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Lock, Stock & Barrel NRA Reaching Out to Women
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Lock, Stock & Barrel
The NRA Takes Its Show on the Road to Teach Women About Guns & Hope They Get Hooked
By Sara Bonisteel
sarab@resident.com
Forget about Botox parties. The latest in girl gatherings comes courtesy of the National Rifle Association.
The four-million-strong NRA has set its sights on the ladies. To teach the high-heeled and well coiffed, the gun group has created "Women on Target" -- a free half-day seminar that gives women the chance to learn about guns and take them for a test shoot.
"There's such an anti-gun sentiment in the city," said Amy Heath, the director of Women in Shooting Sports for the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, a gun-advocacy group based in Albany; she's also a member of the NRA. "Immediately, when you say 'guns,' they get nervous and upset because they associate guns with violence. That's not what this is about at all. It's all about trying to promote guns in the right way."
Heath organized the city's first Women on Target event July 20 at the Westside Rifle and Pistol Range at 20 W. 20th St. just off Fifth Avenue. Approximately 50 women, from varied backgrounds and mostly first-time gun users, participated in the two seminars (one morning, one afternoon) that featured a safety lecture, some range shooting and door prizes to Express, Aveda and the Gap.
Since December 1999, the NRA has sponsored events at sportsmen clubs and rifle ranges around the nation for women to be introduced to "recreational shooting and hunting sports."
"The NRA had so many [women] calling wanting to get involved in the shooting sports and they didn't have the outlet," said Jennifer Bailey, program coordinator for the NRA's women's program department, about the creation of the shooting clinic. The NRA plans to hold 120 such events nationwide this year.
It's not the first time the NRA has tried to increase its presence in Manhattan. In May 2000, the group announced plans to open a theme store in Times Square. According to the organization, it still hopes to open a theme restaurant and is considering New York along with several other cities as a possible location.
Holding the Target program within New York City limits proved to be more difficult than most events sponsored at hunting clubs in other places, where women normally have the chance to fire handguns, shotguns and rifles.
New York City law does not allow anyone to fire a handgun without a license, so the women had to be content to fire a .22-caliber rifle, called by one instructor "a nice beginning gun."
With an American flag pinned to a wall for a backdrop, the instructors gave the women -- sandaled, sneakered and heeled -- a lesson in the basic safety of gun ownership and operation.
"The most important element of safety when it comes to using a firearm is not the widget or gadget on the gun, it's the person holding the gun," said instructor Mike Bodner. "It's you. You are the most important element of safety."
With that statement, Bodner launched into an hour of instruction on how to handle a gun safely on the range and in the home. The women learned how to operate the rifle and the basics of ammunition. Rifle sights were likened to "lollypops" and the powder charge to a "bottle of seltzer or Champagne."
Once the women had the basic fundamentals of shooting, they were outfitted with earplugs and eye protection and sent off to shoot paper targets with an instructor. It was out on the firing range that some of the women discovered a hidden talent -- good aim.
"I'm so proud of myself; I'm almost as good as my sister," said public relations consultant Kizzy Willis, 25, holding a target with a few holes in the bull's-eye. "It's a good stress reliever."
The Flatbush resident came with her mother and sister, who had heard about the program through her school, John Jay College of Criminal Justice on the West Side.
Nearby, Phyllis Shakespeare from Baldwin, L.I., held her own bullet-riddled target. "I love it," she said. "I just want to get better at it." Shakespeare heard about the program through a co-worker at the Long Island Rail Road who belongs to the NRA.
The rifle Shakespeare shot, a .22 Ruger, is similar to one she purchased following the Sept. 11 attacks. "I just kept thinking of people entering my home," she said softly of her purchase, which she keeps loaded in her home.
"I know you enjoyed yourselves because I was out there watching everybody laughing and giggling and just having a great time, and that's what it's all about," said Heath, who then gave the women a taste of the NRA and NYSRPA's mission, protecting the Second Amendment.
