Never in a Milion Years

 When I first started this journey into the world of guns, I had no idea that 3 years later this world would be so much a part of my life.   Girlz N Guns, LLC started out as a t shirt company.  A way for me to earn some "ammo money".   Flash forward... Girlz N Guns has turned into an all women's firearms training company.  We have had over 1,000 women come through our classes in less than one year.  Who knew there would be so much interest?  

While sitting in a Starbucks recently, a female friend of mine asked, "Who are these women? Where do they come from? "  I looked around the room  and gestured toward the women I saw, working on their computers, having meetings, reading, chatting,  and said, " Right here! They are these kind of women. Moms, teachers, doctors, lawyers, nannies, nurses, housekeepers, students, grandma's, etc. Regular, REAL, women you pass on the street everyday." 

One of the most amazing things about teaching these classes is the women I meet.  These are women from all different socioeconomic backgrounds and races.  Some of them come in groups, some come alone.  Some come as families!  Three generations is not uncommon at all.  Not only have I watched friendships being formed among these women, but many of my students have become my friends! 
I think it would be a true statement to say that  most of us would have never crossed paths had it not been for this shared common interest to learn more about guns.  

Never in a million years would I have guessed that something so often surrounded by  controversy would bring women together in this way.

Camaraderie

: a feeling of good friendship among the people in a group

Camaraderie is what I experience among the shooting community.  I am constantly amazed at how supportive and helpful everyone is to each other.  If you show up to a match without an important piece of equiptment,( like your gun??) rest assured, hope is not all lost!  Someone will help you if at all possible.  How do I know this?  I have witnessed it first hand at a major match and at ranges on a regular basis.  One such incidence,  A guy forgot his competition rig.  This would surely mean his 3+ hour car drive and match fees would go to waste if it were not for his competitors quickly spreading the word and finding everything he needed.  I've seen people's guns break, sights fall off, run out of ammo and yes, I drove an hour + to a match only to realize I forgot my gun and complete strangers come to the rescue.  These are the kind of people with whom I like to keep company. 

If you forget your lunch, need some advil, or just have a question, someone is always willing to offer a helping hand.  There is a true sense of camaraderie in the shooting community.  This I know to be true. 

My Happy Place!

My Happy Place

　

I love the range. It’s my happy place!! It’s where I go to forget about everything going on in the real world. For those couple of hours, life is pure bliss!

You want to know why the range makes me happy?

When I am on the range, all my troubles magically melt away as soon as I pull into the parking lot. My not so smart phone immediately gets ignored ! It could be that I can’t hear it, or possibly that I lost it? or maybe it’s because I’m just too darn busy having fun .

My mind is quickly cleared of all that crappy clutter that stresses me out. Thoughts about deadlines, bills, dentist appointments, is my son going to live with me forever? Why do we have to age? All gone! I am fully focused on the task at hand. Putting lead down range. Ok, I confess, maybe I’m also thinking about how I can slip some rocks into a few people’s pockets, or tape on someone’s back without being caught! Either way, I’m living in real time. Enjoying the moment and nothing else.

I find like minded people at the range. Always ready to talk guns, share guns, and shoot guns! I think we all have the same addiction and I’m ok with that. There are much worse things in life to be addicted , like…. purses? Ugh. No thanks, not my cup of tea. Now, chocolate on the other hand , runs a close second to the guns.

I crave the out doors. I enjoy being in the fresh air. Feeling the warm sun, or a cool breeze. Watching the hawks gliding so gracefully high in the sky over the range. Although the weather may not always be ideal, It still feels good ! And when you do get that ideal shooting weather? It’s like Heaven on earth! Life is good!

Where is your happy place? Come on, what are you waiting for? Let’s go get Happy

Some of my friends at my Happy Place!

                                                             Some more friends

The Porta Potty

Warning: This article contains graphic Potty talk . If you are not ok with Potty talk, Stop right here.

I get that ranges have been historically a guys Club but times are changing! Do you know what it’s like to be a woman on the range?

Let’s just talk about the seemingly simple experience of using the bathroom! Wait, no, it’s not a “room” at all! It’s tiny, smelly, dirty, porta potty! Think about this if you will for a minute, from a girl’s perspective.

Before we can even make the trek to the potty we must make sure all our pockets are empty and magazines are stowed somewhere off our bodies. Why? Because we actually have to pull our pants down to our knees. If there is a phone in our back pocket, lip gloss or a loaded magazine on our belt, it’s going down. We don’t have the luxury of just opening the fly and whipping it out like the men do.

