"You doin' all right little lady?" The camouflage-clad middle-age man leaned over, flashing his yellowed teeth in my face as my 140-person National Rifle Association Concealed Pistol License class took a break, switching from a segment on the legalities of firearms and into a lecture on ammunition.
"Um, I'm fine." I turn my gaze away from his graying beard and focus on my pink coffee container.
On Feb. 16, I traveled to St. Johns, Mich., to take a personal safety class, required as part of my CPL application. Gun ownership, and the right to carry a firearm for personal safety, is something that is important to me.
I was the youngest female in the classroom. And the only one without a mullet.
The class was nine hours long. After four hours in a lecture, I drove eight miles down the road to the range for firing practice.
"Shooters! You have completed your 30 rounds required by the NRA for the firing portion of this class. Please remove your empty magazine and reload your firearm. Ready. Fire!"
After unloading a total of 50 rounds of ammunition from my .22 cal Ruger Mark 3 into the paper target 10 feet in front of me, I set my pistol down and looked at the cross hairs. Seven stray shots had made it outside the gray target area. Not bad, considering I was unfamiliar with the firearm, and the 28 degree temperature had numbed my trigger finger and fogged my safety glasses.
I looked over at the middle-age man beside me and stifled a laugh. He's managed to make about seven rounds into the target area, the rest scattered around, making small puncture marks in the cream colored paper.
He didn't say a word to me for the rest of the class.
I finished in silence. I didn't say a word to anyone until I picked up my certificate and left. I'll never see anyone from that class again.
Gentlemen, don't discourage us ladies. Shooting a gun requires concentration, a steady hand, a lot of practice and good sight - all qualities that are not limited to a certain gender.
I was disappointed to find that many gender norms I'd hoped had expired were still around and very strong. Why is it so hard to believe a girl like me would want to defend myself? I don't need a man to do that for me.
Because in the end, you can put a brain behind the trigger of that gun, and it doesn't matter what gender that brain belongs to. That trigger finger still functions the same.
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