"Sure Shots," an Austin social and shooting club for women has nearly 300 members...

[Eleanors38]

This new group formed when founder Niki Jones, a New York transplant, moved to Austin, Texas only to discover (somewhat counter-intuitively) that the metro area did not have much of a competitive shooting scene for women. Two and a half years later, it does now, having attracted nearly 300 women from all walks of life.

The emphasis for members is training in safety, gun use, cleaning, building one's own AR 15, competition -- and having a good time. Sure Shots seems to reflect the trend of growing gun-ownership among women. The article reflects not only concerns among Sure Shot members about safety and self-defense, but also about getting over the fear of the unknown, and gaining control of guns instead of guns having control over oneself. And politics takes a decided back seat.

“We’re totally diverse, but when we get together, it’s Austin, everyone gets along with everyone,” Jones said. - See more at:
http://www.statesman.com/news/lifestyles/friendships-forged-around-the-gun-at-womens-pistol/nWNs9/#sthash.LGbmWr2z.dpuf

[JoeBlowToo]

1. And your point is?

this is, after all, a poliyical discussion website, not a venue for promoting gun clubs.

[Eleanors38]

2. Well, I thought it would be a pleasant counter-point to this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1172112147

[HockeyMom]

3. How many were there for MEN in NY?

Idiot woman.

[spin]

4. All the women that I have introduced to shooting handguns enjoyed the experience. ...

and most said they found it empowering.

They also listened closer to my instructions than guys that I introduced to the sport and consequently learned quicker.

Many purchased their own handguns and a few obtained a Florida concealed weapons permit.

[Eleanors38]

10. A woman helps other women to gain confidence and skills, and you call her an "idiot?"

Nice, Hockeymom, nice.

[HockeyMom]

11. A woman is far more likely to be shot by

someone she is living with, and knows, than an intruder or rapist. How did Nancy Lanza get enpowered by her guns? She is only ONE example.

A woman is empowered by guns is pure NRA propaganda preying on FEAR. All they want is more WOMEN buying guns for profits for gun manufacturers.

You DO know that I live in a gun household, and they aren't MY guns. I am very much opposed to more guns in society, which includes women having them too.

[DonP]

12. Wow! I'll have to break the news to my daughters and sisters that they're all wrong

An unhappy, angry woman in Florida says so.

But the good news is what you think has no bearing whatsoever on the law for everyone else.

[HockeyMom]

13. I vote

and write to Congress. Plus, I can influence at least one NRA gun owner, my husband. All his guns are now in a big combination safe, and not around the house or in dresser drawers.

[DonP]

16. So do my daughters, daughters in law, several nieces and sisters, that's 9 so far

But congratulations on the safe purchase. Good move.

If the government was serious about gun safety they'd offer a tax credit for a safe installation.

[jimmy the one]

5. Gun Molls Galore

Eleanors: Sure Shots," an Austin social and shooting club for women has nearly 300 members...

And in austin too, as Ted Kruzennedy once might've said 'the last liberal bastion in texas'.
(True I believe, austin is the most liberal city in texas I've heard.)

But so what of these feminine austin city limits? women have owned guns before, & shot at ranges for training:

October 24, 2012 A woman taking a firearms training course accidentally shot herself in the right thigh Wednesday morning at the Nassau County Rifle and Pistol Range..

And another on a current thread on this very group forum: A woman at the MotorCity Casino in Detroit accidentally shot herself early Tuesday morning when her gun inside her purse discharged -- in the thigh again too, alternative to liposuction?

from eleanors link, the OVERRIDING point: The efforts to convince more women to buy guns appalled many in the feminist movement, including Betty Friedan, who called the effort to cast gun ownership as feminist a “horrifying, obscene perversion of feminism” and helped create Women Against Gun Violence, in part to organize women, a majority of whom favor gun control, and to raise awareness about the increased risk of death for women who live in homes with guns, especially the victims of domestic violence.

Women are amongst the stongest supporters of gun control in america. So I don't think Gun Molls Galore is gonna catch on, & 300 yellow roses of texas doesnt' amount to much in the big picture.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. Gun molls?

Fairly sexist comment at best.

[SayWut]

8. Which would you prefer women rely on?

1) A "rape whistle"

2) Speed dial 911

3) Karate classes

4)...............................................................................








http://olegvolk.net/gallery/main.php

[HockeyMom]

14. I was with a friend years ago

walking down a NYC subway tunnel late at night. Two men were following us. One of them grabbed my friend from behind. She was about 5 feet and 100 lbs. No match for a 6 foot man if she didn't have a gun? She was a Sensei who owned her own Dojo in the South Bronx.

Want to guess who got the better of who? The other man ran away when he saw what happened to his friend. I guess THESE criminals didn't have weapons. Imagine that?

[friendly_iconoclast]

18. What do you propose for those women that *don't* posess such skills?

[HockeyMom]

19. I don't have those skills

I wouldn't never have walked those tunnels myself all alone. I should get a gun instead? I went to a lot of not so nice places around NYC as a young woman, but in these areas I never went ALONE. Other places were just fine being ALL ALONE. I refused to live my life in FEAR, or own a GUN either. I am old now, and I still live by the that same standard. Hell, now if I DIE because some JERK with a gun wants to kill me, DO IT. I will be dead sooner rather than later anyway. I refuse to live my life by the GUN.

[friendly_iconoclast]

26. I have no problem whatsoever with you deciding for *yourself* how you should live.

I do, however, have a big problem with you and people like you issuing diktats about how others should
conduct their lives- that whole 'freedom of choice' thing, ya know?

[spin]

29. I am also old and suffer from back and hip problems but I have little desire ...

to end up in a hospital for a long period of time or six feet under just because some much younger thug views me as a easy target to attack.

