THE PRETTY PISTOLERA

Back to School

What was your favorite "Back to School" memory?  Mine was the necessary supply shopping!  I loved getting the list of supplies and then picking it all out, agonizing over every little detail (a plethora of Smurfs folders or the sophisticated Trapper Keeper?).  I still love the feeling of a new notebook, pencil, and folder.  It's not even the 4th of July so you must be curious why I bring up back to school...

I am taking a competitive handgun class this week.  The class is at the Missouri Competitive Shooting Academy.  It is a 201 level class, which makes me a little nervous since I just started, but it is 6 hours of intense training... this should be great.  Here is the short version of the syllabus:

• Understand USPSA & IDPA rules and scoring 
  
• Improve the speed and accuracy      
  
• Introduction to shooting on the move
  
• Shoot a USPSA match with the instructor’s coaching           
• Leave class with live and dry fire drills for practice

I am very excited about a couple of things.  First, getting better at the basics is exactly what I need.  Second, learning to shoot on the move is desperately needed. Currently, I do a cute little "bunny hop" when I have to move.  And finally, this class warrants a trip to Target... new pen, notebook, and folder.   No Smurfs, I promise.

SCOTUS Ruling - District of Columbia v. Heller

They got this one right... well, five of them did. 

21 Million?

I used to work in the footwear industry.  Most women gets really, really excited when I tell them what I did.  "I L-O-V-E shoes.  What a cool job. Oh my, you must have a closet full!"

First of all, it was not glamorous. I worked with lunatics.  And, yes, I do have a closet full of shoes.

Back to the 21 million....

I still get the industry's major publication, Footwear News.  The last page of every issue has a list of some sort.  This week's list was titled "Out and About: The Most Popular Sports Activities."  The list was based on the on growth of participation in 2007.  Wanna guess the top three?

#1 - Tennis  with 12.3 million participants, up 18.7%
#2 - Scooter Riding (I will refrain from commenting on this one) with 10.6 million participants, up 11.4%
#3 - Target Shooting with 20.9 million participants, up 9.7%

Let's keep the sport growing!  Here are some tips:

• Be nice to new shooters!
• Adhere to all safety rules, always! Don't scare the newbies.
• Get more involved. Check out the activity calendar at a local club or range.
• Visit gunlovingjohn.com for other tips to grow the sport.
• Invite a friend or take your spouse.

Just a side note:  Boys, do not take your wife to the range and give her your 44 magnum to shoot. It will kick like a mule, it will hurt her hand, make her ears ring, and her head hurt.  Most of all, she will never go back. This will make her hate shooting.  Just because you appreciate the power, don't assume she will.  Start slow... try a 22.

The information was from the 2007 Sports Participation Report by the National Sporting Goods Association. 

They have to be kidding. Scooter riding?

Oh, What a Feeling! Part Deux

At the WWP IDPA match I managed to steal a few minutes away for a lesson. 

Side note:  I love, love, love a good lesson. Granted, I am brilliant and catch on rather quickly, so I love to learn and apply new knowledge.  The application of knowledge is a thrill for me because (again) I am brilliant and catch on quickly.

I got a stance, draw, grip, and eye drill lesson from super-cool Gary. I could go into all of the details, but I have PAGES of notes.  I  clearly had no clue what I was doing before this lesson. Now that I have a clue, I can tell I am improving.  More on that later...

One tip that I learned - look where you want to hit the target, then move the gun to it.

I was reminded of one of the many principles I learned in yoga class... where your eyes go, your body will follow. I was so excited to apply my yoga principle to shooting, I Googled it so I could give proper credit to the author. Apparently this principle is common sense.  It is used in the water-skiing community, in Jiu-Jitsu, and in the insurance world to caution distracted drivers.     

Oh, What a Feeling!

I'm back!  We took a much needed vacation after the big Friends of Wounded Warrior IDPA match. 

The WWP match was a ton of work and it was Africa-hot on match day.  However, it was a great feeling at the end of the day... everyone had a good time and we supported a terrific cause.  If you want to learn more about the Wounded Warrior Project, check out their website www.woundedwarriorproject.org.

Hit me!

I've been loafing in cyberspace for a while this afternoon.  I checked on my new little blog... holy hits, Batman!  I've had visitors!  Thank you so much for checking out the blog.

GLJ keeps telling me this blog thing is a great idea.  I get the "if you build it, they will come" lecture often.   He might be right.  Stay tuned...

Stinky-poo!

Of the many attempts John tried to get me to fall in love with shooting, I always had a reason why not.  One of the most memorable was my very first trip to an indoor range.

We get there, sign in, pay the man, get our eyes and ears on, maneuver to our nifty bay, put up the target, unload the range bag.... the lesson started and John was excited.  He was convinced this was the time I would love his sport. 

Not so much...  I nearly died a horrible death from smoke inhalation. 

Black powder shooters:  go to an outdoor range, pretty please. 

Here we go...

Happy new blog to me.  Here's the scoop... 

My husband has been on me for a long time (read: years) to start shooting.  He has insisted that I just learn the basic rules of gun safety and how to use one "just in case."   Sounds reasonable, but I kept putting off his request.  I would make a trip here and there with him to a range or an event, but I always turned my nose up for some reason or another.  These many, many reasons will be documented under the flashback category. 

Finally, last summer he got me to go to an outdoor range.  The place was so nice!  Clean facilities, pretty scenery, polite people, clean, clean, clean (even the little girl's room).  I was shocked.  He spent some time with me (along with two of his friends) learning the basics.  Who knew? I was actually pretty good!