If a violent criminal has broken in to your home…who’s his first target?

There are a handful of common reasons why women do not proactively learn how to defend themselves either physically or with a firearm. But I have found that most of these reasons can be resolved with education. In today’s article I wanted to give my fellow women some useful food for thought.

Suppose you have a competent husband. He works out. He’s fit. He’s conscious of his surroundings, and perhaps he even is familiar with the proper use of a handgun for self-defense purposes. Let’s even add to the mix that you also have a few children as well who have been taught how to safely live in an environment aware of self-defense. Thus you may have a sense that all is well.

Now, let’s suppose that the unthinkable occurs and a violent criminal has broken into your home. And we’ll even assume that you “got lucky” and your husband is home when the invasion occurs. Who do you think a strategic criminal would target first in order to get his demands met? Your husband, because he’s the strongest threat? No. That would be an incorrect assumption. The criminal would go after you, the wife and mother, first because you are perceived as being the weakest yet the greatest asset. Think about it. What would your husband do in exchange for your life? What would your children do if “Mommy” was being threatened with unspeakable violence? In this instance, your lack of skill and knowledge is actually a dangerous liability to the rest of your family.

This situation could be significantly different if you merely appeared to be the weakest and yet were able to fully protect and defend yourself and your family.

That was a married woman example. Let’s play this out in a single mom situation. The criminal may go after you as you are perceived to be the only viable threat. Or the criminal could go after your children in order to manipulate your actions. Either way, your unquestionable will to protect your children is simply not enough to save them. You must back up that will with knowledge and skill. Otherwise you will still be a liability to your children or anyone else you love and care for.

So how do you defend yourself? While there are many defensive alternatives that can be considered, consider this. A firearm operated safely and with expertise is the ultimate equalizer between a woman and her would-be attacker. If an attacker is under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or rage the proverbial karate chop is not likely to save your life and to end the altercation. You need real stopping powers against such mind and body numbing substances in order to truly bring the altercation to stop and ensure you and your family’s safety.

In today’s society where criminal activity seems to know no bounds, it’s naïve of us women to think that someone else will save us. The police can’t stop every attack from ever happening. Our husbands or significant others won’t always be there to protect us. We will not be able to ward off an intruder solely by our motherly lioness instincts. These instincts may provide us with adrenaline and determination, but unless they are backed up with applicable and practical skill such instincts may only bring us more harm.

Here’s the good news. No, you do not need to train countless hours to have this kind of expertise. And no, you do not need to shrink from your femininity in order to be capable of protecting yourself. There is a proprietary technique available that will ensure that you hit only what you’re aiming at, and to do so expeditiously before the encounter escalates to an impossible situation.

For more information, go to http://www.womenofcaliber.com/

Here’s to your safety and peace.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

Today's Woman and Firearms

Are you part of the startling 49% INCREASE of gun sales that occurred in November 2008? (over the previous year of the same month) Chances are, if you’re female, you actually represent the majority of those purchases. That’s right. The majority.

If I were to state that this is an important time in history, many of you may think that I’m referring to the political shift in power. However, I’m actually referring to the undeniable shift in interest of the expert use of firearms. Over the last 12 months, women have been coming out of the woodwork in record droves and declaring their independence by taking part in firearm safety and use. Women are starting to feel like they can no longer stay in the dark when it comes to firearm safety and usage. After all, the best safety measure anyone can have when it comes to firearms is knowledge.

In Caitlin Kelly’s 2004 book, Blown Away: American Women and Guns, she points out that today’s women realize that they simply aren’t as well protected as they need to be. Their levels of knowledge and self-defense protection simply aren’t keeping up with the rate of violent crimes against women. Thus they are searching for more effective means of providing that necessary protection. Women today understand that the power of a competent marksman is a great equalizer against violent crime, and they are refusing to become the next victim statistic.

Lest we forget, shooting is also fun. It’s not unusual to see women joining in dirt bike racing, camping and hiking, fishing, hunting, and other activities that have been predominantly occupied by men. A feminine touch on a rifle or handgun is just one more expression of women’s exploration for new, fun, and exciting. And it gives women a great outlet for their inherent hand-eye coordination talents. Skeet and target shooting make for a great stress reliever worthy of today’s challenges.

And lastly, it’s no secret that women are nurturers by nature. With the growing number of single mothers in our nation, women are beginning to take sole responsibility for soundly protecting their families as well. It’s simply not enough in today’s society to remind the children not to talk to strangers. This has led a dramatic increase in the number of single moms clamoring for firearm training classes. Unfortunately, these classes are lacking in one critical component.

