Ladies Shooting League!

Posted on by Melissa

I have just discovered a ladies-only shooting league called A Girl and A Gun. It’s mainly in Texas, so I hadn’t heard of it sooner, but they are opening a chapter in Colorado Springs! I was so excited when I found out, because I just haven’t had a lot of opportunities to go shooting lately. unfortunately my world doesn’t revolve around shooting. I do have a regular (non-gun related) job that keeps me pretty busy. I have a wonderful family. I recently decided I’m going to go back to school. But through all that, I still have to make time for what I’m passionate about, and that will always be shooting.

I’m so excited to meet other women who share my passion! There’s just not a lot of us out there, and here in Colorado Springs, before A Girl and A Gun, there wasn’t any way for us to get together. But here’s the best part: not only am I going to be a member, but they’ve asked me to be an instructor! We’re still working out all the details, but I will be at the Pikes Peak Gun Club on June 5 for the chapter launch. It’s going to be a lot of fun, so if you’re in the area, come by between 6 and 8pm. Hope to see you there!

Rifle Instructor Workshop

Posted on by Melissa

So as you may already know, I’m an NRA Certified Pistol Instructor, and have been for about two years. I decided that I wanted to extend my credentials, and I figured my next step was rifle. Luckily, my husband happens to be an NRA Training Counselor, and he was teaching a Rifle Instructor Workshop this weekend. Now I know what you’re thinking, “Well he’s your husband, so of course he’ll just let you slide though the class and sign your certificate!” That’s not how my husband operates, and that’s definitely not how I operate. I put everything I had into this class, and I learned a lot.

What made our class even more fun was that there were only six of us, and we were all already pistol instructors. We traded off teaching each other the sections from the basic rifle class, so that we can teach our own NRA Basic Rifle class. I already knew two people in the class, so we were joking around, having a great time. The only time we weren’t having a great time was getting into the different shooting positions. On Saturday, we were “teaching” each other how to get into the positions, and on Sunday we were at the range actually shooting from the six different positions. A couple of the positions were VERY uncomfortable. The sitting position, as I’m demonstrating here, was the worst!

By the end of the first day, my back was killing me! But it was worth it, since I passed the class and will soon have my credentials to teach the NRA Basic Rifle class! Next step: SHOTGUN!

Shoot like a girl if you can! My second trip to Frontsight

Posted on by Melissa

What an awesome week! I just got back from Frontsight Firearms Training Institute. This time I went with all “my boys,” my husband, brother-in-law, and 17 year old nephew. My husband took the four day tactical shotgun class, and my brother-in-law, nephew, and I took the four day defensive handgun class. If you’ve followed my blog before, you’ll know that I’ve already taken the two day defensive handgun class from Frontsight. The four day class goes above and beyond the two day class, and I was excited to review the skills I learned from the two day class, and to learn more advanced skills.

The neat part about this trip to Frontsight was that I was able to experience how easy it is to travel with guns. We had 3 pistols and a tactical shotgun with us. We were traveling with a lot of gear, so we were quite a spectacle! We had the shotgun and my Glock in a (very heavy) rifle case. Each of us had a suitcase, and we also had two carry-ons. We had the other two pistols in a hard sided case in one of our suitcases. You must have the guns in a hard sided case, and they must be padlocked, not TSA locks. So all we had to do was go up to the airline’s ticket counter and let them know we were traveling with firearms. The ticket counter lady’s reaction was the same as if we’d told her we were traveling with clothing. All we had to do was fill out a form that went into the cases, and the lady just wanted to see that the actions were open and the guns were unloaded. Then TSA takes them and x-rays the cases, and then they take the guns and put them in the belly of the plane. The only slight restriction is that you can only have eleven pounds of ammunition per piece of luggage. That’s it! We decided to buy the ammo in Las Vegas so we didn’t have the extra weight, since we needed 600 rounds each, and my husband needed 500 shotgun shells.

