Ladies Only - IDPA, Defensive Pistol Clinic - A HUGE SUCCESS!

By Linda Walker

Buckeye Firearms, in conjunction with Big Darby Shooting Range and Pickaway County Sportsmen, Inc., hosted a first-ever ladies only IDPA match on Sunday.

Sixteen ladies braved the bitter cold to come out for an afternoon of shooting at Big Darby Shooting Range, located in West Jefferson, Ohio.

The ladies were instructed on what IDPA is. IDPA translated is International Defensive Pistol Association. IDPA is geared towards learning the proper defensive pistol techniques , with added stress of engaging multiple targets. All shooting is done from holster draws or from “the box”. The is very good additional training for those who conceal carry.

Classroom time inside involved going over the safety rules, rules of IDPA, proper holster draws, tips and techniques for concealed carrying. The time was packed with great information that the ladies could take home to consider.

Each station is set up for a “scenario”. First scenario indicated that the shooter had been kidnapped and forced to dig her own grave. After taking out the first attacker with the shovel, the victim turns towards the 5 additional aggressors, retrieves a gun from “the box” and engages the targets as they come into view. One target to the rear was a moving target. One of the additional scenarios revolved around a famous movie scene, where the victim takes out three attackers in a bar scene.

James Henry and Jon Santini from the ranges had the following comments about the day: “We'd like to thank Buckeye Firearms for their help in the success of this event. We had 16 ladies out to shoot on a rather chilly afternoon. Everyone had a great time and we expect to see some of these ladies at our future matches. The most difficult thing to do was to get them to stop shooting even after it got dark. It's tough to paste holes that you can't see! We hope to run this program again next year when it is a little warmer and maybe even do a more advanced all-day class. Ladies, talk it up and get your friends to come out for the next class!”

IDPA matches are held every other weekend at these two ranges, April through November. If you’ve never shoot one, start making your plans to get involved next April. This was a fun day, spent with many of my past concealed carry students.

Linda Walker is the Buckeye Firearms Association Central Ohio Chair, an NRA-certified instructor teaching concealed carry classes in central Ohio, and owner of On The Defense, LLC.