ON TARGET: Increasingly, women are carrying guns...

...and learning to use them.

June 15, 2004
Grand Rapids (MI) Press

WYOMING -- Sharon Crow used to cry at the first pop of gunfire.

The sound traumatized the 49-year-old Wyoming woman years ago when her brother attempted suicide by shooting himself.

Now, Crow is turning the corner and looking to arm herself, the result of conquering her fear through handgun education.

"My motto in life is, anything that I'm afraid of, I feel I have to overcome it," Crow said after an hour at Silver Bullet Firearms shooting range on South Division Avenue in Wyoming. "The first time I was here, one shot and the tears started flowing.

"Now, after the third time, I'm hooked."

Crow is not alone in her growing comfort with firearms, according to local police and gun dealers.

Women are arming themselves with increasing frequency, often for personal safety, but also for sport and as a hobby.

Since 2001, women have received 11,882 of the 109,694 concealed-weapons permits taken out in Michigan. While still in the minority with 11 percent of the licenses, there is no denying the appeal.

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Trying to snare a share of the market, Doug VanderWoude, owner of Silver Bullet Firearms, opened his firing range to women on Monday nights in June. VanderWoude and his staff promote familiarity and proper training during the free, three-hour sessions.

"The ladies have come on strong, even though there's a lot who have never held a firearm," VanderWoude said."If you handle them correctly, they're safe. They can be for fun, or they can serve a purpose."

Michigan State Police Sgt. Denise Bentley serves on the Kent County gun board and is a firearms instructor. She believes self-protection is spurring women's interest in familiarizing themselves with guns.

"Women are victims on a regular basis," Bentley said. "And they no longer feel they should be intimidated in what's been a male-dominated area. Women can be every bit as good with firearms as males, and it makes them feel safer."

Bentley, though, does not foresee armed women giving crime statistics a lift.

"Women just don't have the same violent nature," she said. "That doesn't mean we can't take care of ourselves, but to carry (a gun) and use it because we get angry, that's unlikely."

John Hulsing, a psychologist and retired state police lieutenant, believes the gun interest is being driven in part by worry and fear, not the desire to maim or kill.

"When it comes to violence, women can proudly relinquish recognition of that language," Hulsing said. "Men are more violent all across the world."

Hulsing said handgun manufacturers have seized on women's fear by making products smaller and easier to use. Beyond the physical gun, firearms accessories are branching out as well.

VanderWoude, who said about 10 to 15 percent of his sales are to women, has seen a purse with a holster built into it. The handbag also can lock in the weapon for safety.

"The industry as a whole is waking up," he said. "It can't afford to be macho anymore. It's past the '70s."

Still, not all women are seduced by a steel revolver.

Kris Sytsma, 23, hates guns. But an hour of free range time attracted her and a friend, Sarah Mader, to VanderWoude's firing range.

"I'm scared of guns," said Sytsma, of Lowell. "This was nice, but I don't think I'm going to go out and buy one. This is a controlled environment where not a whole lot can go wrong."

Zeeland Sport Center owner Lou Zadow said the fear women associate with guns is disappearing. A decade ago, little of his business came from women, but that tide is changing.

"I think all it takes is someone to take a woman out there to shoot a gun and all of their fear is gone. It's the unknown that people are afraid of," said Zadow, who has owned the sporting goods store, which sells firearms and accessories, for 22 years.

Zadow says women historically have lacked interest in firearms, but as Crow's experience shows, history isn't always an indicator of the future.

The Wyoming woman visited the Silver Bullet gun shop and range with her future daughter-in-law, Jeanie Vining.

Holding a .22-caliber handgun, Vining, 26, was anxious as she stared down a steel-lined shooting lane at the ringed target. Vining was giving guns a try for the first time since she shot a rifle nine years earlier.

The first 20 discharges resulted in two bull's-eye shots from a distance of 21 feet. The next 10 shots, from about 33 feet, landed four center shots.

Before walking in the range, Vining was noncommittal about her desire to shoot a weapon.

"That was phenomenal," she said while exiting. "It gets the adrenaline running, it's empowering. It's great."