I approach the porta-potty and reach for the door, which is unlocked, but when I open the door, I quickly find out that its occupied! Why don’t men like to lock the door? I’m curious. I slam the door shut as fast as I can, back away and apologize as he looks over his shoulder while continuing to do his business. I wait awkwardly for my turn. Look away when he exits and pretend I’m busy fixing my belt so I don’t have to make eye contact!

Moving forward, I enter the zone. I look around quickly and assess the situation. How do I do this without touching anything? And OMG , who POOPS in the porta potty like that? Really? You just got here! Couldn’t you do that before you left home? Ughhhh . Why can’t men hold their poop? Women can go a whole weekend without relieving themselves if they set their mind to it! Someone please explain this to me? On second thought, never mind.

Having grown up in a large family that spent a lot of time camping and hiking, I consider myself a professional squatter. We even had a two seater outhouse at our cabin. However, Trying to squat in a porta potty with a gun in a holster and baseball cap on is like torture! The squatting is usually not a problem until your head hit’s the door. OMG, I touched the door! Ewww. There is not enough room for my hat and me, so I must turn my head to the side. Oh great, now my nose is about an inch away from the urinal! So I close my eyes and hold my breath as I continue to squat and pray that my bladder empties quickly and it’s not one of those never ending pees. Finally, I’m finished, oh thank God! Where is the toilet paper? I have to open my eyes to find it, sometimes it’s on the floor, or sitting next to the toilet, ewwww, it’s touching! Or maybe, there isn’t even any in there at all! Now what? My quads are already killing me from holding the squat so long, no time for drip dry! By the way, since I opened my eyes I notice the floor is wet,
, with what? Pee from the guys with bad aim and now the cuffs of my pants are wet. GROSS!! I forgot to roll them up before I entered the zone. By this time, It’s like 120 Degrees in there and I am sweating bullets. I just want to get the heck out of there as fast as I can. I quickly fumble to get my pants up without my gun falling out of the holster and break out the door! ( without touching it of course, remember?) Zipping, tucking and fastening my belt will have to wait! AHHHHHH I can finally breathe! I finish tucking in my shirt and fastening my belt outside. Why not? Guys do this at bars and restaurants ALL the time! Why? I don’t know, someone please explain this to me.

One last thing I feel needs to be mentioned. You can handle it, we are all adults and it’s a fact of life. This whole debacle of trying to pee becomes 3x’s as complicated if it’s “that time of the month”. Imagine that if you dare!!

If you care to make the bathroom experience for women on your range a little more bearable, here is what you can do:

Have one of the handicapped porta potty’s. They have so much more room! We can squat without being nose to nose with the urinal! We can keep our hat’s on!

Make sure there is toilet paper periodically through out the day!

Make sure the doors lock easily, with minimal touching! ( you know what I ‘m talking about, some of those doors you have to use 2 hands and elbow grease to get them shut and locked!)

Have hand sanitizer.

That’s it! Not too much to ask right?

If you REALLY want to score points with the ladies, designate that handicapped porta potty for women only (watch, it will be magically cleaner) and put a hook or high shelf in it for our “girlie things” so nothing has to touch the floor!

This will make our experience at your range much more pleasant and we will be forever grateful! Just sayin!
*update:  Jan 2 2016. I thought it couldn't get any worse... but..... Recently, I went to a match where all the odds were stacked against me.  ONE porta potty, (and it was the small kind) Rainy, cold and worst of all.. yes, it was THAT time of the month.  There was a line of men waiting for their turn when I approached, desperatetly in need.  I was told by an experienced shooter, "Erinn, Do NOT go in there!"  "But I have to," I answered.  " I'm telling you, DO NOT go in there, it's one of the worst I've ever seen on the range."  Hmmm..... This guy has been to many a porta potty's on the range and if he is saying it's bad, I think I'll take his word.  What to do now?  I go to the car to get some paper towels and head off into the woods, cross a creek, climb a stone wall, navigate carefully over slippery rocks, sticks and mud.. lot's of mud... sighhh... Let me just say this was not a pleasant experience in the cold and rain.  Just way too much business to be taking care of totally out in the open!! I had to make this trek 2 more times that day, all equally bad. All said and done, I hope I never hear anyone complain about the girls being high maintenance because we really do have to deal with some tough stuff!!   Match director.. please, pretty please, have a key to the club house for extreme cases like this!!

