Aug 5th, 2012 Chapter Launch! A Girl and A Gun Womens Shooting League
- Thread starter AuroraH
- Start date
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Thank you, Aurora.
So here we go, my AAR if anyone is interested.
First off, this is a GOOD thing for Baton Rouge. I believe in women's shooting events and believe women should feel comfortable visiting the range, a place typically where only men congregate. Many women only shoot with their husbands and are afraid to branch away, making their own firearms choices. This is a good platform for that to happen. The self confidence to know that they can handle a gun without someone at their shoulder.
The last count I had overheard was that there were 52 women. More came in after so it could have been a higher count. That said, you will have mass chaos at any event for the very first time which had been so successfully advertised. The good news is that there are women who are interested in shooting on a regular basis. The bad news, sixty women in Precision's classroom led to a great deal of hurry up and wait. Two hours in fact for some for in all honesty, very little range time.
I'm going to withhold my actual group assessment until later because honestly it's unfair to say much when the numbers overwhelmed the night.
That's my neutral, this could be awesome comments.
Now for my bad:
The waiting time. I hate to harp on this because it's not fair to base any new chapter on it's growing pains. But there were a couple things that I felt should be uncompromising. One was basic range safety. I arrived very shortly after 3:30, before the start time at 4PM. We were warmly welcomed and had a brief explanation of how A Girl and Gun began. From there we were told we'd be broken up into a group of ten, and rotated through the range.
I don't shoot at a range very often. Hardly at all, and very rarely with people I do not know. We have sixty acres, in a very rural area so we literally shoot in our back yard with a mile of wooded area behind us, a good two hundred yards to our property line. I say that to include myself here because even I had to stop and really think about what was poor range etiquette and what wasn't… At no point was there any mention of basic range rules BEFORE going into the range area. No basic gun rules. You know, I make my kidlet recite the four basic gun rules when he shoots his BB gun. I think it's that important.
I know this chapter is lead by NRA instructors, and to be fair I may have missed that instruction but at no time did I hear it. I also have a "thing" against shooting in flip flops. Consider it to be a hazard of working in an industrial environment that requires closed toed shoes, safety glasses and a hard hat. I'm not knocking the women who did show up wearing flip-flops but maybe next time it could be brought up.
Anyone on this board can tell you, I am usually polite in my true opinions that matter. But I don't care for the idea of hot brass hitting someone's feet and them jumping around with a chambered handgun. Especially when some of these women have never shot before, or shoot very seldom. It's not the flip-flops, it's general range attire. I saw quite a bit of skin.
The strongest opinion I have is that safety first, and we spent way too much time in the classroom NOT talking about firearms. Not necessarily being instructed, but "led" in discussion.
All in all, I did sign up to be a member at the end of the night because it is growing pains. I think it can be worked through and this can be a very positive girl's night out for many women. I had a good time, all things considered.
First off, this is a GOOD thing for Baton Rouge. I believe in women's shooting events and believe women should feel comfortable visiting the range, a place typically where only men congregate. Many women only shoot with their husbands and are afraid to branch away, making their own firearms choices. This is a good platform for that to happen. The self confidence to know that they can handle a gun without someone at their shoulder.
The last count I had overheard was that there were 52 women. More came in after so it could have been a higher count. That said, you will have mass chaos at any event for the very first time which had been so successfully advertised. The good news is that there are women who are interested in shooting on a regular basis. The bad news, sixty women in Precision's classroom led to a great deal of hurry up and wait. Two hours in fact for some for in all honesty, very little range time.
I'm going to withhold my actual group assessment until later because honestly it's unfair to say much when the numbers overwhelmed the night.
That's my neutral, this could be awesome comments.
Now for my bad:
The waiting time. I hate to harp on this because it's not fair to base any new chapter on it's growing pains. But there were a couple things that I felt should be uncompromising. One was basic range safety. I arrived very shortly after 3:30, before the start time at 4PM. We were warmly welcomed and had a brief explanation of how A Girl and Gun began. From there we were told we'd be broken up into a group of ten, and rotated through the range.
I don't shoot at a range very often. Hardly at all, and very rarely with people I do not know. We have sixty acres, in a very rural area so we literally shoot in our back yard with a mile of wooded area behind us, a good two hundred yards to our property line. I say that to include myself here because even I had to stop and really think about what was poor range etiquette and what wasn't… At no point was there any mention of basic range rules BEFORE going into the range area. No basic gun rules. You know, I make my kidlet recite the four basic gun rules when he shoots his BB gun. I think it's that important.
