Click the READ MORE below to read the article on tips on taking a woman to the range. This is NOT a comment gears towards seasoned female shooters. Mainly this is geared towards awareness and a woman that might not be thinking this through very clearly about all of the events that happen at a gun range, might miss some of these tips. Keep in mind, ALL of these tips come from personal experience and observations that I have seen in my countless trips to the public ranges.
Tips on Taking a Woman to the Range
by Jessie Indracusin
INTRODUCTION
First off, I don’t want every woman calling me an A-hole because I wrote this article. If you are a seasoned shooter and this is NOT your first time at the range, this article does not apply to you. I am not writing this article to make it sound like men don’t have any issues at the range for their first time. Some of these items mentioned can also be valid when talking about a male shooter too. I am writing this specifically about women because of the requests I have gotten about “What are some good tips for me to bring my wife/girlfriend to the range?”
FRUSTRATION
If the woman you are taking to the range has any issues with being confrontational all the time when you try to help, correct or explain to them how to do something, you are best having another friend take them to the range. It can be VERY difficult to teach someone how to shoot if you are involved in a long term relationship after a long period. It is much easier teaching a woman you may have went out with for a few months than your wife you have been married to for 10 years. If you are prone to arguing a lot, the range can cause more of this since the distractions of the gun fire around
CLOTHING ATTIRE
This is an area that a lot of people miss all together. It is a VERY important item to mention since a lot of women enjoy looking nice and sexy regardless of what they are doing. Now don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with a woman who wants to show some cleavage, but this can be a bit dangerous.
1) V-Neck/Low Neckline shirts -Please note, a hot shell casing going between two breasts is NOT a fun event. This can be extremely dangerous based on some involuntary actions I have witnessed. One, it is in a lot of people’s nature to clinch upwhen confronted with a situation that takes them off guard. Wild rounds going off from involuntary trigger pull from the hot shell can cause a significant risk. I have seen pistols flat out dropped on the floor, round in the chamber, over this event. Also, a lot of people like to turn and look for help when something happens. I have had to look down the barrel of someone turning to talk more than a few times. Don’t get me wrong, if a shell casing went down my pants and nestled between my two balls I would be in a world of hurt, but my reaction is still one that comes out of training which is to set the gun down point in a safe direction. I actually have a few burn mark scars on my arm from taking shots from a prone position and a hot shell casing come out of an AR and rest on my arm and not flinch, to make sure the round still hits the target before I brushed the casing off. If you have never been hit by a hot shell casing, it can be a little shocking at first
2) Open Toe/Open Sandles -The reasons for this are the same as above, exposed skin plus hot shell casing creates un-expected results.
3) Short sleeve shirts/shorts/skirts -I REALLY don’t recommend any form of exposed skin that can get hit by a shell casing that is sensitive. Unless it is outdoors and over 100+ where the risk of being uncomfortable for being covered up creates a greater distraction and uncomfort.
PAINTING IT UP
Please note, make up is NOT your friend. Wearing make up/cover up may help hide a pimple or a facial blemish, but will cause a lot more when at the range. Indoor ranges have a lot of floating gun powder particles in the air and the gun itself will create more. This will clog your pours and make the experience unhappy for you. Although every guy appreciates a woman that wants to look good all the time, the range is not really one of those required moments
CAMERAS
People tend to do stupid things with cameras around. If you want to take some moments of prosperity with someone shooting, SAFETY is the number one issue. People tend to ignore having guns pointed down range when they want to take “cool” looking photos for their Facebook/MySpace. Although we can all appreciate the woman who wants to pretend she is Angelina Jolie for the day in Tomb Raider, everyone around her doesn’t want an accidental round going off in their direction. This also has NO DIFFERENCE if you ensured the gun is empty. People around you do not want a barrel accidently pointed their direction at any moment. Please make sure that the only pictures you have of a new person shooting is the back of their head looking over their shoulder and that they are well aware of the photo coming. Flash photography is a MAJOR distraction at the range for people.
SAFETY STARTS BEFORE THE RANGE
Please ensure the safe operation of any gun at home first before going to the range. Trying to teach someone about a gun with bullets going off around them causes someone who has their first time shooting to be too distracted to listen. If you do this in the safe atmosphere of your home, it is easy for women to pick up on this. Also, once at the range, you should go over this one more time prior to going into the range portion itself. Explain that if anything goes wrong, put the gun down on the table with the barrel pointed down range. I had a woman recently tell me when she turned the gun towards me, “What are you worried about, I shot all the bullets out. The gun is empty?” I have a rule of thumb that no gun gets pointed at me for any reason, especially if I have not inspected it myself or disabled the gun in such a way that there is no risk to me (I do this with snap caps (dummy rounds) with my photo work if I need to take a picture of someone with a gun looking down the barrel). Never is this acceptable at a public range.
SLOW IS GOOD
Never encourage a first time shooter to empty the gun out as quick as possible. I have had women do excercises with shooting two rounds in a row and not hitting a silhoute target at 7 yards. Stress causes errors. Errors at a gun range can be at a minimal irritating (the guy next to you doesn’t want stray bullets on his target) to downright dangerous. At the end of the day, your goal is to hit what you are aiming at. Make sure the person you are with understands that. A first time range trip should always shoot at 5 to 7 yards with a silhouete target from a 9mm or smaller pistol.
HAVE FUN
Remember, you are probably already stressing her out by taking her to the range. If this is someone you are involved with, it is okay to hold them and kiss them every so often to calm them down, especially if there is the appearance of doing good in any form. Look at it this way, if you can get the women you are with to like the idea of shooting, you might not hear as much crap when you come home with some brand new $1000 gun. Plus, having a woman who likes to shoot creates another activity that you two could do together versus being her pack mule at the local mall on a Saturday…unless you are Phil Hartman.
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