I’m so glad you got the help you wanted and it sounds like you get to form your own relationship with shooting now. HOW FUN!!!! I hope you keep in touch with me and let me know how it’s all going.

Thanks so much for sharing.

Best,
Sally

I also grew up loving shooting because of my wonderful grandpops. He was an avid hunter and a helluva great man. But then came my teen years and no girls shot guns!

I became interested again years later when I inherited a few of my grandpa’s special guns and remembered shooting with him. It was time….

I was by then married to a farming man who grew up with guns his whole life. A perfect person to help me get started again. Safety safety safety. Got me my first gun, a SW .38 Special. But it was too hard to shoot for me. It’s a cool gun, but not the gun for me.

Then got a small .32 that was easier to carry, but accuracy wasn’t great for me. I had taken the CC course in my community and obtained my permit, but the course was mostly men and taught by men. They were great, but I just never felt quite comfortable with my shooting and didn’t want to hold up the rest of the class. So mostly I was practicing occasionally out at our farm.

Recently, I took a course offered by a larger Public Safety Training Center and taught by NRA Certified Instructors. It was THE BEST course I have ever taken….I learned more there than I could have imagined! AND they had some volunteers there to help when it was time to shoot. One was a petite female…I was SO happy to have her there on the range. I had problems with the grip because my hands don’t fit a Glock like a mans hands. She was so helpful and so encouraging. She really wanted me to succeed and I could feel it. So I did great and have been going to the range with a female shooting buddy I met in the class. We go every week and I’m planning to start going alone on my free weekdays.

You see, I’m an “older” shooter, 58 years old. And most of the folks in the class were way younger. Even my female shooting buddy is young enough to be my daughter. So I sometimes feel a bit “slow” when it comes to getting all the details straight. But I’m a seasoned nurse and I know how to be organized in my thinking. It’s just that it’s all new and I need time to integrate it.

So….I’m learning and loving it. Have started trying different guns at the range to find the right fit for me instead of feeling like I should be able to fit the gun! Taking my time before deciding on what to buy.

I love that there are more women shooting these days and hope to get some of my “fraidy-cat” “older” women friends to join me on the range. AND I’m planning to take more advanced courses at the Training Center…. Such a great feeling…and yes, I still feel like the lady that I am!

Thanks for writing a great piece that really tells the story from our perspective….and thanks to the guys who support us!