-Cp
05-07-2007, 11:44 AM
APOPKA -- Monday is Ladies Night, and Lorrie McNally is a regular here. So is her 62-year-old mom.
The air is thick and smoky, and the place is packed. People are forced to shout over the boom, boom, boom.
But these women aren't clutching cocktails -- they're gripping guns. Ladies Night at the Shoot Straight gun range means women don't pay.
McNally trains her eyes on a neon-orange target nearly 20 feet away. She pulls the trigger 17 times, pausing only momentarily between each shot, eyeing the spot where the slug punctures the target.
"I wouldn't want her shooting at me," her boyfriend remarked about her accuracy.
That's the fear McNally hopes to instill. Ten years ago, the Eustis woman found herself on the other end of a gun, when she was nearly abducted in broad daylight from a mall parking lot. Her screams saved her then, but she vowed that next time -- should there be one -- she would not rely on her lungs to save her. Next time, her attackers would be looking down the barrel of her gun.
McNally, 39, represents a growing number of women who have armed themselves for personal safety.
Here in Central Florida, shooting ranges are reporting a marked increase in the number of women taking aim, signing up for concealed-weapons courses and making purchases. On a recent Saturday, more than 200 women attended a six-hour introductory firearms workshop -- an event that keeps growing each year.
Nationwide, the National Rifle Association's "Women on Target" program has grown from 500 participants in 2000 to 6,000 this year.
"Women are the largest-growing demographic in the gun industry," NRA spokeswoman Ashley Varner said.
Crime 'has gotten out of hand'
McNally practices shooting each week. The 5-foot-6-inch, 129-pound mortgage broker slams a magazine into her 9 mm semiautomatic and pulls the slide back, creating a ch-ch sound. She takes aim at the target and fires away, her bracelets jingling at each pull of the trigger.
"I keep it on me wherever I go," she said when finished.
The mother of an 18-year-old son, she keeps a Springfield semiautomatic in her purse and a Beretta pistol at home or in her glove box.
"I think it's more important for women with small children to own a gun because you can't run when you have children," she said.
Two years ago, one in 10 of Shoot Straight's students was a woman. Now, ladies make up about 40 percent of its gun classes, said Larry Anderson, manager of the Shoot Straight in Apopka.
At East Orange Shooting Sports in Winter Park, the number of female customers is up almost 25 percent over last year, manager John Ritz said.
"The ladies seemed more keyed into personal safety," Ritz said of his clients.
But, he stressed, "Having a gun on the nightstand doesn't make you any safer just by its presence. The customer has to be educated, has to be informed."
Anderson's and Ritz's jobs put them face to face with crime victims, the people who have been robbed, beaten and raped.
They've also met their share of so-called soccer moms who no longer are packing only lunches -- now they want to pack heat.
Known as security moms, these women, the NRA says, are arming themselves with weapons in the belief that they are the first line of defense against crime, especially since the Sept. 11 attacks sent a wave of fear into American communities.
Gunshop owners say they see an increase in sales after events such as hurricanes, a series of unsolved rapes or an overall spike in crime, as Orlando experienced with a record-breaking number of slayings last year.
"More people out there aren't feeling safe," Anderson said. "[Crime] has gotten out of hand; it's gotten to the point where you can't escape it."
Industry catering to women
McNally's mother, Carol, started shooting last year, mostly at the urging of her daughter, who is quick to preach about personal safety.
"The bad guys are out there. They do a carjacking today, and they're out on the streets tomorrow," Carol McNally said. "I doubt that I'd ever have to use the gun, but if anyone threatened me, my family, my kids, my grandson, I wouldn't hesitate. I have the confidence to carry it without feeling intimidated by it."
The gun industry is doing its part to make ownership less threatening by creating models better fitting for women -- smaller and more contoured to their hands. And in doing so, gun manufacturers have clued into something else -- that there's a market for stylish and more feminine accessories and products.
Gun manufacturer Taurus, for instance, unveiled a pink-pearl handgun, as well as a smaller-barreled gun, which can fit more easily in purses. There's even a range of chic holster purses that are just as fashionable as high-end handbags. What better way to appeal to women?
The attraction, however, remains firepower.
When someone broke into Sarah Price's Pine Hills home last month and stole the .357 Magnum from her bedroom, she temporarily replaced it with a "big stick." But it was hardly the protection and peace of mind the single 42-year-old was looking for. Her father promptly replaced it with a 9 mm Kurz handgun.
