Clark County gathering’s goal: Familiarizing women with guns

Annie Oakley knew her guns. Now, Southern Nevada women who might not be too familiar can, too.

The Annie Oakley Sure Shot Women’s Shooting Program is aimed, ahem, at getting women more comfortable with guns and ensuring they handle them properly.

All the classroom instruction comes from women, and once participants take to the range, women supervise each shooting stand.

“The key is that there are no men allowed,” said Don Turner, president of the Nevada Firearms Coalition, one of the facilitators. “They interfere with the lady’s training. They start telling their wives what to do. Or the boyfriend will come and be intimidating. We found out, through trial and error, that it’s better if it’s just the ladies.”

The starter program, planned to be held every Tuesday evening until interest wanes, includes a one-hour classroom component to discuss gun safety, how to shoot, storing guns properly and suicide prevention.

A handbook will cover things such as cleaning a gun, shooting stances and range rules.

Once a woman has taken the class, she can go directly to the shooting range on subsequent program nights. Female coaches will be on the line to help refresh them on how to hold and sight the gun.

“The coaching is a big key, because there’s somebody right there to help them,” Turner said.

The only cost is 50 cents for ear plugs and $2 for eye protection, available at the range.

General Social Survey research shows that in 1982, female gun ownership was at its highest in recent years, with 13.7 of women owning a gun. In 1989, it dropped to 9.1 percent, and in 2010, it stood at 11.2 percent. In 2014, it edged up to about 12 percent.

Jeannette Morgan, women’s program director, said she got involved because men do not bother to teach women all the necessary information.

“They’ll just stick their gun in the woman’s hands and say, ‘Just point it and shoot it,’” she said. “We start from the very beginning: how to hold it, proper hand placement, the parts of the guns, all that.”

Morgan wanted a gun for protection. She didn’t know much about guns when she bought her first one.

“I went to a gun show, picked up the first gun I saw and said, ‘It’s light. I like it.’ No one told me about how much recoil there was, what the caliber was, what this does or that does. I just bought it.”

It was at the gun range where she realized how much kick her short-barreled choice had. A year later, she bought a different gun. She said she didn’t want any other woman to be introduced to shooting the way she was.

The evening can accommodate 60 women. Turner estimated that if a woman were to pay for such training, it would cost $100. NFAC’s foundation is paying for the program and providing .22-caliber pistols for the shooting range portion, plus bullets.

Those who want to bring their own guns are welcome to; they must provide their own ammunition.

About 45 percent of Clark County residents own a gun, Turner said, adding that most women wanted a gun for personal protection.

Once the program gets off the ground, Turner said, it’s possible special programming will be incorporated on occasion, such as a demonstration by a cowboy action shooter or a concealed-firearms fashion show.

“A lot of it will be driven by those who show up,” Turner said.

For more information about the shooting program, call 702-455-2000.

Contact Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 702-387-2949.