With as many women who are seeking training, the number of females who are sufficiently trained and willing to offer such training has a long ways to go to merit the equal amounts of support that women gun owners are now in search of. More of these capable women need to come out of their proverbial closets and show a sister how to make strides in competently ensuring safety and use without regrets of her firearm.

Experienced females need to help our society shed the warped image of women and firearms as well. We need to demand more fashionable and female minded options for firearm carrying and sports. We need to counter the notion that a firearm somehow strips a woman of her femininity and show that it does not negate her instinct to nurture and care. A firearm does not make a woman a brash warrior. In fact, a firearm in the properly trained hands brings an abundance of confidence and peace. (And yes, I do mean “peace” in more than one way.)

Given all of the images that are flashed on television and in magazines which attempt to make us feel like we’re not doing enough, not skinny enough, or just plain not enough, it seems to me that we could use a lot more women gun owners in this nation. So if you’ve got the talent for competent firearm usage, share it. If you have an interest burgeoning for more knowledge in this regard, act on it. There’s plenty of “sistas” willing to join you.

Bring on the Confidence and the Peace.

Kellene

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

What Not To Wear... when learning how to shoot a firearm

What Not To Wear
Who Not to Take
What Not To Say…when learning how to shoot a firearm.

“But I don’t want my husband to teach me how to shoot a gun.”
Yup. I’ve heard that line a LOT in my years of firearm self-defense training. And it usually also comes with a “men aren’t patient enough.” While I wholeheartedly disagree with the overall patience complaint from women toward men, I do wholeheartedly agree that learning how to shoot from your husband, father, son, boyfriend, or even a male instructor is not the wisest choice a woman could make.

Sorry ladies. This is not going to be a male bashing blog. In fact, I learned the majority of what I know about self-defense exclusively from men – especially, my expert marksman husband and a couple of patient Marine friends of mine. But I have learned what women really need in order to be properly instructed in the competent handling of a firearm and how they need to learn it from my female students. This bit of information will outline some of the points of difference between a woman and a man in learning how to competently use a firearm.

Because firearms are stereotypically such a “manly” thing, men need to stop trying to introduce them to the women as a means of making the female tougher. Women don’t want to strip themselves of their kind and gentle virtues. That’s part of what makes them women. One of the primary reasons a woman has any desire to learn how to use a firearm is a result of her fierce instinct to take care of her children and loved ones. That’s what an instructor needs to address. As such, women are more apt to learn how to handle themselves with a firearm in order to ensure that they are able to maintain peace and order in their lives.

Men need to understand that women are physiologically more sensitive to the deep bass sound than men are. This is why you are more likely to have a car banging the bass sound with the windows rolled down accompanied by a male driver rather than a female. When instructed by males, they are seemingly oblivious to this affect. And if they are unaware of it, it registers to a female as something freakish, wrong, or inept. As women we’re used to running an entire household, annual budgets, creative menu planning, power social networking, puke, pooh, blood, emotional breakdown intervention, mental manipulation, calendaring, multi-tasking, etc. We women definitely have the fortitude to be good at whatever we set our minds to. Regardless, the new sound of a round exploding in the middle of our hands is not something we’re initially oriented to handle. We women are simply more sensitive to it, and boy does it rock our world—but not in the way it does for the head banger rock hard males. The initial, uncommon sounds of a firearm going off, even a small caliber .22, often rattles a woman to the core literally. It is something that women have to get used to. And trying to do so when they are in the midst of the company of a man that they care about, would like to make proud, and consider themselves a partner to is NOT the ideal scenario. Holding a firearm for the first time is tough enough. Men, I don’t recommend having the special female in your life try to do it around you. It’s just plain stressful. The woman is usually trying to push through an instinct that has been fostered all of their lives that a firearm is a big, bad, scary thing. They don’t need the added pressure of not making you happy, pushing your patience, or doing something that’s not technically correct as well.

While men are occasionally whacked on the head, arms, or elsewhere with a loose casing, they typically think that’s pretty cool—a sign of competence and “really shooting.” I doubt they would think this way however, if the hot casing were to make it down a man’s pants and lodge itself in the family jewels. Unfortunately women rarely get the advice to refrain from wearing low cut, scoop necked or open necked tops when a man takes them shooting so as not to get an unpleasant and uninvited hot visitor in their bra. Only another woman would think to caution them against inappropriate clothing. Oh, and the make-up and jewelry. You may want to refrain from wearing them when you go shooting as well. The gun powder that you get on your face and hands is definitely not something the jewelers or department store manufacturers considered when they make their beauty and warranty claims.

