Taking the First Step to Carrying Concealed!

Well I guess the first step was getting my license to carry, but I finally took out my new gun for a test run.



I'm a huge proponent of women carrying concealed - obviously. Just imagine how different the outcome could of been for all the women who have been so unfortunate to be the victim of some of the monsters that live amongst us, if they had been carrying a gun to defend themselves with. As I always promise, I won't go all "soap box" on you guys, but just some food for thought.

Carrying concealed can be intimidating. The thought of having a firearm strapped to you at all times - understandably unnerving. But it doesn't need to be. With proper training and practice, a gun can be kept on you safely and effectively.

Concealing said firearm....well that's a whole different story. Unless you wear all clothes 2 sizes too big, concealment can be very tricky for a woman. Now, most men will say "its not that hard" or "you just dress accordingly", but quite frankly, its not that easy!
There is the ever fashionable "conceal carry purse"

 Ummmmm NOT.

The best way to circumvent these hideous excuses for purses, was shown to me by a fellow awesome shooter of the femme variety. She explained that she LOVES designer bags (who doesn't) and carefully selects ones that have a center pouch/pocket that has stable sides, and that's where she keeps her firearm - genius!

For femmes like myself who are juggling 2 kiddos and a purse, it is highly unlikely that I will have my purse in a position in which my firearm would be remotely accessible. So holstered concealed carry will have to be my route.

If we could all walk around looking like Lara Croft, life would be so much simpler.

Defend Yourself II

Twelve-year-old Bryan Co. girl shoots home intruder

BRYAN COUNTY, OK - A man who broke into a home near Calera got a surprise Wednesday morning, when he was shot by a 12-year-old girl who was in the home alone.

Debra St. Clair, the girl's mother, said her daughter called her at work to say an unknown man was ringing the doorbell. When the girl didn't answer, the man went around to the back and kicked in the back door.
She told her daughter to grab the family gun, barricade herself in the closet and call 911.

"I drove home at a really fast pace to try to get to her, and when I got here the police were already here. And they had the suspect," she said.

St. Clair's daughter had hid in the closet with a .40 Glock.

But Undersheriff Ken Golden said the intruder kept making his way through the house.
"And what we understand right now, he was turning the doorknob when she fired through the door," he said.
Golden said the bullet hit the intruder, and it sent him running.

"I saw blood on the back of his t-shirt," St. Clair said. "He was sitting down, the policemen had had him apprehended at the end of the block. All I saw was some blood coming down his back. I'm not exactly sure where his injury was, but I saw some blood there."

Golden said the suspect was airlifted to a Texas hospital. They are not releasing the extent of his injuries.
But the girl drew blood. And Golden said for that she's a hero.
"She did everything she was suppose to do and more," he said. "And we're absolutely so thankful that she is fine. And I admire the little girl a lot."

St. Clair said she couldn't be more proud of her daughter.
"She's...she's amazing. I think she's incredible," she said. "And I haven't been able to stop hugging her and kissing her, and telling her how much I love her."

Authorities said the suspect is 32-year-old Stacey Jones.

Jones was arrested in September 2011 for allegedly abducting a 17-year-old girl with a diminished mental capacity.

Golden said the family doesn't know Wednesday's intruder. St. Clair said her daughter's bravery was rewarded with an ice cream cone.

This little girl's bravery and ability to act efficiently under such pressure is amazing and inspiring. That gun probably saved her life.

A Day to Remember!!!

Just came home from an unforgettable day of shooting at the Ladies Day at the Range hosted at Royalston Fish and Game in Royalston, Massachusetts and put together by Dan and Missi Eaton of Firearms Safety Training Company and Claudia Stewart who is an NRA certified firearms instructor as well as all around KICK ASS woman (as is Missi Eaton OF COURSE!).

The day started off with a flawlessly put together safety training/orientation of guns and the sport of shooting. After the thorough safety training, participants were sent to various stations spread about the grounds of Royalston F&G.

The lovely lady participants were trained in pistols, rifles, shotguns, archery, and fly fishing - yes, I said fly fishing. You very own Le Femme tried her hand a bit of relaxing and slow paced fly fishing.... only to be itching for more GUNS!

Each station had ample instructors flowed at a perfect pace and with no pressure or high expectations.

THEN... came the Pies de Resistance... my first shot with a Barrett .50 Cal. Now for those of you who are new to guns, all you need to know is the Barrett .50 Cal is one BAD ASS gun. Wow! No woman who decides shooting is for her, should go without shooting this AMAZING piece of equipment if ever given the chance. It is guaranteed to give what my husband and I affectionately call a "perma-grin"

Below is a video kindly taken by Dan of my first shot with his Barrett .50 Cal - ENJOY!


All in all and absolutely perfect day!!!

A Good Read

This article was spotted by a fellow member of the gun forum I belong to, NortheastShooters.com, who has been very supportive of Femme et Pistolet and continues to give me great ideas!

 

A Century of Women Grads

By Patricia Sullivan

The women's rifle team, Abigail Adams House, 1928.

Like a hidden pepper seedling in a bed of tomatoes—not weeded out, but not cultivated, either. This was the status of women at the founding of Massachusetts Agricultural College in 1863. The first woman enrolled at the college in 1876, but it wasn’t until 1905 that MAC had its first two female grads. A few more graduated during the next several years; from 1913 on, every class had a female in the ranks. So this year, we can count the entering class of 2013 as the 100th class of women graduates from UMass Amherst.
The largely ignored women pioneers of the early 20th century studied such subjects as pomology, floriculture, entomology, and dairy. They boarded with local residents or lived atop Draper Hall and were instructed to “wear skirts or long coats over bloomers or riding breeches when in trolleys or in town.” They were subject to teasing, strict curfews, and were unwelcome in many campus clubs. Still, they excelled academically. The first two women grads were both Phi Beta Kappa, and one early female student won $50 and a ton of fertilizer for her agricultural smarts. Women formed their own groups, such as a choral society and the first campus sorority, Delta Phi Gamma.

Kenyon Butterfield, who became president of MAC in 1906, was the first campus leader to give the women students serious consideration. He hired Edna Skinner to advance the cause of women’s education. From 1919 to 1946, she was the college’s chief voice for women, and dean of the new school of home economics. She oversaw the 1920 opening of the first dorm for women, Abigail Adams House (known as “The Abbey”), and steadfastly pressed for increased enrollment, wider opportunities, and better facilities for women.

Helen Curtis Cole succeeded Skinner as dean of women and battled educational inequities for 28 years. She fought against higher admission standards applied to women and pushed to allow women to become engineering, business, pre-med, and pre-vet majors.

The years of the women’s liberation movement saw the first coed dorm on campus (Greenough in 1970) and the birth of three vital and enduring UMass Amherst entities: the Everywoman’s Center, the Women’s Studies program, and the Status of Women Council.

After a century of growth, women are no longer hidden in the UMass Amherst garden: The entering class of 2013 is 52 percent female, and there are about 450 full-time female instructional faculty (more than 200 with tenure). However, “There are still a lot of things to do,” says Kathleen Davis, associate professor in the School of Education and co-chair of the Status of Women Council. Today’s council looks to improve recruitment of women faculty and staff, promotion and salaries, the granting of tenure, the establishment of daycare centers, sexual harassment policy, the admission of undergraduate and graduate women students, the granting of financial aid, and more.

Says Davis, “We are alive and well and still fighting for gender equity.”