Heath shared her own story of going through the city's stringent handgun licensing process. In order to obtain a handgun, applicants must fill out a lengthy application, submit to a background check and fingerprinting, and wait months for approval.
"If you're upset about these laws like I am," Heath told the women, "you can let your politicians know that ?Look, we need to change these laws and what can we do to get that done?'"
Nancy Hwa, a spokeswoman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, in Washington, DC, isn't surprised by a shooting clinic sponsored by the NRA. "We have no problem with target shooting as a hobby," she said. "We think people should be trained in gun safety ? we actually would like for it to be required, just as you're required to take driving lessons to have a car."
Hwa, though, added that it was an opportunity for the group to promote an "extremist agenda."
The goodie bag that each woman received following the event did contain a stack of hunting and gun catalogs and pamphlets covering everything from pro-gun activism to NRA membership and state gun laws.
As the day's excitement of shooting paper on a firing range wore away, one of the participants was taken aback by the NRA's views.
A 29-year-old woman from the Upper East Side, who had remarked in the midst of the shooting session, "Between this and yoga, I'm going to have to work 24/7," changed her mind after flipping through the hunting materials in the goodie bag. She requested that her name not be used in this story.
"That was very upsetting to me," the woman, a vegetarian, said a few days later, specifically citing the hunting of animals. "I just thought it was going to be a shooting lesson. I don't want anything to do with it.
"I do like the shooting part," she continued. "I think it can develop your concentration; I am not into the NRA thing at all. I don't think I fit the right demographics."
Heath acknowledges that the event may need a bit of tweaking the next go-round.
"Women in the South are much more apt to hunt than women in the Northeast. There's other options," Heath said. "We might have to fine-tune the program."
She stressed, though, that the response had been overwhelming, and she hoped to be able to help organize more Women on Target events in the near future.
E-mail responses to editor in chief Mark Rifkin at markr@resident.com.http://www.resident.com/cs_7_29_02.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
The NRA Takes Its Show on the Road to Teach Women About Guns & Hope They Get Hooked
By Sara Bonisteel
sarab@resident.com
Forget about Botox parties. The latest in girl gatherings comes courtesy of the National Rifle Association.
The four-million-strong NRA has set its sights on the ladies. To teach the high-heeled and well coiffed, the gun group has created "Women on Target" -- a free half-day seminar that gives women the chance to learn about guns and take them for a test shoot.
"There's such an anti-gun sentiment in the city," said Amy Heath, the director of Women in Shooting Sports for the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, a gun-advocacy group based in Albany; she's also a member of the NRA. "Immediately, when you say 'guns,' they get nervous and upset because they associate guns with violence. That's not what this is about at all. It's all about trying to promote guns in the right way."
Heath organized the city's first Women on Target event July 20 at the Westside Rifle and Pistol Range at 20 W. 20th St. just off Fifth Avenue. Approximately 50 women, from varied backgrounds and mostly first-time gun users, participated in the two seminars (one morning, one afternoon) that featured a safety lecture, some range shooting and door prizes to Express, Aveda and the Gap.
Since December 1999, the NRA has sponsored events at sportsmen clubs and rifle ranges around the nation for women to be introduced to "recreational shooting and hunting sports."
"The NRA had so many [women] calling wanting to get involved in the shooting sports and they didn't have the outlet," said Jennifer Bailey, program coordinator for the NRA's women's program department, about the creation of the shooting clinic. The NRA plans to hold 120 such events nationwide this year.
It's not the first time the NRA has tried to increase its presence in Manhattan. In May 2000, the group announced plans to open a theme store in Times Square. According to the organization, it still hopes to open a theme restaurant and is considering New York along with several other cities as a possible location.
Holding the Target program within New York City limits proved to be more difficult than most events sponsored at hunting clubs in other places, where women normally have the chance to fire handguns, shotguns and rifles.
