|
A Woman's Arms - A Woman\'s Arms |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Written by Lindsay Robinson, For NEXTnc
|
|
Thursday, 30 November 2006 |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 1 of 6
 |
|
Erin Hooley | For NEXTnc
Top: Lindsay Robinson takes aim at a target at Rocky Mountain Shooters Supply in Fort Collins. Above: Tim Brough, left, shows Robinson how a .22 Smith and Wesson revolver works.
|
Check out the next woman you see walk by. Is she bangin’?
We’re not asking if she’s good looking. We’re asking if she has a gun.
These days, it’s more likely than ever before that she owns a firearm, whether for self-defense, recreation or hunting.
Caitlin Kelly, author of “Blown Away,” says between 11 to 17 million American women own guns.
Colorado doesn’t keep statistics on gun ownership by gender, nor are such statistics kept on a federal level, but Fort Collins gun store owner Tim Brough said there has been a nationwide upswing in women’s interest in guns.
“I think that’s mostly a direct result of the manufacturers, the gun ranges, store owners, everybody paying more attention to (women) as a market and producing guns and accessories that are better sited to women, and just being more aware of their needs,” Brough said. He and his wife, Lisa, both 44, own Rocky Mountain Shooters Supply.
DIRTY HARRIET? NOT QUITE…
 You could say Kelly Snyder has been hunting since she was in a stroller. Every year, Snyder’s family, grandparents included, went hunting and took along Snyder and her little sister — “a family tradition,” as Snyder described it.
“My grandma would knit us fluorescent orange sweaters to wear hunting,” she said.
Snyder started off with a BB gun when she was 6 or 7. She remembers shooting at soda cans and her dad lecturing her never to point a gun at anyone.
She shot her first deer when she was 13 and “progressed from there.” In college, Snyder participated on Colorado State University’s Shotgun Sports Team, which competes in events like trap and skeet.
Now 23 and employed as an administrative assistant, Snyder enjoys hunting for deer, elk, antelope and waterfowl.
She said being a girl actually helped her get more hunting experience. The guys always wanted to help and see her get better. They also thought it was cool to meet a girl who enjoyed guns as much as they did.
“When I went out and shot, the guys were really welcoming,” Snyder said. “You just gotta get your foot in the door. It’s a male-dominated sport and you’ve just gotta get past that.”
Angela Bosco, an employee at Rocky Mountain Shooters Supply, has a similar story. Her dad hunted and, consequently, she started shooting when she was little.
Now Bosco, a 23-year-old graduate student at CSU, has nine guns. She said she hunts and loves to shoot for target practice.
“Hunting I love because I feel it’s just such a natural instinct, and I love the fact that you can be out there with nature,” she said. “I feel very close to nature when I hunt. I don’t really care if I get anything.”
She said she likes target shooting because it’s a sport that fits her. Bosco shoots to improve her aim and hopes to eventually participate in shooting competitions.
Bosco said she feels it’s still a little taboo for women to have an interest in guns.
“It’s not really expected for women to be that interested in guns,” she said. “Most people seem to think women only want to shoot for protection purposes — not to say a lot of us don’t — but it’s becoming less and less taboo. But women who are shooting for sport, it’s still kind of a touchy subject.”
 Bosco said she thinks everyone, especially women who live alone, should have a gun for self-defense.
Not everyone agrees, which is no surprise.
Rosemarie Fritz, the executive director of Alternative to Violence in Loveland, said guns are not the best means for self-defense. Alternative to Violence is an agency focused on the intervention, education and prevention of domestic violence, sexual assault and other violent crimes.
“We do not recommend women get a gun for protection at all,” she said. “Some may want to get one on their own, but there is potential for it to backfire.”
Instead, Fritz recommends other action, such as restraining orders and putting a safety plan in place. When women feel vulnerable, guns are sometimes a way to gain power.
“We try to empower them emotionally to be stronger rather than empowering them with a gun,” Fritz said.
But for women like Lisa Brough, Tim’s wife, owning and shooting guns is a way of life.
She was the only daughter in a family of five kids. Her dad and brothers liked to hunt and she just fell into it. She said it was something her family did as a hobby.
Lisa and Tim said shooting has become a fun family outing for them and their three kids — two sons and a daughter. They hunt and enjoy recreational shooting. She owns several guns, including a Smith and Wesson .357-caliber for “personal protection.”
Lisa encouraged any woman who wants a gun to “go for it,” but to become educated on guns before jumping into anything.
“The way our society is, it’s scary not to feel protected. … Having a concealed weapon, even if you don’t have to use it, kind of levels the playing field, gives that intimidation factor back to you,” she said. “More than likely, whatever that guy had planned on doing, he’s going to change his mind pretty quick.”
Tim said some of his customers have been victims of violence.
“There are others that haven’t been, and they don’t want to be. They want to have an equalizer,” Tim said.
He described a woman who had been attacked with a knife in a car wash who came into his store wanting to learn to shoot.
“She said, ‘Next time, I will have the upper hand if this happens again.’ For her it was very real and immediate,” Tim said.
|
|
|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
|  | Hola Amigos! I'm Sandra. I like to believe that people are 70 percent good and 30 percent dumb. I'm stickin to that story. Reading this blog might make you want to be good, but probably just dumb. | |
|  | Donovan Henderson is editor of NEXTnc. | |
|  | Here at Nextnc we have some characters. Get a sneak peak behind the curtain and find out what amusing antics our staffers get themselves into on a weekly basis. | |
|  | What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
|  | Life's little morsels of inspiration, observation and encouragement seen through the eyes of the Nextnc reporter.
| |
|  | Ms. Giles currently lives in Colorado where she stars in her own private reality show. She writes aphoristic accounts of her life, taken completely out of context, and embellished with characters and situations disguised to resemble something close to interesting. | |
|  | over and out | |
| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
|
|