I know this chapter is lead by NRA instructors, and to be fair I may have missed that instruction but at no time did I hear it. I also have a "thing" against shooting in flip flops. Consider it to be a hazard of working in an industrial environment that requires closed toed shoes, safety glasses and a hard hat. I'm not knocking the women who did show up wearing flip-flops but maybe next time it could be brought up.
Anyone on this board can tell you, I am usually polite in my true opinions that matter. But I don't care for the idea of hot brass hitting someone's feet and them jumping around with a chambered handgun. Especially when some of these women have never shot before, or shoot very seldom. It's not the flip-flops, it's general range attire. I saw quite a bit of skin.
The strongest opinion I have is that safety first, and we spent way too much time in the classroom NOT talking about firearms. Not necessarily being instructed, but "led" in discussion.
All in all, I did sign up to be a member at the end of the night because it is growing pains. I think it can be worked through and this can be a very positive girl's night out for many women. I had a good time, all things considered.
Julianna Crowder, President and founder of A Girl and A Gun
WARNING.... LONG HEART FELT STATEMENT.... PLEASE READ..... AND THANK YOU!
Aurora you did a great job of getting the word out about your chapter, the numbers don't lie on your ability to make an event successful! It is obvious that you care for our mission and your community, which is why I loved your from the first moment we talked.
To all the ladies that attended last night, thank you so much for coming out and supporting your local chapter. A Girl and A Gun was founded February 28, 2011 when I went to the range and invited 5 of my friends to join me with the intention to help these ladies reach their goals: self defense, concealed carry, shooting sports.... or even just keeping their eyes open and hit the target. Week after week we attracted more gals and eventually other women who wanted to lead their own chapters. There are now 11 chapters in Texas and we have CO, OK, VA, LA and GA that have joined in make us a national program. Each chapter is run with the same ideals and goals, but each chapter faces different challenges like size of the range and is there classroom space, is the range indoor or outdoor, some chapters have 10 members and some have over 100. The real beauty of what AG & AG does is take those challenges and turn them into successes for each community.
I am very proud of the Baton Rouge launch. Aurora has been working in the last 6 months to get this off the ground, she has brought together other woman who are excited about our mission and also want to make a difference, and the best part....YOU, the bonding of women who met for the first time last night. There were several instances where an experienced shooter took a new shooter under her wing and supported her thru the night. That is what AG & AG is all about!
Girl's Night Out and our other events are intended to be a fun, social gathering where woman can come together for support, encouragement, ask questions in a safe and non judgemental environment, improve on their marksmanship, but most import to have a good time and bond together. Girl's Night Out has been very successful as a stepping stone for hundreds of women. We know that we can not give a formal training class in this environment, and that is not our intent. We strongly encourage classes and clinics in a formal environment and Aurora will be a resource for you to help find the right classes.
I invite you to visit our website (which is almost ready to be relaunched!!!) and find out more about our mission statements. I am very passionate about what I do, as are the other women in our organization. I hope that the small about of time that I was able to spend with you ladies last night was beneficial. If I could have opened my brain and gave you every little nugget I have learned in my own personal development as shooter for the past 6 years, I would have done that in a heart beat. The best part of this will be your journey learning and growing, so the best I could do last night was to make sure you are doing it right the first time and send you on your path!
I, as well as the AG & AG leadership know we can always do it better. With every launch we are learning and growing. We are so happy to have Baton Rouge in our sisterhood, and have already begun to develop a plan of action on how to organize your chapter... especially now that we have an idea of the number of ladies we can expect to attend on the 2nd & 4th Tuesdays. Aurora is your chapter leader, she will need your support and in return she will support you. In turn we will support her and give her tools to keep your chapter growing. What makes a successful chapter will ultimately be YOU! There is nothing better than getting to the range and seeing your girl friends and sharing some trigger time.
Love to all of you, Julianna
WARNING.... LONG HEART FELT STATEMENT.... PLEASE READ..... AND THANK YOU!
Aurora you did a great job of getting the word out about your chapter, the numbers don't lie on your ability to make an event successful! It is obvious that you care for our mission and your community, which is why I loved your from the first moment we talked.
To all the ladies that attended last night, thank you so much for coming out and supporting your local chapter. A Girl and A Gun was founded February 28, 2011 when I went to the range and invited 5 of my friends to join me with the intention to help these ladies reach their goals: self defense, concealed carry, shooting sports.... or even just keeping their eyes open and hit the target. Week after week we attracted more gals and eventually other women who wanted to lead their own chapters. There are now 11 chapters in Texas and we have CO, OK, VA, LA and GA that have joined in make us a national program. Each chapter is run with the same ideals and goals, but each chapter faces different challenges like size of the range and is there classroom space, is the range indoor or outdoor, some chapters have 10 members and some have over 100. The real beauty of what AG & AG does is take those challenges and turn them into successes for each community.
