A local reader took nearly 400!
Hi, Robb, Since you were kind enough to make mention of it on the blog, here's an "after action report" on our Ladies' Day event Saturday: we had 384 women show up and try shooting. Unfortunately, late in the day we ran out of safety glasses and earplugs and had to turn away about 50 because we couldn't allow them to shoot without eye and ear protection. A planning failure we'll fix for next year, along with some improved organization (example: we had 9 instructor stations for the "Basic Handguns" section and none of us got a break between 0830 and 1630, with a long line of guests waiting all the time. We need 3-5 more instructors on that section. Next year I'll move it to a pair of bays on the Action Range where we'll have room for more tables and targets and try to recruit more volunteer instructors). By all accounts our guests enjoyed themselves. At my station (at Basic Handgun, targets at 7 yards) our first question is always "have you ever fired a gun before?" and the answer 90+% of the time is "no" or "yes, on the air pistol range" which is up the firing line from Handguns, so we start from scratch with basic operation, and let them try .22 revolvers and semi-autos, then move down our section for a few rounds of 38 Special and/or 9MM. After registration, guests have to go through a 20-25 minute safety briefing before they're allowed to access the firing lines, so we don't have to cover safety each time in detail. Only about 20% require a Rule 3 reminder, which is very good for people who haven't shot - or even handled a gun - before, so the safety briefing works. In Handgun, we went through about 2,000 rounds of .22, about 1,200 of 38 and about 800 of 9MM, all donated by local gun shops or club members or purchased by the club. At the far end of the 50 meter range from us were the High Power Rifle folks with 2 ARs, a bolt rifle and a Garand. The few times I came up for air I noticed they usually had a line waiting as well, and our HP Discipline Director commented at the end of the day that he was surprised how many women wanted to shoot the Garand, and how many of those wanted to take it off the bench and shoot standing. High Power was using 100 yard targets set at 60 yards, and the times we went cold to replace targets I noticed they were replacing only target centers, so most hits were inside the 8 ring (most women were shooting from the benches). That a high number of guests got the chance to try shooting an AR is, I think, a huge boost to shooting sports and gun ownership in general; I doubt any of those women will fall prey to anti-gun diatribes about "deadly assault weapons" after they've shot an AR, and shot it well. I can't speak for the other 8 instructors at Handgun, but I had several mother-daughter pairs come through my station, and then mosey down to High Power, which I consider a big plus. Toward the end of the day we were getting guests at Handgun who were no longer newbies, because they looked at the line for us and skipped around to the Action Ranges where they got to try Cowboy, IPSC, IDPA and 3-Gun Tactical (which the 3-Gun guys wisely used .22 ARs for - great invention, those .22 ARs) in very short action stages. We've got one trap machine for shotgun, and it was busy all day as well. Our club attorney, assisted by a member who is a training officer for the Orlando Police Dept., ran a Defensive Handgun section in one of the action range target bays. A few guests brought their own guns, which we inspect before allowing them to take them to the firing line and shoot them. Every year we get a couple who bring a handgun they've bought but never shot, and we take extra time with them and refer them to the club website where the calendar lists scheduled classes with instructor contact info. A long, very busy, and very satisfying day. We'll do a "lessons learned" session in a week or so, and we'll set a date and start the planning for next year. It'll probably be mid-March again (the 10th and 17th are Saturdays, I'm guessing one of those days), so if you're not busy..... Peter
Hi, Robb, Since you were kind enough to make mention of it on the blog, here's an "after action report" on our Ladies' Day event Saturday: we had 384 women show up and try shooting. Unfortunately, late in the day we ran out of safety glasses and earplugs and had to turn away about 50 because we couldn't allow them to shoot without eye and ear protection. A planning failure we'll fix for next year, along with some improved organization (example: we had 9 instructor stations for the "Basic Handguns" section and none of us got a break between 0830 and 1630, with a long line of guests waiting all the time. We need 3-5 more instructors on that section. Next year I'll move it to a pair of bays on the Action Range where we'll have room for more tables and targets and try to recruit more volunteer instructors).
By all accounts our guests enjoyed themselves. At my station (at Basic Handgun, targets at 7 yards) our first question is always "have you ever fired a gun before?" and the answer 90+% of the time is "no" or "yes, on the air pistol range" which is up the firing line from Handguns, so we start from scratch with basic operation, and let them try .22 revolvers and semi-autos, then move down our section for a few rounds of 38 Special and/or 9MM. After registration, guests have to go through a 20-25 minute safety briefing before they're allowed to access the firing lines, so we don't have to cover safety each time in detail. Only about 20% require a Rule 3 reminder, which is very good for people who haven't shot - or even handled a gun - before, so the safety briefing works. In Handgun, we went through about 2,000 rounds of .22, about 1,200 of 38 and about 800 of 9MM, all donated by local gun shops or club members or purchased by the club.
At the far end of the 50 meter range from us were the High Power Rifle folks with 2 ARs, a bolt rifle and a Garand. The few times I came up for air I noticed they usually had a line waiting as well, and our HP Discipline Director commented at the end of the day that he was surprised how many women wanted to shoot the Garand, and how many of those wanted to take it off the bench and shoot standing. High Power was using 100 yard targets set at 60 yards, and the times we went cold to replace targets I noticed they were replacing only target centers, so most hits were inside the 8 ring (most women were shooting from the benches). That a high number of guests got the chance to try shooting an AR is, I think, a huge boost to shooting sports and gun ownership in general; I doubt any of those women will fall prey to anti-gun diatribes about "deadly assault weapons" after they've shot an AR, and shot it well. I can't speak for the other 8 instructors at Handgun, but I had several mother-daughter pairs come through my station, and then mosey down to High Power, which I consider a big plus.
Toward the end of the day we were getting guests at Handgun who were no longer newbies, because they looked at the line for us and skipped around to the Action Ranges where they got to try Cowboy, IPSC, IDPA and 3-Gun Tactical (which the 3-Gun guys wisely used .22 ARs for - great invention, those .22 ARs) in very short action stages. We've got one trap machine for shotgun, and it was busy all day as well. Our club attorney, assisted by a member who is a training officer for the Orlando Police Dept., ran a Defensive Handgun section in one of the action range target bays. A few guests brought their own guns, which we inspect before allowing them to take them to the firing line and shoot them. Every year we get a couple who bring a handgun they've bought but never shot, and we take extra time with them and refer them to the club website where the calendar lists scheduled classes with instructor contact info.
A long, very busy, and very satisfying day. We'll do a "lessons learned" session in a week or so, and we'll set a date and start the planning for next year. It'll probably be mid-March again (the 10th and 17th are Saturdays, I'm guessing one of those days), so if you're not busy.....
Peter
Do you think the Brady’s or the VPC got three hundred and eighty four women to give up guns this weekend? Do you think any of the gun control groups were able to put that many smiles on faces in one day?
This is why we win.