Friendly and Certified Firearms Training for Women Since 2011

Basics of Marksmanship

Dry Fire Safety

Dry-fire practice is one of the best ways to develop your shooting skills at home on your own time and without the cost of range

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Learn to Shoot

Are You Being Profiled?

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. 

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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.

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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.

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Learn to Shoot

Vehicle Safety: Mob Rule

The past few months have underscored challenges in personal safety. From COVID-19 to economic stress to civil unrest, a lot of issues have introduced new questions about ways to stay safe. Stories on the news show mobs charging cars, breaking windows, and attacking victims. Several AG & AG members have asked for guidance, so let’s dive in.

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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.

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Learn to Shoot

6 Defensive Concepts That Competitive Shooting Teaches You

There are pros and cons of competitive shooting sports as they relate to defensive firearms training. The bottom line is that competitive shooting sports will not replace self-defense training. Even though shooting matches can mimic real-life scenarios, time on the shot timer it is not real life and paper targets are not shooting back. However, even in this controlled environment, competitive shooting remains one of the most effective ways to hone your gun handling and marksmanship skills. In order to be effective in a defensive situation involving your firearm, you must be proficient these six fundamental concepts that are strengthened by participation in competitive shooting sports.

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Healthy Living

Top 10 Health Benefits of Shooting

Shooting different platforms of firearms builds physical discipline, as well as increased strength, stamina, hand/eye coordination, and fine and gross motor skills. Here are some benefits of shooting that not only make you better athlete, but enjoy a healthier life.

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Finding Instructors & Classes

3 Simple Steps to Improve Your Shooting Skills

A Girl & A Gun facilitators offer “mini-clinics” that cover the 5 Fundamentals of Accurate Shooting at most Girls’ Night Out (GNO) events. In the interest of safety, ladies who attend a GNO receive a whole lot of new information in a very short period of time. Once your facilitator sees that you are consistently safe with your gun handling, it’s her job to be available to answer questions and offer pointers to keep you safe. Your facilitator is a fantastic resource, but making the commitment to develop skills requires that you take three simple steps.

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Mindset

How will I know when to use force or deadly force?

The most important question you can ever ask is, how will I know when it is time to use deadly force? If and when you ever find yourself in that moment of truth, here is a checklist that will run through your head. Your fight-or-flight will do a quick inventory of your options and depending on your circumstances will determine your permissible level of force.

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Learn to Shoot

Overcoming Gun Phobia

The word phobia is defined as an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something. You may or may not identify yourself as having

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Mindset

7 Ways to Be a Better Shooter

January is over, and so are the month’s good intentions. If you are like most people you hide from the doom of New Year resolutions and proclamations of change and improvement. Let’s face it, change is hard and not likely to take hold in just a few short days at the beginning of each new year. But change and resolution is possible, you just have to look at it differently than what is prepackaged and shoved in your face new year after new year. In relation to your goals as a gun owner, improved marksman, even competitive shooter, you can start anytime you are ready. We are waiting for you whenever you are ready with the support you crave and the education you need!

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Mindset

Lethal Force Is No Laughing Matter

Part of being a responsible and safe gun owner is understanding how you can hurt your defense by something you might be doing unknowingly and unintentionally. If you ever have to use lethal force to save your life or protect a life of another, your character will be called into question. Your persona on social media will paint a portrait of your character. The memes that are somewhat inappropriate, controversial, or what you think is funny will be used to describe your mindset. Inappropriate signs in your home or bumper stickers on your car will sabotage your defense as you are trying to prove your analytical mindset and your understanding of the law and Use of Force.

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Learn to Shoot

Discoveries of an Anti-Gunner: My Conversion to the Other Side

If you had told me years ago that I would be the Executive Director of a national firearms training organization, I would have said you were crazy. I was vehemently anti-gun and a strong supporter of gun control measures. I championed for gun control for a long time, but then I made some discoveries and found that my arguments didn’t make sense. This is my journey.

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