I am very proud of the Baton Rouge launch. Aurora has been working in the last 6 months to get this off the ground, she has brought together other woman who are excited about our mission and also want to make a difference, and the best part....YOU, the bonding of women who met for the first time last night. There were several instances where an experienced shooter took a new shooter under her wing and supported her thru the night. That is what AG & AG is all about!
Girl's Night Out and our other events are intended to be a fun, social gathering where woman can come together for support, encouragement, ask questions in a safe and non judgemental environment, improve on their marksmanship, but most import to have a good time and bond together. Girl's Night Out has been very successful as a stepping stone for hundreds of women. We know that we can not give a formal training class in this environment, and that is not our intent. We strongly encourage classes and clinics in a formal environment and Aurora will be a resource for you to help find the right classes.
I invite you to visit our website (which is almost ready to be relaunched!!!) and find out more about our mission statements. I am very passionate about what I do, as are the other women in our organization. I hope that the small about of time that I was able to spend with you ladies last night was beneficial. If I could have opened my brain and gave you every little nugget I have learned in my own personal development as shooter for the past 6 years, I would have done that in a heart beat. The best part of this will be your journey learning and growing, so the best I could do last night was to make sure you are doing it right the first time and send you on your path!
I, as well as the AG & AG leadership know we can always do it better. With every launch we are learning and growing. We are so happy to have Baton Rouge in our sisterhood, and have already begun to develop a plan of action on how to organize your chapter... especially now that we have an idea of the number of ladies we can expect to attend on the 2nd & 4th Tuesdays. Aurora is your chapter leader, she will need your support and in return she will support you. In turn we will support her and give her tools to keep your chapter growing. What makes a successful chapter will ultimately be YOU! There is nothing better than getting to the range and seeing your girl friends and sharing some trigger time.
Love to all of you, Julianna
flamatrix99
Well-Known Member
I know Cassie enjoyed herself but did say there were alot of women that showed up. and she knows the dangers of what hot brass can do to a woman from the Red Jacket B-day Bash.... LOL
Wife was scared s**tless! She saw many muzzle sweeps and as Cat already stated, it was way too crowded in there. She was nervous to begin with because I told her that there would be some help (another woman's touch),for her to become familiar with everything before she would start shooting. And in all fairness, one lady did try, but she was so overwhelmed by the sheer numbers, she had to move around. Over all she said it was nice, but she admitted that wearing a v-neck blouse was kind of silly, and I told her to wear more comfortable shoes, but she went straight from the mall, and you guys know what that means as far as how they dress. 
Precision is too small to handle 20 people in either range room comfortably much less 50. Nice turnout for sure but speaking strictly for my wife, she never got over the initial jitters of her first time with the pistols without me there to do everything. I will have to get her some more intimate one on one training withtout my "know-it-all" impatience.
I applaud you ladies for getting such a great turnout, but it sounds as if you were very unprepared for what you got. However, I hope you follow up with the ladies that showed up; got names and phone numbers, to call them all post-event to convince them to come again.
Precision is too small to handle 20 people in either range room comfortably much less 50. Nice turnout for sure but speaking strictly for my wife, she never got over the initial jitters of her first time with the pistols without me there to do everything. I will have to get her some more intimate one on one training withtout my "know-it-all" impatience.
I applaud you ladies for getting such a great turnout, but it sounds as if you were very unprepared for what you got. However, I hope you follow up with the ladies that showed up; got names and phone numbers, to call them all post-event to convince them to come again.
I am aware yesterday was a little chaotic, I understand that there were many new shooters that need more instruction, yesterday was setup as a social event to meet and greet and get to know one another. Yes there was range time, but again it is not meant to be a one on one class, if you need one on one time get with me or there are classes that I can recommend. GNO and the other events will start off with "housekeeping" starting with safety and range etiquette, will also find out where everyone is at with their experience. Going forward, we will not likely have 60 ladies, if we do we will address that awesome delima.....please bare with me as I move forward with this group. Thank you, Aurora
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I agree!
I think one female was told to leave by the owner/manager because of her lack of gun safety/range etiquette (waving gun). I even saw one lady getting ready to shoot with a v-neck, dressy top, short shorts, and open toe wedged heels.
My partner and I looked at each other and we both had the same thoughts "What is she wearing?". I know things were hectic and chaotic at launch, But someone should have said something about safety and proper attire.