Women don’t need to restrict themselves to a particular caliber either. While there is a great deal of viable evidence that a particular caliber has more stopping power than another, the stopping power is useless if you can’t handle the firearm. Just work up to a caliber and grip that feels comfortable to you. Gun ranges usually have guns to rent and test out so that you don’t make an expensive purchasing error. Use such conveniences for all it’s worth until you’re completely comfortable with a particular grip, caliber, slide, trigger pull, and action. If you are only comfortable with a .22 caliber, it’s sure better than nothing. A lot better. Most would be criminals wouldn’t know one caliber from another anyway. All they see is that you have a gun, or that you’re using a gun. Period.

Women do not need to sacrifice or hide their femininity and fashion sense in order to appreciate the protection and peace of mind that learning how to use a firearm can give them. No, women do not need to get rid of their long nails for shooting. (Just scrub them really well afterwards to get the gun powder and gases removed.) Nor do they need to begin wearing fatigues, carry ugly purses, wear hideous concealed carry vests, don macho belts, or look like they gained 50 pounds on their hips just so that they can carry a firearm with them for protection. Learning the ropes on these kinds of issues merely comes with getting your information from another woman usually…as opposed to Bubba who wears one gun in his oversized belt buckle, one in his military boot, one in his fanny pack, and one under his hat.

By the way, it’s a firearm—not a weapon. A 5 inch stiletto heel, hairspray, or a credit card is a weapon. Let’s not get them confused.

Here’s to learning…

Kellene

Women of Caliber exclusively trains women, by women, the skills of physical and firearm self-defense, including the UT Concealed Firearm Permit. For more information go to http://www.womenofcaliber.com/

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

My First Time...Shooting

People assume that as a self-defense and firearms instructor that I’m some kind of super bad “you know what” and have always been “fine” with guns, etc. Well, they would be dead wrong.

When I married my husband I was a city slicker from Columbus, OH. I had never been around guns. I was raised that they were super bad, super dangerous, etc.

As my brand new husband (a Utah mountain boy) and I were moving items into our new home just a week after our wedding, I found myself bringing in a couple of heavy black cases. The cases were small and I couldn’t fathom what in the world could be inside them that would be so heavy. Finally, curiosity got the better of me and I asked my husband what the heck they had in them. He sheepishly looked at me and said “Oh. I guessed we should have talked about that before we got married.” As it turned out, the cases had handguns in them and my husband was very adept at handling them and shooting them.

This began the long 12 + months of him trying to convince me, the city girl, that it would be perfectly OK for me to “allow” him to get his concealed carry permit. I just couldn’t stomach the thought of him carrying a gun around all the time though. To his great credit my husband was patient in educating me and waiting for me to be ok with him taking a more proactive stance in his 2nd Amendment rights. So finally I relented and “let” him get his concealed carry permit, with the understanding that I wasn’t yet ready for him to actually “carry.” And so his patience continued. Finally, I decided that he was perfectly capable and competent and this was important to him so I put aside my inhibitions and relented as a “birthday present.” But boy howdy did it make him happy!

Then, as a course of natural progression, he patiently attempted to get me to try and shoot a gun. So we finally went to a range. He taught me forEVER about safety, handling, etc. All the while I’m thinking “let’s just get this over with and let me shoot and get out of here, already!” He had me shoot a little Beretta Tomcat .32. (This is a little bigger kick than a .22 but less than a 9 mm.) Terrified, but trying to be brave, I shot it six times and then began crying, shaking inside, and informed my husband we were done with the shooting exercise.

After this I couldn’t watch action/adventure movies (my favorite genre up to this point) for several weeks. When I saw someone on screen shooting a gun, it suddenly felt much more real to me, no longer pretend. I no longer had the desire to cheer for the good guy and yell “Get ‘em!” Instead, I recalled what I felt were the heavy bass reverberations that I experienced shooting the first time and listening to my husband’s shooting. After shooting a firearm I felt just how real, instant, and deadly a gun was. And that kind of power in my hand initially scared the crud out of me and I certainly didn’t want to relive it in a movie.

Several weeks later my husband chose to make use of my competitive spirit and convinced me that I should try again and not let this fear get the better of me. So I did. This time he had me shoot a Glock 9 mm. I lasted an entire 20 minutes of shooting this, hitting the target occasionally, and then informed him that I had met my quota for the day. At least this time I didn’t cry.

So what transpired between the crying, the stress, and such and my now being a firearms and self-defense instructor to women?

First: Purpose. I realized that as our world becomes more volatile, the more likely we will need to defend ourselves in such a manner some day, whether it be protecting our homestead, a family member, virtue, or other scenarios I won’t get into here. And it’s naïve of me to think that my “Rambo” of a husband will be there to save the day when I’m in trouble. There is a great likelihood that when something does “go south” my husband will be the one out patrolling the neighborhood, or coming to the aid of others. I realized that I didn’t want to be a liability for him and wanted to be able to stand on my own when it may be necessary.

