Machine guns not just for the guys as women head for benefit shootout

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Machine guns not just for the guys as women head for benefit shootout By Stephen MordentiSIMSBURY - The Connecticut Chapter of the Second Amendment Sisters is inviting the public to have a blast and try out more than 30 automatic weapons at its Machine Gun Blast fund raiser from 1 p.m. to dusk Saturday at the Metacon Range.For 25 cents per round, the public will have a choice of 30 machine guns to try under the supervision of qualified instructors and range officers, said Lisa Akers of New Milford, coordinator of the Connecticut chapter. Nationally, the Second Amendment Sisters, who promote gun-owner rights, have more than 150,000 members, she said.Besides benefiting the Second Amendment Sisters, the fund raiser is also for the Metacon Club and the Silver Shield Foundation, which provides financial assistance to the children of police, fire, rescue and aid workers lost in the line of duty."The Second Amendment Sisters was founded two years ago in response to the Million Mom March in Washington," Akers said this week. "Five women who met on the Internet wanted to show that not all women agreed with the march, and that it didn't speak for all women." She said that the organization now has chapters in all 50 states. The group believes strongly in the Second Amendment of the Constitution, the right to bear arms. The Connecticut Chapter of the Sisters always includes Article 1, Sec. 15 of the Connecticut Constitution in all its literature. That section states: "Every citizen has the right to bear arms in defense of himself and the state." "Our mission is education," Akers said. "We will be having classes on the responsibility that goes with owning and using firearms this year. And we'll be sponsoring pistol-permit certification classes." She was quick to point out that the Second Amendment Sisters is not a bunch of Annie Oaklies or pistol-packing mamas. "We're housewives, professional women, college students," she said. "In fact, a chapter is starting at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, and many of them will be at the machine gun blast."She said that one event the group held this past year was a "Shop and Shoot Weekend." "We went shopping at some of the new outlet stores one day, and the next we took classes and learned more about shooting at a range," she said.She said the idea for the machine gun blast was to give people a chance to try firing a gun that they might not otherwise be able to. "The process of owning and registering machine guns is very difficult," she said. The club will have available such guns as Thompson belt-fed machine guns and the H&K MP5, a popular sub-machine gun that fires 9 mm rounds.Guns are being provided by Carl Giuffre of Provost's Precision Pistols in Simsbury. There will be fully qualified instructors and range officers on hand, she said. Akers said that 300 people have already registered in advance by calling (877) 724-1788 or going online to www.2asisters.net/ct. , but walk-ins are welcome the day of the shoot http://www.rep-am.com/webarchive/localnews/7pbt.htm