The class itself was intense. Our days started at 5:30am. We stayed in Las Vegas, so we had to drive about 45 minutes to get out to Frontsight, which is near Pahrump. We had to be at the range at 8am, except on the first day, we had to be there at 6:30am for check-in. We were on the range from 8am to about 5pm. There were forty students in our class, and we were divided up into two relays. One relay would be shooting, while the second relay lined up behind them acting as coaches. This made the range very safe, with twenty sets of eyes plus our instructors and our rangemaster. The only time someone got hurt was if their gun bit them, so a Band-Aid fixed that right up. Or, if it was me, I was in a hurry doing a tactical reload, and my magazine bit me, and I have a nice blood blister on my thumb.

Out of the forty students in our class, there were about ten women. Not to brag, but the women were out-shooting the men most of the time! At one point, we had a steel target competition. This included a hostage target, and two other “bad guys” behind him, all made of steel. Steel is extremely fun to shoot, because it moves when you hit it, and makes a very satisfying “tink” sound when you hit it. Most of the women in our class out-shot the men in the steel competition. Our rangemaster’s best quote for the entire class was “Shoot like a girl if you can!” Unfortunately I didn’t do as well in the competition, but I only lost because my opponent shot the bad guys faster, but I didn’t shoot the hostage, like a lot of people did!

The best part of this trip to Frontsight was going with my family. Even though my husband wasn’t on the range with me, I got to spend time with my brother-in-law and my nephew. It made our class so much more enjoyable, because we all get along really well. We had a great time on the 45 minute drive back to Vegas because that was our “debrief” time. We would talk about “that guy” on the range, or the funny things our rangemaster said. We also heard about what happened in the shotgun class from my husband. I was so proud of how much my nephew took in all the information and improved his shooting in four days. My brother-in-law wasn’t too shabby either, the last drill we did, he shot five shots within the size of a quarter. This is my biggest tip about going to Frontsight. If you can go with family or friends, it makes the experience more fun.

If you are planning a trip to Frontsight, here are my best tips:

Frontsight is in the middle of nowhere. During lunch, you do not have time to get lunch anywhere except right there. You can order lunch from their food company, but if you are with a large group and are there for four days, it can get expensive. We bought a $6 Styrofoam cooler, and every morning we hit Von’s (aka Safeway) and stocked up on bread, lunch meats, cheese, fruit, chips, drinks, and ice. It was so easy, and much cheaper. Now if you’re by yourself or with one other person, and just want to buy lunch, order it ahead of time; it’s very tasty.

Make sure you bring a lot of high SPF sunscreen. I used 70 SPF. You will be in the desert sun almost constantly. You need to apply in the morning, and reapply often. So have the sunscreen with you in your range bag, along with nail clippers and a nail file. Whether you are a man or woman, you WILL break a nail, if not a couple. Have the nail clippers so you can cut it down so you’re not scratching yourself or catching it on clothing.

Pay close attention to what clothing you bring. Wear high neckline, close-fitting shirts. A couple of women on our range were wearing V-neck blouses. Needless to say, they caught a lot of very hot brass down their shirts. I wore a high necked shirt, and I still caught a piece of brass down my shirt. It will probably still happen, but you’ll lessen your chances. In terms of pants, I suggest tactical pants. I bought 5.11 tactical pants because they are sturdy, and they have lots of pockets, which you will need in the class for storing extra magazines and loose ammo. Check out www.lapolicegear.com, they have lots of styles and sizes, including pants specifically for women. If you don’t want to spend the money on tactical pants, at least get cargo pants. Make sure to wear sturdy, comfortable shoes. You will be on your feet for eight hours a day and they will get dirty. I wore my combat boots, and they worked out great.

My biggest tip to anyone who is going to attend any class at Frontsight for the first time: Go there as a blank slate. I don’t care if you were Army Special Forces for 25 years, go there open to all of their training, and try their way first. If it doesn’t work for you, fine, you can switch back to your training after you leave. If you go there closed minded and don’t want to try any new techniques, there is no reason for you to go, so save your money. Frontsight is the best firearms training you can get in the civilian world, no matter if you are brand new to shooting, or if you have several decades’ worth of experience.

If you’d like to see the pictures from our Frontsight trip, head over to my Facebook page and “like” Women With Firepower.

