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Brazos Living

Sunday 31-Jul-2005

Fully Loaded

By Terri Jo Ryan

Jose Yau Staff Photos

You can call Gail Kelly of China Spring a "pistol-packin' mama" anytime. But you'd better smile when you say that, pardner.

Kelly, 57, state coordinator for the Second Amendment Sisters Inc., said the sobriquet suits her just fine: She is the product of gun-loving genetics.

Her father, Jack First, 84, a Marine Corps veteran of the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima, opened a gun shop in 1954 in Lancaster, Calif.

Kelly and her two sisters all worked there at some point in their lives. Now she and a younger sister are also members of SAS.

Second Amendment Sisters Inc. is a national gun advocacy group born in 1999, the same year as the Million Mom March, an anti-gun crusade. Both groups rallied within days of each other in Washington in May 2000. MMM was folded into
the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence 18 months after the rallies. SAS, meanwhile, continues to grow and now has chapters in 25 states.

Kelly's sister Nancy First, of South Dakota, is board secretary for the national office of Second Amendment Sisters Inc. First was acquainted with one of the five founders, Marinelle Thompson of Austin, and that friendship led to Kelly's involvement in the organization.

Incidentally, First, 53, still works at the family gun shop, which their father moved to Rapid City, S.D., in 1994.

SAS is not affiliated with the National Rifle Association, although it shares similar aims to prevent gun control legislation, Kelly said.

"We wanted to show that organization (Million Mom March) does not represent all women," Kelly said.

Jokingly derided by critics as "big-haired, large caliber women," she said, members of the gun-toting gaggle come from all ages, races, income levels and lifestyles. What binds them together is "knowing there are other women out there who hold similar beliefs," she said.

An estimated 17 million women in the United States own guns, and that number is growing, according to SAS national spokeswomen.

The role of the gun as the great "equalizer" in a confrontation is touted on its Web site, 2Asisters.org: "If you are a woman who owns a gun, you have an equalizer. Since most assailants will be bigger and stronger than you – and almost 90 percent of those assailants will not have a weapon of their own – you and your loved ones stand a much better chance of getting away unscathed if you are armed."

Waco's chapter of Second Amendment Sisters formed just three years ago, when Kelly, a founder of the branch, and her husband, Rich, moved here when he accepted a job with L-3 Communications. He has since retired.

The local SAS sponsors periodic safety classes on weapon-handling for women, on property owned by the Central Texas Rifle and Pistol Club in Wortham Bend. Typically, two events take place in the fall and two in the spring, primarily to give first-time shooters a chance try a variety of types and calibers: from the "little cute ones" – Derringers – to the hefty .44 Magnum.

After a morning of instruction and a break for lunch, the shootists come back for a "Ladies Fun Match" to practice their newly acquired skills on the shooting range.

These SAS-sponsored events aim to promote target shooting as a recreational sport, to improve gun-safety education and to raise awareness of gun ownership for women.

Male marksmen have helped with the events by hosting the gatherings and offering pointers, Kelly said.

Jerry Smith, a hunter safety instructor, for example, coaches classes and issues the commands for loading and firing guns. He trains newbies how to pick up a weapon correctly (pointed at the ground) and teaches them to always assume it is loaded until one ascertains it is not, for example.

"A common mistake first-timers make is not keeping their finger out of the trigger guard until they are ready to fire. Accidents happen then; it's just natural to touch it if your finger is already there," Smith said.

Smith said that in his experience, "most women are better than men, because men ‘already know everything.'" Women are more open to instruction because they don't have the same preconceived notions about their abilities, he said.

"But gals do seem to have a harder time with the noise," he added. Many tend to shoot low (hitting the groin on the targets) because they jerk though the anticipated recoil. He recommends electronic earmuffs that baffle the sound.

"Lady shooters are excellent; ain't no getting around it," Smith said.

Not everyone who learns to shoot wants to keep a gun in the home. Some just don't want to be afraid of guns anymore, Kelly added.

"It's just a piece of metal, just a little machine. It just lays there until you use it," she said.

Margaret Ciscell, 58, said she'd shot old sporting guns and antique weapons for many years, a hobby she engaged in with an ex-husband. But she has only been handling handguns a little over a year.

"I like the (fun matches), and getting to meet other people you don't always get to see," she said. "I'm also impressed that something that small can do all that damage if you aren't careful."

The grandmother of five boys said she takes the kids, ages 8-15, shooting with her so they can be trained in firearm safety. The only member of her family who is leery of weapons, she added, is a brother.

"I told him I'd protect him one of these days," Ciscell said.

The next Ladies Shoot class and competition will take place at 9 a.m. Oct. 1 on the grounds of the Central Texas Rifle and Pistol Club. A $5 materials fee covers all ammunition and the use of borrowed weapons, Kelly said. For more information, call her at 717-0274 or 836-9657.

tjryan@wacotrib.com

757-5746

CONTACT GAIL KELLY TO SCHEDULE A LADIES LEARN TO SHOOT CLASS IF YOU ARE A NEW SHOOTER OR WANT TO REFRESH THE BASICS CTR&P CLUB LADIES HANDGUN Program Director: Gail (254-717-0274) or to to www.ctrpclub.com Gail is also trying to set up Ladies Fun Handgun Matches, contact her if you're interested.