The Next Step

I have taken a class, practiced with my coach, bought my first firearm. Now what? I have this new skill and affinity for shooting but no one to share my experience.  My friends are not really interested in my " gun talk".  It's just not their thing.  They say things like, " Why do you want a gun?"  " You might shoot yourself! "  " You are crazy girlfriend!" " You don't need a gun, you just need a boyfriend to protect you! "  (  said a guy) I even had a law enforcement officer tell me, " why don't you just get a dog."

So , off to the range I go, by myself. Sometimes my coach would meet me there! These were the best days of all. It was much more enjoyable to have someone with me. He shared my excitement. We challenged each other and made the drills into  little games! It was FUN!  I would leave the range with a bit of an adrenaline rush and a feeling of empowerment!   When you do something you really enjoy, it's only natural to want to talk about it with friends.  My friends would listen politely, but I could almost hear them yawning, I was boring them to death. I would call my Dad or my brother and get some satisfaction as they would actually ask me questions and show a genuine interest but it's just not the same as talking to girlfriends.
Then, as if right on cue, my wish comes true.  My coach sends me a link to an article about A Girl and a Gun Women' s Shooting  League (agirlandagun.org)  that is starting a chapter not too far from me. I made plans to attend. I was looking forward to meeting other women who shared my interest in shooting.

Gun Show Adventure

I woke up feeling brave one day and decided to go on an adventure . I had seen a bill board for a local gun show.  Now for a guy, this would be no big deal right?   Guns and men seem to be a natural fit as would a woman shopping in a mall.  Being a woman in a predominantly male  environment can be quite intimidating.
I really had no idea what to expect but offf I went, by myself.  The parking lot was full and seemed to go on forever.  There were men walking to and from their cars with rifles, shot guns etc. An occasional woman tagging along.   The sun was blazing and I began to sweat again. A combination of being hot AND nervous this time.   There were police inside the door checking people's firearms to make sure they were not loaded.  The place was massive and overwhelming.  People milling about with a sense of purpose. There was so much more than guns, but every kind of gun imaginable, antiques to the most modern.  How do I begin to explain the wide range of products people were selling? Let's just say from insoles for your shoes, knives and mace to crab cakes and pickles!  Being new to the whole world of guns, I must admit there were many things that I had no idea what they were!
I weaved my way up and down the aisles feeling like a fish out of water.  I stopped at a couple vendors to look at the handguns.  Repeatedly, I was shown the "girl" guns. The small , often pink ones of which I had no interest.  I was not looking for a "carry" gun.  I wanted a gun for home defense, besides , I felt as if I needed some experience with a gun  before I started walking around with a loaded gun on my hip.  My advice to the vendors? Don't assume all girls want a small pink gun.  I wasn't particularly offended, but I know some women who definitely would have been.

I didn't stay long, probably less than 2 hours.
I left the gun show that day with three things.  A new experience, which I will describe as educational ,  a sense of pride for being brave enough to go by myself and a membership to the NRA.

A New Journey

My journey began with taking a class.  I had no idea what to expect. This was uncharted waters for me.  The idea of guns seems to be a topic people do not discuss openly often, so I kept this new adventure to myself.
The class was a huge success. I struck gold when I found my instructor, Bill McEwen, of shootgreat.net. This is a man who is passionate about teaching with a strong focus on safety.  We seemed to hit it off immediately and Bill became my coach, meeting me at the range and sharing his guns and knowledge with me. Ultimately guiding me in my purchase of my first firearm.

Being a woman and shopping for my first firearm was intimidating to say the least.  Armed with a list of recommended guns, I headed off to my first gun store.  (Kings shooter supply) Talk about a fish out of water! Not at all like the shopping experience I am accustomed .  I tried my best to look confident even though I was beginning to sweat from nervousness!  After asking to handle a few guns, the sales man asked, " are you sure this is your first firearm purchase?"  "Yes, why?" I answered. " because you seem to know more about  handling and manipulating a firearm than most first timers" he said.  Wow! That instantly made me feel better. My coach must have taught me well. Although I did get quite a bit of unsolicited advise from other male customers, overall, I felt everyone was genuinely trying to be helpful. It could only get easier from here!  Next stop... The Gun Show!