Next item on my wish list: A Suppressor for my Glock

Posted on by Melissa

I was at an outdoor public range a couple weeks ago with a friend. It was a combination pistol and rifle range, and my friend and I were shooting a couple of my pistols. There was a lot of noise on the range, obviously, with about twenty people shooting their guns. But through all the normal gun shots, I heard something like you hear in an assassin movie. I looked to my left and saw a rifle with a suppressor, and I was so jealous! I would love to have a suppressor, but they are a little difficult to buy.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) categorizes silencers as a National Firearms Act (NFA) firearm. (Silencer is a common term for suppressors, and that is how the ATF refers to them, but I will always call them suppressors, because nothing can really “silence” a gun.) Other weapons categorized as NFA firearms include full-auto guns, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, “destructive devices” including Molotov cocktails and bazookas, and “any other weapon” which includes cane guns and gadget guns.

The process for buying a NFA firearm is pretty lengthy. When you’ve picked out your suppressor, you must fill out an application with the specific serial number for your suppressor. Before you send the application and $200 in taxes to the ATF, you must first have the “Law Enforcement Certification” completed by the chief law enforcement officer. Your gun dealer then holds on to the suppressor while your application is being processed, which could be up to six months! If your application is approved and when it’s sent back to you, then comes the happy day you get to go back to your gun shop and pick up your suppressor. You must do this with each NFA firearm you purchase. From then on out, any time you have the suppressor, you must have a copy of the ATF approval on your person. By the way, if you didn’t know already, I happen to live in Colorado, where suppressors are legal. If you live in state where they are illegal, then you are out of luck.

I don’t understand why suppressors are so restricted. I feel they should be as easy to purchase as any other gun. Suppressors actually make your gun safer. The most obvious way is that suppressors reduce the gun’s report (gunshot noise), which is safer for your hearing, with or without hearing protection. On the range this isn’t such a big deal, but if you’re protecting yourself in the middle of the night, are you really going to have time to put on your hearing protection? Probably not.

When you screw on a suppressor to the end of your barrel, you are adding weight on your gun. Extra weight is always a plus on a gun, and when it’s on the end of your barrel, it will reduce both recoil and muzzle climb, which will make you more accurate. In a home invasion scenario, you need to stop your target as soon as you can so you have less of a chance of you or others in your home getting hurt.

So yes, I really want a suppressor, but I am certainly not looking forward to the process to purchase one. The great part about being a gun-lover in Colorado is that if I want a gun, I go to my local gun shop (usually the Shootin’ Den in Colorado Springs), fill out the application, wait an hour or so, and then go home happy with my new gun. We don’t have a waiting period of several days or weeks. I don’t usually buy things online because I’m very much an instant-gratification kind of girl. So whenever I do go through the process of buying a suppressor, it will be so hard to wait!

My Thoughts as a Future Mom who Loves Guns

Posted on by Melissa

I am an expectant mother. Not in the traditional way, however! My husband and I are currently on the waiting list to adopt a baby through a domestic adoption. We are thrilled to be expanding our family! When we first decided on pursing adoption, we were overwhelmed with the amount of paperwork and background checks involved. As gun enthusiasts, we’ve had many background checks done, but these were a lot more intense than your average gun purchase background check! What we were most concerned about was the home study. The home study is our adoption caseworker’s way of getting to know us. We generally don’t care if people think we’re “gun nuts,” but when it comes down to the people who control if we get a baby or not… we care.

For those of you who don’t know, whenever you go through the adoption process, one of the components of the process is the home visit. Our caseworker came to our house to inspect it, and generally check to make sure it’s a safe place for a child. We were very nervous, because of the number of guns we have. Our caseworker knew before this point that we are gun enthusiasts and that my husband and I are NRA Certified Instructors, but for some people, there is a major difference between us telling them and her seeing all of our guns. We did our research, and heard from some people like police and federal agents who adopted, and obviously they have guns! They said they had no problems. When we brought up our concerns to our caseworker, she kind of laughed, and said that there are not a lot of people in Colorado who don’t have a gun! She said all she cared about is that we had our guns in one safe and our ammunition in another safe. When the time came for her to check out our home, we showed her our safes, and she didn’t express any shock at the amount of our guns. The home visit went fine, and we were able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Now that we are on the list as a waiting family, it got me thinking about children and guns. Let me make one thing clear: I don’t have kids of my own yet. I’ve just been thinking about how I’m going to raise my kids around guns. I keep hearing about horrible situations where kids have gotten a hold of someone’s gun and have hurt themselves or someone else. I already have a pretty good idea of how I’m going to prevent this from happening to my future kids.