But with that being said the following meeting the instructors did show a video of range etiquette. BUT I don't remember anything being said about attire. The range is no place for nice clothes. It will only get ruined.
The ladies did a great job even though they were stretched thin with the amount of the turn out. And with that being said, I will gladly give up my time to shoot for a newbie that has no experience so that she can learn the fundamentals from the instructors.
I think one female was told to leave by the owner/manager because of her lack of gun safety/range etiquette (waving gun). I even saw one lady getting ready to shoot with a v-neck, dressy top, short shorts, and open toe wedged heels.
My partner and I looked at each other and we both had the same thoughts "What is she wearing?". I know things were hectic and chaotic at launch, But someone should have said something about safety and proper attire.
But with that being said the following meeting the instructors did show a video of range etiquette. BUT I don't remember anything being said about attire. The range is no place for nice clothes. It will only get ruined.
The ladies did a great job even though they were stretched thin with the amount of the turn out. And with that being said, I will gladly give up my time to shoot for a newbie that has no experience so that she can learn the fundamentals from the instructors.
So here we go, my AAR if anyone is interested.
First off, this is a GOOD thing for Baton Rouge. I believe in women's shooting events and believe women should feel comfortable visiting the range, a place typically where only men congregate. Many women only shoot with their husbands and are afraid to branch away, making their own firearms choices. This is a good platform for that to happen. The self confidence to know that they can handle a gun without someone at their shoulder.
The last count I had overheard was that there were 52 women. More came in after so it could have been a higher count. That said, you will have mass chaos at any event for the very first time which had been so successfully advertised. The good news is that there are women who are interested in shooting on a regular basis. The bad news, sixty women in Precision's classroom led to a great deal of hurry up and wait. Two hours in fact for some for in all honesty, very little range time.
I'm going to withhold my actual group assessment until later because honestly it's unfair to say much when the numbers overwhelmed the night.
That's my neutral, this could be awesome comments.
Now for my bad:
The waiting time. I hate to harp on this because it's not fair to base any new chapter on it's growing pains. But there were a couple things that I felt should be uncompromising. One was basic range safety. I arrived very shortly after 3:30, before the start time at 4PM. We were warmly welcomed and had a brief explanation of how A Girl and Gun began. From there we were told we'd be broken up into a group of ten, and rotated through the range.
I don't shoot at a range very often. Hardly at all, and very rarely with people I do not know. We have sixty acres, in a very rural area so we literally shoot in our back yard with a mile of wooded area behind us, a good two hundred yards to our property line. I say that to include myself here because even I had to stop and really think about what was poor range etiquette and what wasn't… At no point was there any mention of basic range rules BEFORE going into the range area. No basic gun rules. You know, I make my kidlet recite the four basic gun rules when he shoots his BB gun. I think it's that important.
I know this chapter is lead by NRA instructors, and to be fair I may have missed that instruction but at no time did I hear it. I also have a "thing" against shooting in flip flops. Consider it to be a hazard of working in an industrial environment that requires closed toed shoes, safety glasses and a hard hat. I'm not knocking the women who did show up wearing flip-flops but maybe next time it could be brought up.
Anyone on this board can tell you, I am usually polite in my true opinions that matter. But I don't care for the idea of hot brass hitting someone's feet and them jumping around with a chambered handgun. Especially when some of these women have never shot before, or shoot very seldom. It's not the flip-flops, it's general range attire. I saw quite a bit of skin.
The strongest opinion I have is that safety first, and we spent way too much time in the classroom NOT talking about firearms. Not necessarily being instructed, but "led" in discussion.
All in all, I did sign up to be a member at the end of the night because it is growing pains. I think it can be worked through and this can be a very positive girl's night out for many women. I had a good time, all things considered.
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I do admit I ended up in flip flops (that was due to the fact that my tennis shoes got soaked when i was unloading my car). No I did not go over dress attire for the range, but in real life we may not always be wearing tennis shoes and jeans and tshirt, as long as the ladies are aware of the consequences of hot brass flying and can handle themselves when it happens, I do not really have a preference of what is worn at the range. Yes it would be a good idea to be covered up, I know this from experience, and will mention it at the next meeting....but with that being said we are grown adults here and need to decide what works for you.
I just read your statement and I think a lot of women were scared. At launch was a not a great time for a newbie to get one-on-one help. I'm not a certified instructor, but I can help her with the basics from my experience. I am CCW, certified in Women's Self Defense with BRPD (not as an instructor, but as a student). If she would like one-on-one help at the meetings tell her to look for the name badge that says "Beedieye".
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