing their firearms, what they'd like to have, what they'd REALLY like to have, etc. During the conversation I'd added my two cents on topics like gun control and whether or not anyone needs 30 rounds in one magazine. We were sharing some drinks back at their house when my girlfriend turned to me and asked me just that. 

Do I actually get into this whole gun thing?

Well here's the thing. Unlike some other conversations my husband gets into with his buddies, this is one where I actually have an interest, an opinion, and frequently a point to make. Because yes, I actually get into this whole gun thing.

See I grew up in the country. And I don't mean the suburbs with a couple trees in the backyard, I mean on a dirt road cutting through miles of un-manicured woods where your nearest neighbor might be less than a mile up the road, but not likely, and we rarely experienced snow days because even with 8" of snow on the ground the bus drivers threw chains on the tires and by golly we went to school! So I grew up with guns in the house. I can't say that I grew up shooting guns, because I just wasn't interested as a kid. But I didn't grow up afraid of them by any means. They were just part of life. 

Fast forward -a few- years. A while back my husband decided we should have a gun in the house for home protection, because we now live out in the country (only it's not really because the road is paved and I can see my neighbor's house, but it's a relative thing). He shopped around and decided on a Glock 27. Decent size for home protection, big enough to be a "man's gun" but small enough he thought I could probably shoot it if I had to. I wasn't at all familiar with handguns, but I decided I wasn't going to have something in my house that was supposed to protect me and not know how to use it. Like anything else I take on, it wasn't enough for me to know how to pull the trigger and make it go BANG. I wanted to know how to use it well. 

After a couple of visits to the range, determining I was not only capable of shooting it but also pretty decent at hitting what I pointed it at, we decided the next step would be to take the concealed carry class together. On that Sunday in early December, one of the instructors let me borrow his Bersa Thunder .380 for the firing portion of the class. That settled it, and for Christmas that year the only thing on my list was a solid black Bersa Thunder .380 CC. Ladies - if you want to know how to get your husband to buy you exactly what's on your Christmas list, put a gun on it! 

From then on I was officially into this gun thing. 

I'm now the owner of -a few- handguns, each one is my favorite for it's own purpose. My husband and I have a new favorite date-night location: the local firing range. I'll soon be a certified NRA Pistol Instructor. But it wasn't until my girlfriend asked me, somewhat incredulously, if I was actually into it that I realized a lot of women have never had someone as patient and fun as my husband is to learn to shoot with. They've heard the conversations and dismissed firearms as a "guy thing". Maybe they've wondered briefly what it's all about, if it's hard to do, if guns are as scary as the media makes them out to be. 

Well ladies here it is:  it's all about a lot of things, it's not hard to do, and nothing in life is as scary as the media makes it out to be. 

Fast forward again. Last fall I was cruising Facebook and saw a post from one of my favorite fan pages, The Well Armed Woman. The founder had this great idea and she was reaching out to her readers asking if any of us would be interested in starting a local chapter of her group in our areas. The goal of which would be to educate, equip, and empower other women by teaching them the ins and outs of firearms and giving them a safe, non-threatening environment in which they could learn at their own pace what this gun thing is all about. 

I don't know if she was prepared for the response she got. 

To date I think there are 25 (and that number increases daily) active chapters of The Well Armed Woman, including one rapidly growing group of ladies in the Dayton OH area. When I decided to go for it I initially thought we would start off bringing in 5-10 interested women. Might eventually have to get creative and make room for 20-25. At our first meeting and shooting event last weekend we welcomed 41 women. I was amazed, excited, nervous, thrilled, flabbergasted... mostly I think I was a little relieved. See as it turns out, I'm not the only woman in the area getting into this whole gun thing. As a matter of fact, judging from the emails I've gotten, the number of LIKES on our fan page (and isn't that the true indicator of any group's social status?), and the ever growing number of email addresses already entered into the group's distribution list I think it's safe to say word is out--

Glocks aren't just for jocks. Derringers aren't only for dudes. Berettas aren't for boys only. 

Women are embracing the world of firearms and not surprisingly it's hugging right back. Our host range and classroom facility, Fox Shooting Loft, has been beyond enthusiastic, supportive and generous in letting us invade their domain. It's possible the only people more excited about getting this chapter off the ground than the ladies it's drawing together are the guys at the store handing out flyers to help us get the word out to the community. 

So here we are. If you decide to follow this blog you'll get a glimpse of our journey as it unfolds. You'll get to see why women are the fastest growing demographic among new gun owners, what we're learning in the group, and you might also learn something about guns along the way. You may even want to see if there's a chapter in your area, and if there isn't you might get froggy and decide to start one yourself. 

So what ever happened with my girlfriend and her curiosity about this gun thing? Well she agreed to let me take her to the firing range a couple of weeks later. Must be something magical about that little .380 because it wasn't long before it showed up on HER wish list. Be careful ladies, this gun thing is contagious!  

~Becky 

*The Well Armed Woman, LLC can be found at www.thewellarmedwoman.com

*North Dayton OH chapter of TWAW can be found on FB at   www.facebook.com/TheWellArmedWomanNorthDaytonOH