Via Ammo Land:
Legally Armed In Detroit, a gun rights advocacy group, announces that it gave a free-range safety briefing and a complimentary shooting lesson at a southeast Michigan target range to a record class of 700 women.
Seven hundred (700) women who expressed an interest in learning about fundamental firearm safety and target shooting were recently given a free range safety briefing and a complimentary shooting lesson in metro-Detroit. The annual event – now in its seventh year – safely introduced all of the women participants to firearms on Sunday, May 20th at the Top Gun Shooting Range in Taylor, Michigan.
This annual event seeks to introduce women to firearms in a safe and supportive environment. The women were scheduled to participate in one of several range safety briefings in which basic firearm safety rules were taught along with training on shooting stances and elements of marksmanship.
After every group briefing, each woman was paired up with one vetted firearm instructor for a shooting session. The session consisted of loading a 9mm semi-automatic pistol with 20 rounds of ammunition which were then shot into a hanging paper target. Feedback and support were then given to every participant by her individual instructor.
This program was conceived by Rick Ector – a Detroit area gun rights advocate – seven years ago. One night while viewing the local news telecast for that evening, he saw a story about a woman who was murdered; her body was dumped in a vacant lot. The story haunted Ector as he pondered what could be done to help women better protect themselves. He came up with the idea of offering a free shooting lesson for women.
That first year only 50 women signed up and attended the program. Ector along with five fellow firearm instructors conducted the training. The next year 100 women signed up, and the program continued to grow by leaps and bounds. Last year, 600 women were trained by the program which needed roughly 40 firearm instructors to help oversee the activity. This year’s program needed 50 firearm trainers to safely train a record 700 women participants.