Are the Female Shooters In Your Life Trained?

by Jan Leahy

photography by Jan Leahy

September 2nd, 2020

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Author Jan Leahy.

 

 

 

Gunsite Shoothouse GAS Match "Save the Baby!"

The trained and empowered woman (or women) - not a difficult topic, but one that merits discussion. I have joined an organization entitled, "The Well Armed Woman" a national organization dedicated to training and equipping women with education and training of firearm handling. This organization (TWAW) was founded by Carrie Lightfoot, in Scottsdale, AZ to help women learn about firearms, mind set, how to concealed carry your firearm, safety, etc. 

In a recent blog by Carrie, "An Empowered Women is . . . . . . . .", she discussed different elements to being an empowered female: Being strong and how essential that is to being a female to ease the tendency to be fearful, being caring about others and ourselves, adaptable to change, confident, and courageous. 

Courage - one trait that stands out to me - taking firearm training with a bunch of guys, making a decision to be a self-protector, in the world of guns. Viewing the challenges in life as opportunities and learning experiences. 

One so called battle, I have had an uphill battle being a female in the gun industry; one attitude often displayed is: "You're a girl, what do you know about guns?" Being a part of TWAW, shooting with other woman who also have an interest in being confident handling a firearm, gives me great empowerment. It drives me to be the best I can be at shooting and feeling confident about gun handling, in any circumstance. Also, being in the gun industry with my husband for the last 15 plus years, has given me a wealth of gun knowledge to help our customers make wise choices in a holster and other gun gear. 

The Prescott chapter of TWAW I belong to, uniquely, meets at Gunsite Academy in Paulden, AZ and has the benefit of training with awesome Gunsite instructors who challenge us with a lot of "real life" drills. It took a lot of "courage" to attend my first class at Gunsite, but once I realized there are other women out there wanting to learn, it has become second nature for me to be at Gunsite learning all I can. 

So, if there are females in your life, or if you are a female, I would highly recommend seeking out a local TWAW chapter, join it and become empowered with other females!! (also, have some fun while you are learning)!

Jan Leahy

Simply Rugged Holsters

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Author Jan Leahy at Gunsite Academy.

 

 

Jan (left) at Simply Rugged Holsters Headquarters with Gunsite instructors Chris Currie (center) and Ed Head (right).

 

 

 

Training at Gunsite (L-R): Rob Leahy, Jan Leahy, Matt Olivier, and Scott Tschirhart.

 

 

Training at Gunsite (L-R): David Burke, Don Burke, Matt Olivier, Rob Leahy, Jan Leahy, instructor Ed Head.