I still feel my life has some value therefore I intend to try to defend myself from a violent attack using my legally concealed handgun only if truly necessary.

Our outlook on life seems to be quite different.

[Eleanors38]

9. So, who started this "perversion," men or women?

[HockeyMom]

27. Male Marketing people, obviously

but there is subliminal advertising here too, in that women see these ads of sexy babes with guns, and the sub-conscience idea behind it is that you too can look like this with a gun. Marketing.

I will grant you that every once in a while they will show a Grandma type with a gun (in a wheelchair usually) to try to capture that age group too.

[jmg257]

28. Here ya go...actually surprised at the number of women present as seen in the pics.

[img][/img]

[img][/img]
Women for the Second Amendment at NY rally

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=TH&Date=20130228&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=228009997&Ref=PH&Presentation=desktop#img-9

[HockeyMom]

30. yeah, see Grandma lol

I AM a native New Yorker. My husband couldn't get a CCW in NY. No reasonable need. lol Hope these women have JOBS that put them in danger because the OLD LAWS alone would have prevented most of them from getting guns.

[jmg257]

32. I am from NY too, and still have family there so I try to pay attention. Not sure how hard

it is these days, but way back when a lot depended on what county you were in and the leaning of the judge.

[HockeyMom]

33. Outside of NYC was easier

but still was not a piece of cake, and the FEES were very high. Rifles were easier to obtain than handguns. Only going by what I heard my gun owning husband say.

[jmg257]

36. Rifles no issue...fill out the federal form, show ID, good to go.

Even the more recent background checks are usually no issue. Outside of NYC of course.

[Eleanors38]

38. I can't believe adult women choose a "vulgar feminism" over the real thing...

at the behest of some male marketer. More likely, women are making choices for themselves even as they remain feminists. But I repeat myself.

[holdencaufield]

6. I love empowered women!

You go, girls

[HockeyMom]

15. Of course

Men think women with guns are SEXY. Every ad you see, including these posted here, always shows sexy looking women with guns. Ever see one ad with an ugly woman with a gun? My husband gets all these gun mags and I see those ads all the time.

[SQUEE]

17. Yes, you bring this up often

Your husband and the bikini girls with machine guns lament.

Actually I find it attractive that my fiance is a strong and confident person, that can move about in the world at will and be safe. Her confidence and surety as she cleans, and services her pistols and rifles, the lack of "girlie" indignation at loud noises and a little CLP on her shirt. The eye rolls as the ignorant fudds around here spout off disinfo about guns and their effects, the awesome way she will wade into an argument about the 2A with facts and figures, and cutting wit, destroying the patriacrcial idea that the state is her savior, and she needs a man with a gun(cops) to asssure her freedom and liberty.
So yeah, that lovely lady is terribly sexy to me, 'course I find it just as sexy when she practices her Klingon, or gets all giddy over a Spider Jerusalem statue.
So maybe its more the girl than the guns...

[HockeyMom]

20. My husband didn't protect either me, or our daughter

with his gun in his 30s when an intruder tried to break in. He is going to NOW in his 60s?????? He couldn't RUN to that combination safe and remember the code in time. I just let him THINK he can. I will fend for MYSELF, or die in my old age one way or another.


I am not afraid of either. HE is the gun owner who is afraid.

Edit: I do think we need this conversation because I think you gun owners really need to KNOW how WE feel. Yes, my husband does know how I feel.

[holdencaufield]

21. Sounds like you need a different sort of weapon ...

... The Point of View Gun

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point-of-view_gun#Point_of_View_Gun

[HockeyMom]

22. Well, I have used a hot steam iron

and a metal window fan. Whatever is available around me. How about a nice HOT pot of spaghetti sauce?

[SQUEE]

23. I admire your moxy, no sarcasm

But if you read my post, I am celebrating her strength, and unwillingness to be a victim, she doesn't need me, she has herself, and the tools she feels she needs. I do have a problem with people that think she should cast aside those tools because of the weakness and idiocy of others, a does she. I celebrate in the same way your choice to not be one as well, she and I have TOGETHER chosen something else, and I would really like if people would respect that informed and reasoned choice.

[Eleanors38]

39. Hot spaghetti & a metal window fan. Joe Biden would be proud!

[Eleanors38]

25. Well, I suppose a woman with a gun is sexier than one with a Ford waterpump...

But I've learned to put up with "sex sells," and realize that a woman with anything for sale is a momentary distraction, and not a very well hidden persuader.

Women who obtain/learn gun use usually do so at older ages than males (who are indoctrinated by fathers, usually), which means they are making decisions about arms as adults. Generally, adults have better B.S. detectors, whether it's slung by the NRA, or by advertisers. Guns are serious stuff, and not impulse buying at Target.

[holdencaufield]

35. "Well, I suppose a woman with a gun is sexier than one with a Ford waterpump"

Says you ...

[Eleanors38]

37. Why would a woman cuddle up to something that looks like it came from my lower reaches?

[holdencaufield]

40. For the answer to that ...

... you're going to have to ask Anne Heche.

I still haven't figured out why anyone would want to cuddle with MY nether regions.

[jmg257]

31. Men think SEXY women are SEXY...doesn't matter whether she holds a gun or a beer or

a fishing pole or a pool cue or a TV remote or a book or a cute little puppy.

If she is sexy, then she is sexy.

And many men will appreciate it.

[holdencaufield]

34. Puppies!

[ileus]

24. I wish we had something nearby like this, my DW is too good a shot to be wasted

just plinking around here at the range.


It's great to see women starting to catch on to the fact they don't have to be a victim.