Miguel slaps it out of the park.
I don’t see women getting into Action Shooting competition in a big way, but I do see a surge in defensive training tailored for them. I am sorry to say most guys are expecting and even demanding that women play by our rules: I got news, they are writing their own rules and the do not include them rolling on the mud every other weekend against us and calling it fun. Pragmatism will be key for women but pragmatism according to their lifestyles and not some Tactical Tommy idea on how they should behave/act/shoot. It will be more Mommy with a Glock that Femme Nikita.
And at the risk of sounding absolutely vulgar, our lack of vagina ownership will keep us guessing what they need. If we are smart, we will shut up, listen, just give them what they want, babysit the kids upon demand and get the hell out of the way.
Women are getting into shooting and gun ownership in record levels. Anybody who’s taught women how to shoot often note that they take to shooting MUCH better than men. The reason, as far as I can tell is they come into shooting as an outsider looking in, which when you look at it is more realistic, and the big problem with male new shooters. Boys grow up pointing sticks at each other and going “Pew Pew!”, and watching action stars blazing away in full-auto fired from the hip or point-shooting pistols without even a body index and doing crazy things like plopping a round equidistant from the badguy’s eyeballs…or making trick shots to kneecaps or pulling a gun from the villain’s shooting hand. Also rarely do you see a missed shot hit a civilian if the shooter wears the proverbial “White Hat”.
What I’m saying is the difference between men new shooters and women new shooters is that while both of them know effectively nothing about deploying a gun, the men THINK they know a thing-or-two. This gives women a superior advantage as they’re learning what you teach them, not what they think they already know.
Still women look at life differently, when you look at video games you see men more attracted to the violent shoot-em-ups an games where completion and conquering are the goal, while most of the female gamers I know like puzzle games, and social games where the game being played is more important than the end goal.
I certainly don’t see those two models (that are simply models, not rules, I know lots of ladies that Play Modern Warfare, strategy games, and poker, were “Victory” is the end-goal…I just know more who play Tetris and Angry Birds and never once let me know how high a level they get to, or their high score, because such things are irrelevant) Action shooting, and High-Power aren’t really designed for them.
Also given their smaller size, the fact that as adults they sadly almost corner the market in sexual assault, self-defense is really their way to go.
And Miguel is 100% right, as Men we can say and do, and speculate all we want, but the women will be the best judge at what a “Woman’s Gun” is. Many have pointed out the pure fiction of the snub-nosed .38 for women, and my own wife, while addicted to the color purple, says that even if the market switched to coloring guns purple rather than pink, she still only likes guns that are silver or black in color…and even thinks my Scandium Commander with Rosewood grips is “Ugly”, and would rather it have the black grips my stainless gun has on them as far as looks go. Also despite sexist stupidity a lot of women like .45 ACP for the same reason Men do, it gives a LOT of power for a surprisingly soft recoil.
So as gun-nut men our Job is to get women into shooting, and familiar with guns, and over any fears they may have…and then get the hell out of the way and let them show us what they want in a gun, and just be there to answer questions and facilitate sales.
2012, the Year of the Dragon Lady.
And a great way to do that is as a certified instructor of the only guys teaching civilians for 200+ years. If you’re already a proficient shooter check out the -instructor- courses on the right side here: http://www.nrainstructors.org/searchcourse.aspx
My proudest moment last year was to organize (and not allowed to attend but for 5 seconds and only to take pics) a Ladies Only class in my club for the wives/girlfriends of the guys. I was expecting maybe 10 to join and 30 ended up taking the class with other 5 complaining that they had previous engagements.
For this year I am in the process to tie down the final details for Kathy Jackson (corneredcat.com) to come teach a class to the Ladies and get more women to shoot what they want instead of what we think they should have.
Women and Guns is a train gaining momentum. It is our duty to stay out of the way and not derail it because of stupid male ego.
Kathy is Queen awesome. Hopefully it’ll work out. Lord knows you’ll have to twist her arm to get away from the Pristine Seattle weather for Crappy South Florida 😉
She is already threatening me … Gotta love her 🙂
One of the first things she said to me was my belt was a piece of crap.
I have an excuse, I almost NEVER carry on the belt…and almost never WEAR a belt.
Still I respect a woman who refuses to pull punches, and is just so knowledgeable and bright.
Now if she was an idiot and saying those things I’d piss me off….but it’s hard to be angry when somebody’s right.
One of the IDPA clubs I shoot with started having a Women only IDPA match once a month. We started a year ago. We do same stuff the guys do at their matches. http://www.youtube.com/user/WarriorKnitter?feature=mhee It’s not dumbed down or made easier for them. Most of us are not as quick on the second shot; more controlled pairs than double taps. But just as accurate as many of the guys at their matches.
We had 10 women at the first match with only 3 of the women including myself having shot IDPA before. There were several months where we had only a core group of 4 shooters. For the past several months, we’ve had 6 shooters at each match. Two of our core shooters shot their first classifier earlier this month with the guys.
One of our core shooters started out shooting a .22lr and after shooting a few matches with one of my 9mms and her husband’s full size 1911 .45 she bought herself a full size 1911 .45. One of our occasional shooters has moved from a .22lr to a Sig P238 (.380) and is thinking about a 9mm. (I’m bringing an extra gun, ammo and IDPA rig to the next match for her to try).
Our youngest shooter is 12. Her dad shoots IDPA with us and last summer she ran a couple of stages after the regular match a few times. Last month was her first ‘official’ IDPA match. Unfortunately she had too much homework on the match day this month so she had to miss.
Work and childcare responsibilities interrupt quite a bit but as long as they’re willing to show up and shoot the matches will continue.
That is so awesome to hear!
There are a ton of awesome women action shooters out there, hopefully matches like yours will become the norm and maybe with a decent tail wind, eclipse the male groups!
Knowing how much you don’t know is a huge thing.
See Dunning–Kruger effect.
That being said, ergonomics is the big thing, and there won’t be any set “woman’s gun” just as there’s no set “man’s gun”. Each person has their own tastes and what works ergonomically.
On that level, I think holsters will be a big thing. Again every guy has their own system that works for them, so add in another set of body shapes.
A snubnosed .38 is just fine for either a man or a woman … provided they are both excellent shooters.
That snubby is not a “man’s” gun. It is an expert’s gun.