Statement of Purpose

There are already a lot of blogs out there that talk about matters relating to firearms.Most of them are pretty technical in their orientation. Blogs that talk about rights vs. legislation are about technical matters pertaining to legal theory, whether they are pro-gun or anti-gun. Blogs that talk about guns, whether reviewing stock guns or customizing them, are basically about improving the engineering aspects of guns: making them more shootable and accurate.

I want to look at something completely different. What is the gun culture itself like? What sort of experience will someone have when visiting a gun shop or shooting range for the first time? Will the experience be friendly, unfriendly or scary?

I will try to provide answers to these questions, as best I can. My basis of experience for doing so will be:

• 30 years of experience as a gun owner in 3 states (California, Iowa and Washington state) 

• Around 15 years of experience as a certified NRA Basic Pistol instructor

Granted, as a straight white male my experiences maybe different from those another person might experience. However, I have also known and been friends with shooters from all ethnic groups and I helped as safety instructor in a Seattle area version of the Pink Pistols, a group of LGBT shooters. Moreover, as a voracious reader, I have a decent collection of classic firearms books, as well as a collection of American Rifleman magazines (the primary National Rifle Association publication) and other instruction materials dating back decades.

Let's look at one example of something that can be determined about how the gun culture treats women. I have written a blog post already on one of my other blogs, comparing the history of women in the shooting sports with how women are received in other sporting endeavors. Today, I ran across another example that I thought worth sharing.

Background: in 1972, the US government enacted Title IX, a measure aimed at preventing schools receiving Federal funding from showing any preference for boys' program over programs for girls. Enforcement did not theoretically start until 1975. And even today, 41 years after that, I don't think anyone seriously thinks that women have equal opportunities to participate and excel in most sports.The Seattle Seahawks get tons of attention for their Superbowl win.The Seattle Storm, a women's  basketball team, won TWO championships and doesn't get nearly enough credit.

But what about the shooting sports community? It's all conservative and stuff, right? It must be way worse. Not really. I'm not going near that political stereotype now. But here are pages from an NRA junior rifle program guide...from 1960. Yes, 12 years before Title IX became the law of the land, the NRA was mentioning in a matter-of-fact way that girls may want to shoot as much as boys do and that these guidelines apply as well to them. Based on my reading, this is old news. But I hope it reassures women who want to try shooting that they will be welcomed as much as an male shooter. They may even be more welcome...and I think that's great.