HankT
State Researcher
imported post
I'm amazed that women are at 25% of total CWPs in Michigan....
Nice little trend?
I hope so. We need to have as many women as possible adopt gun carrying. It's of strategic importance...as well as simply the right thing for women to protect themselves in this day and age....
Women aim for protection in female-only concealed pistol classes
By Howard Meyerson | The Grand Rapids Press
October 25, 2009, 7:30AM
Cory Olsen | The Grand Rapids Press
NRA-certified instructor Lee Zeidler, left, works with LeAnn Finkbeiner of Gun Lake on the correct shooting stance during a concealed pistol certification class at Caledonia Sportsman's Club.
CALEDONIA -- Lee Zeidler was calm as he spoke to the women, each armed with a pistol, ready to fire. They stood nervously on the line at the Caledonia Sportsman's Club pistol range. The pungent smell of gunpowder hung in the air.
They were a mixed group of women, from their early 20s to mid-60s, all prepared mentally and emotionally for the next step.
Most had come to learn how to defend themselves. Others feared losing that right some time in the future.
Cory Olsen |The Grand Rapids Press
Students perform a close-range firing drill during a class at Caledonia Sportsman's Club.
"Get the gun up. Take a breath. Halfway out, hold it, and you will have a nice, steady shot," Zeidler said in the practiced way of a National Rifle Association-certified gun instructor.
The women fired on command, some flinching, some squinting, some closing their eyes, but round after round found the paper targets.
Crissy Klemkosky was smiling when she finished using a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol.
"I love it," Klemkosky said. "Last week, I shot with the .22, the 9 millimeter, the .38 and .45. I shot best with the .45. It seemed to fit me."
Zeidler was not surprised.
"It's the gun with the most knockdown power," he said. "(The women) are scared in the beginning and start with the .22 and 9 millimeter, but they find out the .45 won't hurt them. It points easy and is fairly accurate. Most say they feel empowered."
Klemkosky is among 50 women who signed up for the required course to obtain a license to carry a concealed handgun in Michigan. The female-only class was sponsored by Great Lakes Outdoors Foundation, a 2-year-old nonprofit organization with Zeidler as executive director.
Cory Olsen | The Grand Rapids Press
Instructor Gary Vander Meulen, left, helps students load bullets into clips.
The group works to introduce women and youngsters to outdoor recreation and shooting sports. Funding for the class, which the women took free, came from a grant provided by the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners Foundation Civil Defense Fund.
"My dad is the one who brought up the idea of carrying," said LeAnn Finkbeiner, 25, of Delton. "I don't know that I will carry all the time, but I will carry when I am out running."
Finkbeiner's concern is not uncommon. Each woman has her reasons.
"I had a vacuum salesman push the door open and frighten me a lot, enough to call the police," Freeport resident Joyce Reynhout said. "I thought I should go ahead and do this."
Recent media stories about home invasions also made some of the women nervous.
Bill Brassard, communications director for the Connecticut-based National Shooting Sports Foundation, said the demand for concealed pistol classes has increased nationwide. The organization offers its own "First Shots" pistol program through local gun clubs across the U.S.
"We have had over 10,000 people go through the program, and half of those have been women," Brassard said. "We are hearing these classes are filling with women all across the country."
Cory Olsen | The Grand Rapids Press
Students Rebecca Bosma, right, of Kentwood and Cyndee Van Der Heide (face not shown) of Grand Rapids fire pistols on the range.
Their reasons for buying pistols vary, but most do it for self-protection, Brassard said. Seventy-four percent of the women in the NSSF program bought a pistol for self defense, according to a July 2009 NSSF report.
The other reasons for purchase included target shooting (63 percent), hunting (8 percent) and collecting (2 percent).
Michigan women are increasingly looking to carry. Zeidler said 25 percent of the state's 211,000 concealed weapons permit holders are female.
"They come for all sorts of reasons," Zeidler said. "A lot of them say they need some extra protection."
Diana Living of Grand Ledge was one who feared she might lose her right to own a concealed weapon because of President Barack Obama's administration. However, she could not identify any White House or congressional proposals that could take away her right to carry a concealed weapon.
"I think we could lose the right to carry, given the liberal slant our country is taking," Living said. "I'm taking this class to get grandfathered in. That is primary, and self-defense."
The 10-hour course was split between class and range time. Classroom hours covered personal protection strategies in the home, the ins and outs of the permitting process and an in-depth examination of the laws that govern those with licenses.
"Using deadly force is the last thing you want to do," said Michael Bell, an attorney working with the MCRGO Foundation. "It's always better to call the police."
Bell spent two hours of the class reviewing Michigan's Concealed Pistol License Law.
The women also spent several hours on the pistol range, learning to load and shoot from different positions, including kneeling behind a barrel that simulated shooting from behind a dresser or other cover during a home invasion.
"It was clear from the course that using deadly force is a privilege. But it is also a great responsibility," said one Middleville woman who asked not be identified but called herself a pistol-packing granny.
"I'm not a physically strong person," she said. "So I was surprised at how well I did with just a small amount of training (on the range)."
http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2009/10/women_aim_for_protection_in_co.html
I'm amazed that women are at 25% of total CWPs in Michigan....
