Cherry was raring to go the next morning so we headed off to the shooting range for the Women on Target class, sponsored by the National Rifle Association. There is a great story about the reason why these classes were started that I won’t get into here, but the class stressed the importance of every woman being able to safely handle a gun.
We got these cute hats at the class. I love the Annie Oakley on the brim!
We were welcomed with bags of goodies including ear plugs, safety glasses, informational material and cute hats that said “Women on Target” and had a sweet Annie Oakley on the brim. I will never, ever be even remotely like Annie Oakley which is why I probably love her on the hat much more than I should.
So after a very informative presentation, the women attending were allowed to circulate through several stations, shooting a variety of firearms. Volunteers from the gun club manned each station providing great information and helping those of us attending learn all about the guns we were shooting.
Cherry gets a lesson in shooting a 22 Rifle. She did awesome hitting the target.
The fact that it was cold and windy didn’t seem to dampen the enthusiasm of the group. I think most of the volunteers were a bit baffled by us women. Instead of grunts and slapping each other on the back as the men may be prone to do, the women cheered and clapped whenever someone hit a target. I heard more than one “way to go, girlfriend!” Not only was it fun to learn about all the different guns and get to shoot them, it was great just to watch all the women participating.
Cherry also did really well with this handgun, blasting away the target. I did much better with this one, too. I actually hit the target five times all in a row.
It didn’t take long to figure out I was having a bit of a problem shooting. It seems that I am one of the freakazoids who is “cross dominant.” Everyone has a dominant eye which is especially important in shooting because it is the eye you will sight with. The dominant eye will judge speed and range, and focus more accurately than your other eye. Most right-handed people are right-eye dominant. Most left-handed people are left-eye dominant. Some are like me and are cross-dominant, meaning I have a strong left eye but am right-handed.
This creates a bit of a challenge when shooting rifles and shotguns because it is nearly impossible to sight with your left eye and shoot right-handed. So some of the instructors had me shoot left-handed and some had me try to sight with my right eye. Consistency was not the name of the game Saturday. But that was okay.
The last station was the shot-gun area where we got to shoot at clay pigeons. I think it was my favorite part of the class. Mostly because I blasted one into smithereens and Cherry cheered me on. Deciding to end on a high-note, we wandered back to the car just as the sky opened up and started dumping down rain.
Not only was the class way more fun than I was anticipating, I am no longer completely terrified of guns and really do see a lot of value in women learning basic gun safety. If you ever have the opportunity to attend a class, take advantage of it. You’ll meet some great people and enjoy a few hours of learning something new.
She Who Will Never Be Confused with Annie Oakley
Savvy Entertaining 