Gila Hayes - Concealed carry for women

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Youve probably never thought much about protecting yourself until now. You feel vulnerable, alone, threatened. You know an attack will be over before the police arrive.

The uncomfortable, unavoidable, and simple fact is that women face more threats to their safety than do men. Rape, stalking and abduction are rarely visited upon the male of our species.

Millions of women have made the decision to be responsible for their own security. They are buying guns and getting their carry permits, but, just as with their male counterparts, they rarely receive the training needed to be competent. Training is the key to learn the basics of firearms operation as well as self-defense techniques, but there are some challengesactually quite a few, as it turns outunique to women who carry guns.

Over the 18 years Ive hosted Tom Greshams Gun Talk radio show, Ive taken calls from women all over the country, asking questions about whether its smart to get a gun, what kind of gun to get, how to carry and the issues particular to women who carry. In Concealed Carry for Women, Gila Hayes covers the basics of handgun and equipment choices and techniques of shooting. She also addresses issues unique to women. Should I? Why? Can I? How do I? What if? What will people think? How can I carry a defensive handgun and still dress like a woman?

Women have been mastering complex challenges for eons. Effectively and safely carrying a gun is no more difficult than the load each of them now carries in everyday living.

Gila Hayes has been teaching women to protect themselves for decades. She is an accomplished writer who has perfected making complex subjects easy to understand. Its my pleasure to call her a friend. Ive spent time on the shooting range with her and her husband, Marty, at their training facility in Washington State. Simply put, she knows what shes talking about. Shes a shooter, a trainer, a constant student who learns from other trainers and from her own students.

Concealed Carry for Women is an easy read of a serious subject. With nearly every turn of the page there is an I never thought of that nugget. This is a work you will reread several times, getting more with each visit.

That you are reading this indicates you have made the decision to protect yourself or that someone who loves you has given you this book because he or she wants you to stay safe.

Gila would be the first to tell you this book, as good as it is, just gets you started. Its the first step on a journey that will change your life. Self reliant. Confident. Safer. More aware. You will be different.

Congratulations on crossing over from being dependent to becoming self reliant. I can think of no better way to begin the transformation than with this excellent book.

Tom Gresham

Host, Tom Greshams Gun Talk radio show

Do you own a gun? Are you thinking that getting a gun may be the sensible response to the danger of violence against you and your family? If so, youre among thousands of other American women who recognize that when danger is immediate, only the individual threatened can take the actions necessary to protect self and family, since in the time required for help to arrive, the crime can usually be completed and the assailant departed. Numerous self-defense tools and techniques are available and Im proud to say that these days, many women practice a variety of defense techniques spanning awareness, avoidance, deterrence and fighting back with defenses ranging from physical, chemical and, when left with no other option, using firearms to prevent being sexually assaulted, maimed or killed.

Make no mistake, American women own and shoot firearms. Polling by the well-respected Gallup organization showed in an October 2011 study that 43 percent of women surveyed answered affirmatively when asked if there are guns in their households, and 23 percent of women polled said they personally own firearms. Anecdotal reports from gun retailers show that women are buying guns in ever-increasing numbers, as well.

Self defense heads the list of reasons women give for obtaining guns and learning to shoot. While beginning shooters often focus their skill acquisition initially on home defense, it is not long before the realization dawns that while buffering oneself against violent crime at home is important, the exposure to and variety of dangers encountered when we are out in public are even harder to predict and counter. Carrying a concealed handgun to keep a means of defense immediately available is a common and effective self-defense provision many Americans practice. Handgun manufacturers, recognizing how many people carry self-defense handguns, have vastly expanded the options in guns that are small and light enough to carry on your person all your waking hours. Indeed, the ubiquity of small handguns suited to concealed, holstered carry underscores how many gun owners take a handgun along when they leave the relative safety of their homes. Such a large product line up could only survive if supported by a vital and enthusiastic consumer base.

As we will detail in a later chapter, advocates of armed self defense have worked hard to increase the number of states licensing concealed carry of handguns. At the time of this writing, only the State of Illinois and the District of Columbia lack legislation providing licensure for citizens carrying guns for self defense, and pro-gun activists are gaining ground in Illinois. Sadly, not all states with laws licensing concealed carry actually let citizens from all walks of life carry guns for self defense, whether through prohibitively expensive license fees, difficult to obtain training, or strict limits on where licensed carry is allowed. Too many Americans are thus rendered defenseless, and predators seem to know where easy victims can be found. Still, more Americans than not can legally practice some degree of concealed carry for their own protection. This is a far cry from 50 years ago!

How many concealed carry licensees are women? The data is incomplete, but we can make some pretty accurate guesses from the numbers available. In Kansas, for example, where licensing data sorted by gender was made available for the period of July 1, 2006, to Oct. 1, 2011,

Why do women comprise such a strong percentage of the estimated eight million citizens who are licensed to carry handguns? The answer is simple. Women frequently lack the size and strength to physically fight off a male assailant without being at something of a disadvantage, if not substantially out-classed by a stronger, larger man. While much can be said promoting hand-to-hand defensive tactics that deter or slow an assailant who is surprised to find a victim who is fighting back, against a very determined or mentally deranged predator, the risk of not prevailing in a physical fight is a serious and terrifying possibility. A gun immediately at hand balances the scales for the woman targeted for rape, abduction, murder or other violence. Access to the power of a firearm as part of a womans personal defense strategy is just as important out in public as it is inside the home, and so we practice concealed carry.