I like to compare kids and guns to kids and alcohol. Strange analogy, yes, but hear me out. I’m a military brat, so I lived all over the world, including Germany when I was 7 and 8. There is no drinking age in Germany. While I was there, I tried sips of wine, champagne, and beer. Even after we moved back to the states, when I was a teenager, my parents would give me half a glass of wine with dinner on special occasions. Because I was raised to feel that alcohol wasn’t “forbidden,” I never had the desire to sneak alcohol or get really drunk.

Parents should educate their children about guns, and never make guns feel forbidden. Parents should take their children to the range at a young age and show them what guns can do. If the children are interested in shooting, great! Let them shoot a .22! It’s a very healthy hobby for a child to have. Shooting can teach a child discipline and responsibility. If the child isn’t interested in guns at all, that’s okay too. When a child is educated about guns, they won’t seek guns out and hurt themselves or others.

Just don’t do what my father-in-law did to my husband. My husband was 5 when his dad first took him to the range, and Dad handed his little boy a Colt .45 revolver… I’ll let you imagine how that went! I just find it amazing that my husband ever picked up a gun again as a young boy!

Gun Selection: Ladies Choice!

Posted on by Melissa

When a woman goes to buy her first gun, she usually tries to get the advice of her boyfriend/husband/father, because she assumes they know what is best for her. More often than not, I see men suggesting a gun that they think would be right. This is admirable, but misguided. Buying a gun is like buying a mattress. No one else can tell you what you need in a mattress; you know what you need to feel comfortable. It’s a very personal decision, and you should try it out before you buy. It’s the same with a gun; no one can tell you what would be the most comfortable for you, and I would highly suggest you try out a gun before you buy it if you can.

There are several factors you should consider. The first thing you need to decide is how you are going to use it. Is it for sport or for personal protection? If it’s for personal protection, is it for your home, car, or to carry on your person? Answer these questions first, and then you can move on to the next considerations.

Your next consideration is if you want a revolver or a semi-automatic. If your gun is for self-protection, your best bet is probably a revolver. Revolvers don’t take a lot to operate, and when you’re in a high-stress situation like defending yourself, the less you have to think about, the better. Semi-automatics have a magazine to worry about. You have to make sure the slide is racked so you have a round in the chamber. You also may have a safety that you have to make sure is in the “fire” position. Revolvers are pretty much point-and-click.

Something to also consider is caliber. I’ve heard so many men who say you need “knock-down power” so you have to go with a large caliber. This is not necessarily true. What you must realize is the larger the caliber, the stronger the kick. If you’re not comfortable with the recoil of your pistol, you most likely will not practice. Practice is more important that “knock-down power.” If you practice with a .22 caliber, which has very little recoil, but you can place your shots exactly where you want them, you will probably stop the threat. However, it may take more shots to stop the threat. What I want to stress is that you don’t have to get a .45 caliber that you’re afraid to shoot to stop the threat.

The last thing I think you should consider is size. I’ve seen so many women get a gun that is small and cute. The smaller the pistol, the less mass it has to absorb the recoil. Smaller guns can be pretty painful to shoot! Large pistols will have less recoil, but can you conceal it comfortably if you are carrying it on your person? Or will it add a bunch of extra weight to your purse? Look for something in the middle, but also make sure it is comfortable in your hand. I have shot pistols that are the same size, but the grips were different, so one was a little uncomfortable for me.

I can’t stress enough to try before you buy. There are a lot of ranges that will let you rent guns, and some will let you try several out in one session. If you don’t have access to a range like this, ask your friends if you can try out their guns. Most guns are pretty expensive these days, so be sure before you drop the cash!

