Deanna Messer looks back at her 32-year-old self, living alone in her “safe” Salt Lake City apartment, and calls herself “unaware.” Today, the retired nurse calls herself “a marksman.”
Messer vividly recalls the night in 1982 when she was awakened by the sound of her screeching cockatoo. She switched on the lights, ran toward the noise and was met by the intruder – a naked man wearing a ski mask and holding a knife. She started screaming.
She ran back to her bedroom and locked the door. Her screams were heard two blocks away, but no one came to help. Feeling like a prisoner, her anger began to build. At 5’5” 115 pounds and unarmed, she threw open the door and went after the man. He fled.
Later, she learned the intruder was the criminal local police had dubbed the Spiderman Rapist. He scaled walls to break into women’s homes and attack them. Messer lived on the second floor. He climbed a brick wall, on to her patio and entered through the locked sliding glass door. He was never caught.
“I was so terribly frightened, I lost my voice for three days,” she recalled.
When she found her voice, she also found a fierce new determination: she was going to learn how to protect herself.
The only thing Messer knew about guns was that Clint Eastwood used a .44 magnum in “Dirty Harry.” She bought one. “Two policemen taught me how to shoot. I shot off one round and knocked myself over into a trashcan. They laughed.”
But, she did hit the bullseye and that was encouraging. She joined a shooting league. “I was the only woman among cops and cowboys.”
Carrie Lightfoot of Scottsdale also entered the male-dominated world of firearms.
“I found myself in this role as a, then, single woman with my youngest child having flown the nest. I came to the realization that I was vulnerable and I wanted to do something about it,” she said.
Friends took her shooting. “We started with a .22 and worked up to a higher caliber. “Right away, I knew I could do it. I was pretty good and I crossed that hurdle that, spiritually, this decision could jibe with God for me.”
In 2012, she began her search for information and products to help her become educated and equipped. But, it was an intimidating journey navigating through this foreign land of firearms with a language all its own.
“There were no resources for women. What I did find was really condescending and insulting and over-sexualized. There was nothing for regular smart women who have questions.”
She fired off a message on Facebook to see if other women were sharing her frustrating experience and if they would be interested in a program where they could try different guns, calibers and ask questions. They were. Within two days, she was flooded with responses. “Clearly, women were waiting for something.”
That is when she started The Well Armed Woman (TWAW), a national non-profit organization designed to educate, equip and empower woman shooters. In three years, Lightfoot’s efforts have grown to 265 chapters, 13 in Arizona, and more than 7,500 members across the country.
The Prescott Chapter just marked its one-year anniversary; meanwhile, the Prescott Valley Chapter opens this month with a meeting scheduled for 2:30 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 16, at the Insight Firearms Shooting Center, 6969 E. State Route 69 (formerly the High Noon Indoor Shooting Parlour).
Sherrie Siebert, who with her husband, Matt, owns the shooting center, says there has been a steady rise in recent years in the number of women buying guns and getting training. They also own Insight Firearms Training Development in Prescott and teach at Yavapai College.
The two bought the shooting parlor, renovated it and opened the new facility last month. The place has been packed, including women who come alone, with their husbands or in groups. The demand for training has doubled in just a matter of months. Siebert says six classes are full for January and she is already booking through spring.
“Women are becoming some of the biggest spenders in the industry,” she said. “That’s absolutely why we have invested and expanded the business. Women are looking for a sense of empowerment, safety, security and confidence. They are realizing they can defend themselves. We don’t have the same physical strength that men typically have, or the size and stature. If someone chooses to aggress upon us, the firearm can be the only equalizer.”
Besides self-defense, Siebert says women are learning to use guns for other reasons like target shooting and hunting. In fact, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) reports women are the fastest growing segment in shooting sports.
“In the past decade, the number of women owning firearms and participating in target shooting and hunting has soared,” said NSSF President and CEO Steve Sanetti in a news release following findings of a 2014 study.
The research focused on women ages 18 to 65 who owned at least one firearm. More than a third of the study participants were new gun owners, having purchased their first firearm within the last three years.
“The women’s market is a force in our industry, and manufacturers, retailers and shooting ranges are making changes to their products and services to satisfy women’s tastes and needs,” said Jim Curcuruto, NSSF director of industry research and analysis.
Among the report’s findings:
- The most commonly owned firearm by women is a semiautomatic pistol.
- Women say their purchases are mainly influenced by fit, quality and practicality.
- Women purchasing a gun in the last 12 months spent on average $870 on firearms and more than $400 on accessories.
- The majority of women report they are not driven to buy a gun on impulse, but rather considered their purchase for months before deciding.
Donna Vernier started The Well Armed Woman Prescott Chapter. The group has 45 members and meets the second Sunday of every month at the Prescott Gun Club, 1200 Iron Springs Road. “Safety is our focus. We discuss topics such as situational awareness, gun laws, how to clean a gun, how to deal with a malfunction and the responsibility of gun ownership.”
Chapter meetings also include range practice.
Vernier moved to Prescott from San Diego County. She and her husband began talking about owning a gun when crime went up in their community. Like many women who decide to learn how to protect themselves, Vernier knew nothing about guns.
She trained in a four-day immersion course. Today, she is part of a national shooting team. “I really enjoy being a marksman,” said Vernier.” Target shooting is a very Zen sport. The mind has to be very clear to be able to shoot well.”
Vernier emphasizes education and practice to maintain firearms skills. “We have a responsibility as members of The Well Armed Woman to be well trained. If I’m in an active shooter situation, I know that I want to go home that night. My purpose for carrying a firearm is to survive. Would I try to escape, get to a safe place and call 911? Yes. That’s the best option. But if we don’t have that option, we are our own first responders.”
The Well Armed Woman has 300 instructors across the country who teach women how to become instructors to train other women. “Our brains process information differently and the male-driven firearms industry didn’t understand that,” explained Lightfoot. “We spend an hour or so in the classroom going over self defense and legal issues.”
Lightfoot says making the mental and emotional decision to own and carry a gun is a hurdle for women to overcome. “We’re life givers, nurturers. Women have to get over the anxiety when they decide they aren’t going to be a victim and they are going to learn how to use a gun. A woman can’t make that decision when she’s being attacked, so it’s really important women grasp the real ugliness, the vile ugliness. It’s hard to put ourselves in that mental place of violence and rape, but we really have to force ourselves to go there.”
Lightfoot also found that traditional guns and holsters often did not fit the female body. TWAW offers products to accommodate women’s smaller ankles and shorter waists. The growing market has spawned other women-owned Arizona businesses such as G.R.I.T. (Girls Responsible Informed Trained) in Flagstaff that teaches women how to use firearms, and FancyPantsHolsters.com, based in Paulden that designs individually tailored holsters for women (see related story).
“Women have to have the ability to protect themselves; they have to,” said Lightfoot. “Who’s going to do it? There are single women, women traveling, and very independent women. It’s not like the old days when we were protected by our men, and police can’t always be there. We have to be prepared. The face of crime is so ugly. The tools they use are powerful. Women are primarily the prey of violence. Most violent crimes target women because of our stature. We have a bigger target on our back. It’s not my task to make every woman have a gun. That’s not the right choice for everyone. But they must be able to protect themselves and the gun is an option. QCBN
By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN
For more information about The Well Armed Woman, visit www.TheWellArmedWoman.com
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