Second: Vision. Then I realized that there were a lot of other women that are in the same shoes as me—their husband may be confident in defending himself physically or with a firearm, but their wives are not. I’m sure it would give a greater peace of mind to those who love their wives to know that their wives can be a protecting asset to the family too. Yet, I also know just how hard it was for me to overcome my stigmas about guns, protection, emergency preparedness, and self-defense. Frankly, in spite of my husband being an excellent and patient teacher with me, there are some things that a man would never think of when instructing a woman, things that I think would have made it easier for me to come around and be more confident in my ability to defend myself without hurting innocent bystanders. I think learning from a man is difficult for a woman…especially when it’s a husband or a boyfriend. There’s already an enormous amount of pressure in this new experience without stressing that you’re disappointing or not measuring up to someone you love as well.

Additionally I realized that there were also a lot of non-married women that aren’t sufficiently protected simply because of a lack of knowledge. When I was Marine-trained to learn physical self-defense (by a couple of men), I realized that there were better ways to communicate and thus properly train a woman in order for her to be effective and proactive, rather than reactive to fear or potential “what if” scenarios. I felt that it would be better to prevent those scenarios from ever happening than trying to educate someone traumatized after the fact.

Assault crimes have continued to rise in our nation. Criminals are becoming more brazen in their efforts to win the “Oscar” for the biggest, boldest, most gruesome assault. I realized that simply maintaining the status quo for women and their ability to truly defend themselves really was no longer an option. And yet they didn’t have a lot of viable answers.

Third: Confidence. It’s one thing to have a Concealed Firearm Permit. It’s another to have the mindset that you will be able to use a firearm if necessary, and that you can do so without harming others. I was very fortunate in that I was able to get some unique training that enabled me to hit exactly what I was aiming at, without the “fog of war” intruding, and in a quick-draw fashion. This SKILL made me very competent and confident. This made a HUGE difference in my acceptance of this new responsibility. I was ready to take it on. This confidence made a significant impact on my view of circumstances around me. I no longer seemed to worry as much about things which were out of my control, because I felt in control of the most vital matters, protecting myself and others.

Fourth: Clarity. Martial arts and boxing training are great for physical activity, confidence, and discipline. But for the majority of ALL students, they are ineffective, and even dangerous (because of the false sense of competence they may invoke) in the heat of a real assault. I’m sorry to offend anyone when I say this, but reality can’t be subject to a popularity contest. The reality is it’s unrealistic to think that someone can get this kind of instruction and effectively defend themselves against a psychotic perpetrator in the heat of the moment. Unless you’re Chuck Norris or Jackie Chan, it’s not likely you’ve instinctively mastered the skills necessary to make these disciplines life-saving. There are too many “moves” to master. There’s too much thinking necessary. Additionally, it appeared that only “beautiful, skinny, and fit women” were capable of using these techniques in an attempt to protect themselves. Considering that I was over 200 pounds, only 5’ 2 ½” and overall out of shape, I didn’t like that idea very much. I didn’t care for the social insinuation that chubby women were ideal marks for perpetrators. That’s when I had an “Aha Moment.” My personal discovery was that the competent use of a firearm far surpasses the effectiveness of a “crouching tiger” or a “right cross” and it is no respecter of what you had for breakfast, lunch or dinner for the last decade! While the knocking someone unconscious may be a more compassionate approach to defending yourself, I had to come to a point where I no longer fostered compassion towards someone who would take me away from my family, cripple me, harm my children, or others that I loved or who were helpless to defend themselves. And whether one is scrawny, hefty, young or ancient, the competent use of a firearm coupled with some street smarts is a great equalizer between good and evil.

After commiserating with so many women over the years who were just like me in their fear and other inhibitions of defending themselves, I SO wanted to share my relatively newfound knowledge with as many women as I could. I wanted them to have the opportunity to learn from a very REAL woman who completely understood and overcame their same fears. To not just learn enough so that they can legally carry a firearm, but to learn enough so that they can skillfully use one when necessary, and can defend themselves when necessary. I also saw value in training women real street smarts with the proper use of other methods of self-defense in the event a firearm isn’t readily available, malfunctions, or could endanger others.

To this end I’ve spent years becoming the most certified female NRA instructor in the Western States as well as a certified Utah CFP Instructor (Concealed Firearm Permit). In addition I’ve endeavored to learn and master as much as my military, DEA, and other helpful experts have to teach me so that I can expertly pass on real life skills to women all over. I’ve also worked closely with my husband to create an exclusive technique that enables a shooter to consistently hit exactly what they are aiming at, with only a couple hours of instruction! So if you’re inclined in the least, begin your journey with me at http://www.womenofcaliber.com/

And that, is the rest of the story.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.