My first experience at Frontsight

Posted on by Melissa

I am a diamond life member of Frontsight Firearms Training Institute. I have been for a while, but because I have a regular job, I had a hard time getting the time off so I could fly to Nevada to take a class. The first time I had the opportunity was October of last year. Specifically October, because I didn’t want to be out in the Nevada desert in the middle of the summer and be completely miserable. I was especially excited with the timing because it was around Halloween, and if you’ve been to Las Vegas during Halloween, you know why I was happy to go then. I was excited to go hang out on the strip and people watch that night after I got back from Frontsight.

My husband and I flew out for our courses, I was taking the two-day defensive handgun course, and my husband was taking the four-day defensive handgun course. I was only taking the two-day course because it was my first time, and I just wanted to get my feet wet. My husband had taken several classes before, so he knew what it was like already. Because we took different classes, we were on different ranges, which was fine by me. I love my husband, but I was happy to take the course by myself because I didn’t want the perception that I needed him to hold my hand through my course.

We got there the day before, and checked into our hotel in Las Vegas. The next day, we got up at o’dark thirty to drive the 45 miles out to Frontsight. We got there, and went to our separate ranges. The weather on the first day was beautiful. We sat underneath a shelter to protect us from the sun as the instructors taught us the basics. They would lecture on a lesson, then we would practice the lesson down range. The only down side to the range I was on was it was a 100 yard range. The shelter was at the back of the range, but we were only shooting at about 10 yards. So every time we had to shoot, we had to walk 90 yards. This wasn’t that big of a deal, but if you got thirsty… yup, you were walking your happy butt all the way back, and all the way back to the line when you were done.

The instructors were incredible. I almost expected them to be very strict, almost like drill instructors, but they were just the opposite. They were friendly and loved to joke around. There were four instructors and our range master, with about thirty students. The rangemaster had us pair up so that we had two relays. When one relay was shooting, that person’s partner would be their coach, so it was very safe because not only did we have the five instructors, but also an entire relay watching out to make sure everyone was being safe. Since the instructors had so many eyes on the range, it kept them free to give us very personalized help.

I wound up partnering up with a woman who works as a police officer on the railroad, so she knows her way around her pistol. Once we started to get to know each other, we started to have way too much fun. So much so, the instructors began to pick on us and tease us. Through the fun though, I was blown away by how much I learned in just the two days I was there. The class was very intense and fast-moving. You know how I said I was looking forward to going out on Halloween? Yeah, that did not happen. We were so exhausted when we got back to our hotel on Halloween, we went to bed a 9 o’clock!

The best part came on the second day when we got to go into a shoothouse. The scenario was we had just gotten home from Frontsight, and there were men breaking into my house. We had a guy who was controlling the pop-up paper targets, and I had an instructor behind me. The instructor was giving the bad guys a voice; he was screaming at me to get me rattled. I have to admit, it worked! When the first bad guy “kicked” in my door, I forgot to even aim! I was lucky that I hit him where I was supposed to, in the thoracic cavity. In the back of my mind, I knew I would have a hostage target, but I figured if I shot the hostage, I would turn it into a joke like in the movie Speed. But when the hostage target popped up, the bad guy was holding a kid. I’m thinking, “Crap, I’m a future mother, I can’t shoot the kid!” Well, as you can see, the bad guy bit the dust!

What I really liked about Frontsight in general was that about one-third of the students were women. I did not feel like I was treated any different from the men, I was treated like any other student who wanted to hone their firearms skills. Everybody was so friendly, and all the students jumped at the chance to help each other out. Our class was on our lunch break and decided to hit the restrooms before heading to the lecture hall for lunch. While I was in the restroom, my partner was giving an impromptu lesson on presenting from the holster. Only at Frontsight would you see five women in the restroom practicing their presentation in front of the mirror! Frontsight really is a place where women can feel like equals.

I can’t wait to go back, I’m signed up to take the four-day defensive pistol course in April. There is a possibility I may not be able to go, but if I do, I will write another post once I regain use of my hands!