When looking for instruction for a new shooter, especially the spe- cial lady in your life, avoid the temptation to try it yourself. Seek out a professional, or, even better, send her to a reputable school.
are personal things and their selec- tion needs to be made by the person (man or woman) that will carry and shoot them.
Common Sense There might actually be such a
thing as a ladies gun, but what makes it so is not its name or the cartridge it is chambered for. A ladies gun is dependent on the lady that carries it. What I’ve learned as an instructor and by being exposed to ladies that shoot, is the guns ladies like to and can use effectively will very likely sur- prise you. It’s most likely a gun most wouldn’t consider lady-like design, function or size. It’s just a gun like any guy might select. Last year my wife and I participat-
ed in a ladies concealed-carry class at Gunsite. In attendance were almost a dozen women with a varied mix of shooting backgrounds. Ruger, Smith & Wesson, Kimber, Colt and North American Arms all had handguns there to try. Most of the guns fell in the super compact category, mean- ing they were small, light and cham-
bered for cartridges like the .22 LR, .22 Magnum, .32 NAA and .380 ACP. You know; “ladies guns.” Without exception, the guns the ladies most enjoyed shooting were the Colt and Kimber, Officer-sized 1911 in 9mm. (Let’s give Bill Wilson some credit here. Wilson Combat’s handgun for women, the Ms. Sentinel, is an Offi- cer-sized 1911 in 9mm Luger.) This goes against everything gun-
writers and gun-counter experts have been preaching for years. Most consider the single-action 1911 an ex- pert’s gun because it has a safety and a light trigger pull. Men, the know-it- all, chauvinistic trolls we are, think a gun like that is just too much for a lady. The women attending the class — one was only 15 years old — un- equivocally proved this to be, like I said, a bunch of bull.
Gender Equality Women are just as smart as men.
They can learn how to flip a safety off before they shoot just like a man, they can learn to pull a trigger just like a man and they can buy their own un-
derwear just like a man. (Actually, I bet if the truth were told, women buy underwear for their husbands more than husbands buy it for themselves.) Making the assumption a gun is for a lady because of its size, design or chambering makes about as much sense as cleaning your ear out with an ice pick. It’s almost as dangerous, too. What is true is most women could
care less what a gun has printed on its side, how big of a bullet it shoots or what men think about it. They actu- ally have a more practical approach. They want to know if it is comfort- able to shoot, easy to carry and if they can use it to shoot the man attacking them. Men, the “gun experts,” could learn something from this. So, how do you select a gun for the
lady in your life? Um, you don’t. You let her pick it out. What you can do is provide her
with the opportunity to handle and try a variety of handguns until she says, “Hey, I like this gun; its fun to shoot and I believe I could carry it.” What a novel concept. Just because you are a gun guy doesn’t mean you
Gunsite instructor Il Ling is demonstrating grip and handgun presentation. Her pistol of choice is a 1911, but in .45 ACP.
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