New York City law does not allow anyone to fire a handgun without a license, so the women had to be content to fire a .22-caliber rifle, called by one instructor "a nice beginning gun."
With an American flag pinned to a wall for a backdrop, the instructors gave the women -- sandaled, sneakered and heeled -- a lesson in the basic safety of gun ownership and operation.
"The most important element of safety when it comes to using a firearm is not the widget or gadget on the gun, it's the person holding the gun," said instructor Mike Bodner. "It's you. You are the most important element of safety."
With that statement, Bodner launched into an hour of instruction on how to handle a gun safely on the range and in the home. The women learned how to operate the rifle and the basics of ammunition. Rifle sights were likened to "lollypops" and the powder charge to a "bottle of seltzer or Champagne."
Once the women had the basic fundamentals of shooting, they were outfitted with earplugs and eye protection and sent off to shoot paper targets with an instructor. It was out on the firing range that some of the women discovered a hidden talent -- good aim.
"I'm so proud of myself; I'm almost as good as my sister," said public relations consultant Kizzy Willis, 25, holding a target with a few holes in the bull's-eye. "It's a good stress reliever."
The Flatbush resident came with her mother and sister, who had heard about the program through her school, John Jay College of Criminal Justice on the West Side.
Nearby, Phyllis Shakespeare from Baldwin, L.I., held her own bullet-riddled target. "I love it," she said. "I just want to get better at it." Shakespeare heard about the program through a co-worker at the Long Island Rail Road who belongs to the NRA.
The rifle Shakespeare shot, a .22 Ruger, is similar to one she purchased following the Sept. 11 attacks. "I just kept thinking of people entering my home," she said softly of her purchase, which she keeps loaded in her home.
"I know you enjoyed yourselves because I was out there watching everybody laughing and giggling and just having a great time, and that's what it's all about," said Heath, who then gave the women a taste of the NRA and NYSRPA's mission, protecting the Second Amendment.
Heath shared her own story of going through the city's stringent handgun licensing process. In order to obtain a handgun, applicants must fill out a lengthy application, submit to a background check and fingerprinting, and wait months for approval.
"If you're upset about these laws like I am," Heath told the women, "you can let your politicians know that ?Look, we need to change these laws and what can we do to get that done?'"
Nancy Hwa, a spokeswoman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, in Washington, DC, isn't surprised by a shooting clinic sponsored by the NRA. "We have no problem with target shooting as a hobby," she said. "We think people should be trained in gun safety ? we actually would like for it to be required, just as you're required to take driving lessons to have a car."
Hwa, though, added that it was an opportunity for the group to promote an "extremist agenda."
The goodie bag that each woman received following the event did contain a stack of hunting and gun catalogs and pamphlets covering everything from pro-gun activism to NRA membership and state gun laws.
As the day's excitement of shooting paper on a firing range wore away, one of the participants was taken aback by the NRA's views.
A 29-year-old woman from the Upper East Side, who had remarked in the midst of the shooting session, "Between this and yoga, I'm going to have to work 24/7," changed her mind after flipping through the hunting materials in the goodie bag. She requested that her name not be used in this story.
"That was very upsetting to me," the woman, a vegetarian, said a few days later, specifically citing the hunting of animals. "I just thought it was going to be a shooting lesson. I don't want anything to do with it.
"I do like the shooting part," she continued. "I think it can develop your concentration; I am not into the NRA thing at all. I don't think I fit the right demographics."
Heath acknowledges that the event may need a bit of tweaking the next go-round.
"Women in the South are much more apt to hunt than women in the Northeast. There's other options," Heath said. "We might have to fine-tune the program."
She stressed, though, that the response had been overwhelming, and she hoped to be able to help organize more Women on Target events in the near future.
E-mail responses to editor in chief Mark Rifkin at markr@resident.com.http://www.resident.com/cs_7_29_02.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878