Being Your Own First Responder ⋆ A Girl and A Gun

Learn to Shoot

The Rules of Stupid

Legendary firearms instructor John Farnam is credited with coining the Rules of Stupid, which is wisdom that everyone should live by.

02/14/2023

Healthy Living

Lead Management Made Easy!

Gun safety is undoubtedly the primary focus of all shooting activities, both on and off the range. However, one element of gun safety that can

10/25/2022

Being Your Own First Responder

Stay Safe on New Year’s Eve

If you’re preparing to sing Auld Lang Syne with friends and family on New Year’s Eve, make sure that your safety plan is in place.

12/29/2021

Learn to Shoot

After a Girl’s Night Out of shooting, AG & AG member Kara was excited to join her chapter members for dinner at a nearby restaurant. Although Kara concealed her range bags in her vehicle, parked close to the front in a well-lit high-traffic area of the parking lot, and did everything right to prevent the “random” occurrence of parking lot break ins, it still happened.

11/22/2021

Learn to Shoot

Making ONE Good FIRST Decision

access courses of action, make a decision, and disseminate the information to the rest of your body. Visuals are very effective ways of learning in that they decrease learning time, improve comprehension, enhance retrieval, and increase retention. As human brains are not designed to be multitaskers (doing two or more things at the same time), but serial processors (doing one thing, then going on to the next thing quickly), cycling through the tools is essential in dealing with the scenarios. The more you use the tool, whichever one it is, the easier it is for your body to “automatically” deploy the tool in a real life situation.

07/28/2021

Being Your Own First Responder

Applying the Tueller Concept

At the 9th Annual A Girl & A Gun National Conference, RISE 2021, instructor Morgan Ballis of Defensive Tactics and Firearms led 48 women through exercises to test Dennis Tueller’s research on the human response time. He set out to test the ability of A Girl & A Gun members to cover 21 feet so that they could relate this information to potential threats. By understanding their own abilities and limitations, the women could determine their own minimum safe distance if faced with a hostile threat. In addition, the women would learn their ability to effectively employ a handgun from a holster while taking into account how quickly a potential threat can reasonably cover an estimated distance. This knowledge would allow them to better articulate their actions if their decisions during a self-defense encounter were ever called into question.

06/17/2021

Being Your Own First Responder

Review: Left of Bang

In Left of Bang, authors Patrick Van Horne and Jason A. Riley outline the principles of the US Marine Corps’ Combat Hunter program. This program gives soldiers a way to identify and communicate pre-incident indicators. Being able to do this before an attack, or left of bang (as pictured on a linear timeline) can mean life or death in combat. While the authors use the context of combat, they do provide civilian examples at times in the book. At several points I noted how observing villagers in Afghanistan isn’t much different from observing people at the local mall. The framework of this program can definitely apply in many different walks of life.

12/10/2020

Guns, Gear, & Ammo

Take Caution When Transporting Firearms

The term “jugging” refers to a crime that law enforcement officers are investigating on a daily basis. In years past, jugging was prevalent around the holidays and Christmas shopping, but now is a common occurrence for firearms throughout the year. Jugging is simply a surveillance plan by thieves, and then once they locate a target, they take the first opportunity to break into the vehicle or residence and steal the items.

09/22/2020

Advice for Parents

How to Introduce Your Kids to Your First Gun

The COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic is making many families rethink their family safety plans. If you have made the choice to purchase a firearm for home or self defense, it may spur questions from your children or you may be looking for how to best introduce your children to a new gun in the home. This article helps you navigate these conversations.

03/22/2020

Learn to Shoot

Coronavirus and Violence at Home

Part of the culture of A Girl & A Gun is empowering women and families with the ability to take control of their person safety. The Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for resources in our community for those who may face violence during the shelter-in-place mandates.

03/20/2020

Learn to Shoot

Your Family Preparedness Plan

Part of being a good first responder for your family is to anticipate situations that you may have to address and ensure that you have the tools and knowledge to prevail in an emergency. This article discusses how you can be prepared to hunker down with your family when you need to shelter in place.

03/17/2020

Learn to Shoot

Introducing a Firearm to a Woman in Crisis

A Girl & A Gun (AG & AG) Director of Training, Tatiana Whitlock, and San Diego Chapter Facilitator, Judi Wells, hosted an informative and important conversation recently with Allen Sams and Paul Sharp. The group addressed topics that are relevant to women and women’s self-defense, particularly those facing a threat or impending harm and those who are seeking the skills and resources to protect themselves.

