Tips for women, mature women and men
By MARJ LAW
Yes, women, mature women and men are different. When it comes to shooting your first handgun, wouldn’t you rather have the size and the big-boned physique of a 30-year-old man? Notice the helpful videos on YouTube. Young men at a range show you how to shoot 9mm, .38, .40 or .45-caliber guns. They hit the target many times. Easy peasy. No problem!
But there is a problem. We’re built differently.
Yesterday, at Walmart, a woman wanted a case of 12 bottles of water. Wouldn’t you know, it’s on the top shelf.
She has a tool to move the case closer to the edge of the shelf. Then she looks at the case. She starts to raise her arms. She looks at the case again.
Then, she turns around and sees a 30-ish young man about to pass her cart.
“Would you mind helping me?” she asks.
In a flash, the good guy reaches up, lifts down the case, and puts it in her buggy.
“Thank you so much!” she calls as he waves and continues on.
Could she have lifted the case herself? Maybe. Did she want to chance it? No.
And this is a huge problem when it comes to some people and guns. What’s easy for a 30-year-old young man is not so easy for a mature woman, or even a mature man.
Often, a first suggestion from a man for a woman is that she should have a .38 snub-nose air weight revolver for defense.
“It is just point and shoot, it will never jam, it will fit in your purse, and it has great take-down power when you need it,” he will say.
Pretty close to true. So, what’s the prob?
In the 12 years that Joe and I have assisted women shooting, only three of them shot their .38s well and happily. All the others who had .38s (and there have been many), hated their guns and never shot them again, or sold them for something they really liked and could handle.
The problem here is that this snubby .38 has a long and very hard trigger pull and a really hard recoil.
Yes, it’s light and fits in her purse, but because it is light, it has no mass to take up some of that dreaded recoil. The recoil is so harsh that it makes a woman’s hands fly up in the air right after she shoots.
Now, if Mr. Bad had friends, how long would it take her to bring down her arms and aim that gun again? It may be too late.
Also, if you want to become proficient with your gun, will you want to practice with your .38? Probably not. So, you won’t be very secure with it when you need it.
Many ranges have handguns you can rent. This way, you’ll know which gun you can handle easily and comfortably. So, when you see the YouTube videos of young men shooting, take them with a grain of salt. Find something that works for you.
Since you’re new to handguns, and gun ownership is a huge responsibility, a beginner’s class or a concealed carry class or both will give you a whole lot of information. This is such a good idea. You’ll learn about safety, when and where you can carry a gun, how to point and shoot, how to make sure no one else can get at your guns, and so many other pieces of information that will make you more comfortable even before you own a gun. Knowledge is a very good thing.
For your first few times, take a range experienced person with you. That person can help you remember important instructions.
Read all the signs at the range. More knowledge. Know what “hot” and “cold” means. Buy eye and ear protection. Now you have some background about shooting.
What to wear? What to wear?
No, we’re not just being girlie. First, scoopy-necked T-shirts may draw attention to some of your assets, but those shirts are not for the range. When a semi-automatic handgun ejects a shell, the shell flies out, usually to the right or in front of the shooter. This very hot casing goes up, then comes down.
If you’re wearing a scoopy shirt, this is a logical place for the shell to fall. Hot, hot, hot. Burn. You’ll pull your shirt away from your body, and dance the hot-shell Watusi to get that casing out.
The answer is to wear a high-necked T-shirt, or to button up all your buttons to your neck.
Another way to keep the casings away from you is to wear a ballcap. Yes, you’ll have eye protection, but a cap’s brim helps to keep those hot casings away from your face or from sliding between your glasses and your face.
Casings are very hot, but if they fly, touch you and fly right off, they really don’t burn. It’s just when they stay on you for a few seconds that you’ll get a red mark. So, don’t let a casing have a way to stay touching you.
I’m going to add 7 things I think are important to most women and most mature women and men:
1. You, yourself, choose your gun.
2. You, yourself, choose how to carry it, depending on your personal comfort and best access while keeping it hidden from others.
3. Lean a bit forward when you shoot. Many people have a tendency to lean backwards. Don’t do it! Think about sending your child to his room. “Go!” and you point your index finger, and lean forward as you point. That’s about the way to incline your body for shooting.
4. Choose how much of your index finger to place on the trigger. I was taught to put just the tip of the index finger on the trigger. Instead, do what works for you. Joe puts his finger up to that first knuckle. Do whatever keeps your finger securely on the trigger and helps you to squeeze through the trigger pull. And, of course, keep your finger entirely off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.
5. Use your dominant hand and arm to push forward, while pulling backward with your non-dominant hand and arm. This helps to hold the gun firmly and avoid a loose grip which will take you off target.
6. Is this your self-defense gun? Make it yours. Who cares what it looks like? If you need to add a rubberized grip for a more secure hold, don’t worry about how it looks. If it helps you to handle your gun, go for that slide-on grip.
7. If it helps you to keep your magazines away from your spouse’s, go ahead and highlight the name on the butt of the magazine with French white nail polish. Again, looks don’t count. Safety does.
A mature person’s body frame gives him/her challenges that strong young people do not have. Yet, most instructional videos show young, strong people handling and shooting guns. Learn from them, but don’t use their take on shooting as gospel.
Instead, go to a range and rent several handguns. Bring an experienced person with you. Try the different guns to see which works the best for you.
These are a few of many tips that you may not hear from YouTube videos.
Marj Law is the former director of Keep Wakulla County Beautiful who has become an avid shooter in retirement.