Nice little trend?
I hope so. We need to have as many women as possible adopt gun carrying. It's of strategic importance...as well as simply the right thing for women to protect themselves in this day and age....
Women aim for protection in female-only concealed pistol classes
By Howard Meyerson | The Grand Rapids Press
October 25, 2009, 7:30AM
Cory Olsen | The Grand Rapids Press
NRA-certified instructor Lee Zeidler, left, works with LeAnn Finkbeiner of Gun Lake on the correct shooting stance during a concealed pistol certification class at Caledonia Sportsman's Club.
CALEDONIA -- Lee Zeidler was calm as he spoke to the women, each armed with a pistol, ready to fire. They stood nervously on the line at the Caledonia Sportsman's Club pistol range. The pungent smell of gunpowder hung in the air.
They were a mixed group of women, from their early 20s to mid-60s, all prepared mentally and emotionally for the next step.
Most had come to learn how to defend themselves. Others feared losing that right some time in the future.
Cory Olsen |The Grand Rapids Press
Students perform a close-range firing drill during a class at Caledonia Sportsman's Club.
"Get the gun up. Take a breath. Halfway out, hold it, and you will have a nice, steady shot," Zeidler said in the practiced way of a National Rifle Association-certified gun instructor.
The women fired on command, some flinching, some squinting, some closing their eyes, but round after round found the paper targets.
Crissy Klemkosky was smiling when she finished using a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol.
"I love it," Klemkosky said. "Last week, I shot with the .22, the 9 millimeter, the .38 and .45. I shot best with the .45. It seemed to fit me."
Zeidler was not surprised.
"It's the gun with the most knockdown power," he said. "(The women) are scared in the beginning and start with the .22 and 9 millimeter, but they find out the .45 won't hurt them. It points easy and is fairly accurate. Most say they feel empowered."
Klemkosky is among 50 women who signed up for the required course to obtain a license to carry a concealed handgun in Michigan. The female-only class was sponsored by Great Lakes Outdoors Foundation, a 2-year-old nonprofit organization with Zeidler as executive director.
Cory Olsen | The Grand Rapids Press
Instructor Gary Vander Meulen, left, helps students load bullets into clips.
The group works to introduce women and youngsters to outdoor recreation and shooting sports. Funding for the class, which the women took free, came from a grant provided by the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners Foundation Civil Defense Fund.
"My dad is the one who brought up the idea of carrying," said LeAnn Finkbeiner, 25, of Delton. "I don't know that I will carry all the time, but I will carry when I am out running."
Finkbeiner's concern is not uncommon. Each woman has her reasons.
"I had a vacuum salesman push the door open and frighten me a lot, enough to call the police," Freeport resident Joyce Reynhout said. "I thought I should go ahead and do this."
Recent media stories about home invasions also made some of the women nervous.
Bill Brassard, communications director for the Connecticut-based National Shooting Sports Foundation, said the demand for concealed pistol classes has increased nationwide. The organization offers its own "First Shots" pistol program through local gun clubs across the U.S.
"We have had over 10,000 people go through the program, and half of those have been women," Brassard said. "We are hearing these classes are filling with women all across the country."
Cory Olsen | The Grand Rapids Press
Students Rebecca Bosma, right, of Kentwood and Cyndee Van Der Heide (face not shown) of Grand Rapids fire pistols on the range.
Their reasons for buying pistols vary, but most do it for self-protection, Brassard said. Seventy-four percent of the women in the NSSF program bought a pistol for self defense, according to a July 2009 NSSF report.
The other reasons for purchase included target shooting (63 percent), hunting (8 percent) and collecting (2 percent).
Michigan women are increasingly looking to carry. Zeidler said 25 percent of the state's 211,000 concealed weapons permit holders are female.
"They come for all sorts of reasons," Zeidler said. "A lot of them say they need some extra protection."
Diana Living of Grand Ledge was one who feared she might lose her right to own a concealed weapon because of President Barack Obama's administration. However, she could not identify any White House or congressional proposals that could take away her right to carry a concealed weapon.
"I think we could lose the right to carry, given the liberal slant our country is taking," Living said. "I'm taking this class to get grandfathered in. That is primary, and self-defense."
The 10-hour course was split between class and range time. Classroom hours covered personal protection strategies in the home, the ins and outs of the permitting process and an in-depth examination of the laws that govern those with licenses.
"Using deadly force is the last thing you want to do," said Michael Bell, an attorney working with the MCRGO Foundation. "It's always better to call the police."
Bell spent two hours of the class reviewing Michigan's Concealed Pistol License Law.
The women also spent several hours on the pistol range, learning to load and shoot from different positions, including kneeling behind a barrel that simulated shooting from behind a dresser or other cover during a home invasion.
"It was clear from the course that using deadly force is a privilege. But it is also a great responsibility," said one Middleville woman who asked not be identified but called herself a pistol-packing granny.
"I'm not a physically strong person," she said. "So I was surprised at how well I did with just a small amount of training (on the range)."
http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2009/10/women_aim_for_protection_in_co.html