"Men can overpower us," Price said. "You have to have something that's bigger and badder than they are."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-gungirls0607may06%2C0%2C3679289.story?coll=orl-home-headlines
The air is thick and smoky, and the place is packed. People are forced to shout over the boom, boom, boom.
But these women aren't clutching cocktails -- they're gripping guns. Ladies Night at the Shoot Straight gun range means women don't pay.
McNally trains her eyes on a neon-orange target nearly 20 feet away. She pulls the trigger 17 times, pausing only momentarily between each shot, eyeing the spot where the slug punctures the target.
"I wouldn't want her shooting at me," her boyfriend remarked about her accuracy.
That's the fear McNally hopes to instill. Ten years ago, the Eustis woman found herself on the other end of a gun, when she was nearly abducted in broad daylight from a mall parking lot. Her screams saved her then, but she vowed that next time -- should there be one -- she would not rely on her lungs to save her. Next time, her attackers would be looking down the barrel of her gun.
McNally, 39, represents a growing number of women who have armed themselves for personal safety.
Here in Central Florida, shooting ranges are reporting a marked increase in the number of women taking aim, signing up for concealed-weapons courses and making purchases. On a recent Saturday, more than 200 women attended a six-hour introductory firearms workshop -- an event that keeps growing each year.
Nationwide, the National Rifle Association's "Women on Target" program has grown from 500 participants in 2000 to 6,000 this year.
"Women are the largest-growing demographic in the gun industry," NRA spokeswoman Ashley Varner said.
Crime 'has gotten out of hand'
McNally practices shooting each week. The 5-foot-6-inch, 129-pound mortgage broker slams a magazine into her 9 mm semiautomatic and pulls the slide back, creating a ch-ch sound. She takes aim at the target and fires away, her bracelets jingling at each pull of the trigger.
"I keep it on me wherever I go," she said when finished.
The mother of an 18-year-old son, she keeps a Springfield semiautomatic in her purse and a Beretta pistol at home or in her glove box.
"I think it's more important for women with small children to own a gun because you can't run when you have children," she said.
Two years ago, one in 10 of Shoot Straight's students was a woman. Now, ladies make up about 40 percent of its gun classes, said Larry Anderson, manager of the Shoot Straight in Apopka.
At East Orange Shooting Sports in Winter Park, the number of female customers is up almost 25 percent over last year, manager John Ritz said.
"The ladies seemed more keyed into personal safety," Ritz said of his clients.
But, he stressed, "Having a gun on the nightstand doesn't make you any safer just by its presence. The customer has to be educated, has to be informed."
Anderson's and Ritz's jobs put them face to face with crime victims, the people who have been robbed, beaten and raped.
They've also met their share of so-called soccer moms who no longer are packing only lunches -- now they want to pack heat.
Known as security moms, these women, the NRA says, are arming themselves with weapons in the belief that they are the first line of defense against crime, especially since the Sept. 11 attacks sent a wave of fear into American communities.
Gunshop owners say they see an increase in sales after events such as hurricanes, a series of unsolved rapes or an overall spike in crime, as Orlando experienced with a record-breaking number of slayings last year.
"More people out there aren't feeling safe," Anderson said. "[Crime] has gotten out of hand; it's gotten to the point where you can't escape it."
Industry catering to women
McNally's mother, Carol, started shooting last year, mostly at the urging of her daughter, who is quick to preach about personal safety.
"The bad guys are out there. They do a carjacking today, and they're out on the streets tomorrow," Carol McNally said. "I doubt that I'd ever have to use the gun, but if anyone threatened me, my family, my kids, my grandson, I wouldn't hesitate. I have the confidence to carry it without feeling intimidated by it."
The gun industry is doing its part to make ownership less threatening by creating models better fitting for women -- smaller and more contoured to their hands. And in doing so, gun manufacturers have clued into something else -- that there's a market for stylish and more feminine accessories and products.
Gun manufacturer Taurus, for instance, unveiled a pink-pearl handgun, as well as a smaller-barreled gun, which can fit more easily in purses. There's even a range of chic holster purses that are just as fashionable as high-end handbags. What better way to appeal to women?
The attraction, however, remains firepower.
When someone broke into Sarah Price's Pine Hills home last month and stole the .357 Magnum from her bedroom, she temporarily replaced it with a "big stick." But it was hardly the protection and peace of mind the single 42-year-old was looking for. Her father promptly replaced it with a 9 mm Kurz handgun.
"Men can overpower us," Price said. "You have to have something that's bigger and badder than they are."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-gungirls0607may06%2C0%2C3679289.story?coll=orl-home-headlines