What Ann needed to do was to get some good training before taking the state licensing class.

Of the several fine defensive handgun schools in this country, I have had personal experience with two: Thunder Ranch (which has now moved from Texas to Oregon) and Gunsite (located right there in Arizona). I suggested that Ann enroll at Gunsite, preferably in a women's class.

Ann's experience at Gunsite was everything she had hoped it would be. Her instructors, several women with law-enforcement backgrounds, had mapped out a plan for learning based upon actual defensive needs. Their teaching was done in a manner, and at a rate, that allowed the students to actually learn important skills. The repetition of the training practices locked the techniques into the students' memories.

At the end of her schooling, Ann's instructors passed out their business cards and told the class that they were all part of a family now. They said to contact them any time there was a question or to report anything interesting in connection with what was learned. "The first day of class I was pretty nervous, and cold, and half sick," Ann said, "but near sundown of the second day was when I just had to tell them that it was fun."

Too often women are left with the impression that defensive shooting is a "guy thing." This is often compounded by the fact that some men take pleasure in handing a lady a .44 Magnum, or some such cannon, with the instructions to "shoot it, it won't hurt." This sort of humor is often coupled with the complete disregard for eye and ear protection. What a great disservice this does to our sport.

Many women quickly learn that proper training in defensive shooting is empowering. The old quote that Sam Colt made us all equal is really true. There is no gender issue behind a defensive handgun; it all boils down to training, determination, and muscle memory.

One additional benefit to Ann's experience is that she reports an increased confidence in dealing with issues outside her comfort range. She has been reminded that she can learn and can function under stress.

Ann's story is a success because she got good advice, good equipment, and good training. She is now planning to enroll in an Arizona concealed-carry class and obtain her carry license. And she is also looking forward to the day when she can return to Gunsite for more advanced training. I'm happy to have played a small part in her success story.

And I would have just loved to have been standing by that second day on the range when her face lit up and she told her instructors that shooting was fun. Shooting may be a way to put food on our table, it may be a way to save our hides in a deadly encounter, but most of all it is just a lot of fun. Sometimes we forget that.