02/05/2020

Learn to Shoot

Aware and Prepared

Being aware of your environment is the first step in personal protection. According to the NRA, there are three levels of environmental awareness – low, moderate and high. Other groups have different ways of conveying these levels, but the NRA’s levels are simple and easy to remember.

08/05/2019

Learn to Shoot

Situational Awareness 2.0

Your smart phone is a great way to stay connected, but can harmful for your personal safety if you don’t diligently check your privacy settings. Not only can wireless technology be a huge distraction that keeps you from monitoring the world around you, it can leave you vulnerable to unknowingly publicizing information about yourself, your family, your finances, or other private information. Use your smart phone to your advantage and ensure that you’re in control of your surroundings, both physically and digitally. Here are 8 Smartphone Safety Tips to follow.

06/18/2019

Learn to Shoot

Holiday Safety Tips

Fall and winter welcome cold weather, holidays, parties, and guests! As you enter the holiday seasons, be mindful of safety for your family and friends. Here are several safety tips to help you develop your safety plan.

11/20/2018

Learn to Shoot

Modern School Supplies: Ballistic Shields and Tourniquets

This is parenting in the modern age: educating our children about a variety of threats and giving them tools and skills to stay safe. It is very difficult to educate children about a potential school shooting without scaring them. Simply making them aware of basic safety concepts and first-aid skills will go a long way to keeping them safe.

06/02/2018

Learn to Shoot

Help! My Wife Hates Guns

I’m always surprised when I receive emails from men about their marriages although it happens pretty regularly. Sharing a household, finances, and parenting is usually easier when you have a shared value system, and some partnerships are stressed over the presence of firearms in the home. Several men have reached out for help in talking with their wives about guns. I can maybe try to provide a new perspective to help bridge the divide.

02/27/2018

Learn to Shoot

Intimate Partner Violence: Warning Signs

By Sandra Kozero. In his national bestselling book The Gift of Fear, Gavin de Becker gives detectable warning signs of violence. De Becker believes spousal homicide is the single most predictable serious crime in America.

01/11/2018

Learn to Shoot

Intimate Partner Violence: The Facts

By Sandra Kozero. Here are some awakening facts about intimate partner violence (IPV). The statistics are staggering, and while we continue to train women to protect themselves based on stranger violence outside the home, we must educate them on the dangers of sleeping with the enemy.

01/11/2018

Being Your Own First Responder

Understanding the OODA Loop

Lt. Col. John Boyd is considered by some to be one of the greatest military strategists of all time. He served as a fighter pilot in the Korean War, but is known for his concepts for fighter tactics and designs. He published many theories, but his most significant contribution was one incredible strategic tool: the OODA Loop — Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. If you can keep changing the scenario on the bad guy before he can get through his loop, then you win.

12/19/2017

Healthy Living

SHOT Show Survive and Thrive

You have your travel arrangements confirmed, booked your hotel, and excitedly opened the envelope with your show credentials. You might think you have done your

12/14/2017

Being Your Own First Responder

Halloween Safety Tips

Halloween is fun with costumes, candy, and parties! Here are safety tips for families and adults, so put your Halloween plan in place.

10/31/2017

Being Your Own First Responder

When Disaster Strikes — And You’re Unarmed

When disaster strikes, it can be very motivating to buying your first gun. We find ourselves vulnerable to Mother Nature, our infrastructure (power, levies, etc.), and the unknown. You may have never considered getting a firearm, but now feel open to the idea. Your story is mine.

09/02/2017

Being Your Own First Responder

Practice Your Emergency Plan

In this situation, the injured competitor had a minor wound that was able to be dressed quickly with minimal blood loss, shock, and risk of infection. However, if the wound been worse, or if there not been trauma kits immediately available, the competitor could have died. This underscores the importance of having a detailed emergency plan, rehearsing it, and discussing it at every event.

07/11/2017

Being Your Own First Responder

AG & AG Travel Checklist

You have booked your trip, arranged for your furbabies, stressed about your children, thought about having your mail stopped and plants watered by a friend. There are a few more things you can do before you leave to ensure you have a calm experience and a safe trip.

12/10/2016