By Shari Spivack
New Jersey – -(Ammoland.com)- The Second Amendment Women Shooting Club is getting ready to celebrate our first amazingly successful year with our Anniversary Port Meet up on March 29th 2015.
A year ago when we started off with our first event, the Concealed Carry Holster Show, we could not have anticipated that only twelve months later we would have the fantastic group of active and engaged women we have today!
When I started shooting over five years ago, I still remember being in awe of the lack of women’s events and activity in the shooting community in this area. Even as the media continues to report that there is a rise in female firearms owners in the last few years, clearly women have been actively participating in hunting and other shooting sports throughout history.
When we started the club, the goal was to not only create a place to train and introduce new female shooters to the sport, but to gather together a group of confident, self-aware and responsible women who would stand up for our families, our freedom and our right to self-protect.
I believe we have been successful thus far in our goals. We have introduced over 100 women to shooting in a safe, responsible and fun atmosphere.
Some have joined to further their shooting skills and knowledge, some have joined for the social aspect of having a like-minded group of women to both go to the range with and spend time with outside the shooting environment. Our club has become a warm and welcoming place for women of all ages and demographics, and with the introduction of our children’s firearms and safety events, we have become a family place as well.
Recently, I attended a local event, a discussion on Guns, Safety and Solutions. I sat there and listened to one of the panelists, Mandi Perlmutter from Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, parade alleged statistics that would have one believe that women neither want to, or should be “burdened” with, the responsibility to protect themselves from becoming victims of crime. As I listened, I reflected on all the women who have come to our events and joined our club. Intelligent, independent, brave, responsible; these women are not victims. These women are proud and strong!
When I leave my house every morning, I have many goals for the day, but only one is really important. When I walk out the door of my house each morning, my one goal is to make darn sure I return through it to my children each evening. When a group of “Moms” say that the “onus” of my protection should not lie with me – I question who does it lie with? When the response time for police officers is upwards to thirty minutes in our area, what words will be used to comfort my children if God Forbid something happens to me?
- Your mother was not responsible for her own protection?
- That she did all should could to make sure she was here for you by calling for help?
That is pure nonsense and inexcusable! I teach my children to be responsible and productive members of our society, of course, at their age appropriate ability, but we have no excuses and no participation awards in our house. My children expect me to stand up for my own life, not to rely on anyone else and that is why my ten year old looks up to me and in his own words and description, told me he doesn’t need any further protection as I am his “bodyguard”.
Whether its self-defense classes on situational awareness and ways to protect yourself inside and outside the home, or classes on how to become proficient and confident with your firearm (for use within the laws of your state), the SAW Shooting Club ( www.sawshootingclub.com )will continue to provide the means for women to become educated in how to protect themselves. We are fortunate to have many police officers and first responders who work tirelessly to protect our communities. But there are only so many of them, and at the end of the day, if I am not ready to defend myself and my children how can I ask anyone else to do so for me?
As we expand our events throughout NJ and PA in the coming year, we hope we will double, if not triple, our club membership. We are listening to our members and will continue to provide everything from basic firearms and self-defense training to advanced tactical classes. We also will continue to add opportunities to learn new skills, such as hunting and becoming involved in competitions like IDPA which are both educational and entertaining.
For the coming year we have added some new sponsors and supporters. We appreciate everyone who becomes involved with supporting our goals, however I cannot close without expressing our gratitude for the incredible support we get from the Woodland Park Range staff and most importantly, Anthony Colandro. We could not have done it without you and we hope to continue to work together in the coming years!
Second Amendment Women Shooting Club – SAW : Women safeguarding our Second Amendment Rights, through activism and education. Founded by Shari Spivack and Sandra Muldoon, NRA certified firearms instructors, the club is dedicated to teaching and providing continuing opportunities for women to enjoy shooting. SAW now is offering various levels of training classes for women at our home range; the Woodland Park Range in New Jersey. www.sawshootingclub.com
