Getting The Whole
Family Involved
Last summer, Robyn and her son, Nathan, attended a long-range precision class,
which ignited his interest in attending pistol matches and other shooting events.
In a survey of A Girl & A Gun members, 76% of the 6,300 respondents said they enjoy shooting with members of their family, and 4% reported their entire family often goes shooting together. Some families go to the beach or amusement parks, while shooting families spend their vacation days at tournaments and training events.
Memories are made, and many important lessons are learned when women spend time shooting with their children. Let’s examine four avenues for getting the whole family involved in the shooting sports — with some personal anecdotes.
Training Classes
Encouraging families to take a training class together is a great way to introduce kids to gun safety and shooting sports. One of my favorite experiences was a long-range precision class I attended with my son, Nathan, last summer. I spotted for him and he called wind for me, so working together was a lot of fun. I watched him learn and grow his shooting skills — and I was beaming with pride when my 14-year-old earned Top Shot in a class of 18 adults!
Most importantly, I watched Nathan demonstrate responsibility with his firearm, scope and gear and overcome challenges with a positive attitude. As an added benefit, he realized my shooting friends and I could be fun to be around, so now he regularly attends pistol matches and other events. As a mom, there’s nothing better than my teen wanting to spend more time with me and less time on his PlayStation.
Other mothers have had similar experiences when taking their children to a training class or event. Last spring, 11 mother/daughter pairs attended the A Girl & A Gun National Conference together. One mother, Sharon Rider, attended with her daughter, Amber, and 12-year-old granddaughter, Callyn. As a retired peace officer, Rider trained primarily with men throughout her career and said shooting with other women at the training event was “one of the best experiences of my life.” She loved seeing Callyn’s enthusiasm grow for the shooting sports. Amber also enjoyed watching Callyn learn situational awareness, de-escalation techniques and ways to navigate the world with a safety mindset.
Hunting Trips
Many families enjoy spending time together hunting in the outdoors. Katrina Reed grew up hunting with her family and was looking forward to building memories with her son, JT. He was only 10 months old when she took him to the treestand for the first time. JT was too young to know what was going on, but he enjoyed the scenery and was completely content. She harvested a deer with him that day, and still smiles at the pictures of him watching as she and her husband loaded the deer up and prepared the meat. (JT harvested his first buck at the age of five, alongside his dad — with a priceless smile.)
Reed shared, “As a parent, I love that my son continues to appreciate all the outdoors has to offer. Hopefully he’ll pass the knowledge we have shared with him to future generations.”
Heidi Lyn Rao has four boys, and she has immersed them in the outdoors through hunting and shooting. They learned all about firearm safety and wildlife while sitting in deer blinds, duck blinds and treestands with Mom. They didn’t have much choice in the matter because Rao is the Texas Parks and Wildlife Hunter Education Specialist and statewide Becoming an Outdoors-Woman Coordinator, who married a (now retired) Texas Game Warden. Hunting and the outdoors define their family. Rao believes when you recruit the mom, you involve the entire family.
Range Days
Gina Manning’s daughter, Sydney, began attending A Girl & A Gun chapter events two years ago when she was 16. Sydney is glad the time at the range allowed her to learn about gun safety and handling of firearms. It put her in a different mindset as far as going from being a good witness to possibly taking action if needed in a real-life defensive situation.
In addition to the defensive training, Manning appreciates the life lessons Sydney gets at the range. She appreciates Sydney’s time with women at the range allows her to hear stories from different walks of life and surrounds her with additional positive influences and mentors.
Manning said, “I have peace of mind knowing she’s being guided in the right direction as a young adult, with valuable life skills and the ability to protect herself.”
“Time spent together as a family promotes fun opportunities for learning and memories to last a lifetime.”
As a kid, Kay Rogers’ son, Jack, played soccer and basketball, but he spent more time on the bench than in the game, which didn’t help his self-esteem. When Jack was introduced to trapshooting at age 12, he discovered he was a natural! Trapshooting has given Jack lifelong friends, opportunities to travel and see the country and probably a college scholarship.
Rogers said, “As a single mom, shooting has been a great activity for us to do together. I’m not a good trapshooter, but I’m a good cheerleader for him. Everywhere we travel we make the most of it.”
Now 15, Jack is currently ranked fifth in the American Trapshooting Association for his age group, and is on the 2022 All-American Team. He’s planning an event for beginner youth shooters to help them learn the sport and grow their confidence.
“Jack is committed to being a good role model and lifting others up. It’s all his idea, and I couldn’t be prouder,” Rogers shared.
Competitive Matches
Competitive shooting has always been a family outing for Dani Durante. She and her husband would shoot USPSA, Tactical Carbine, Steel Challenge, Falling Steel and 3-Gun matches all while toting their daughters, Caitlin and Meghan, in a wagon with their range bags and snacks.
When they were very young, their daughters were content to play with each other or their activities, but as time went on, they showed an increased interest in the matches and helped reset targets. One of Meghan’s favorite things to do at a match was to walk the stages and advise her parents on how to shoot different scenarios.
Today, Meghan competes in archery competitions with her mom and dad cheering from the sidelines.
Denise White loves training and competing with her 12-year-old daughter, Christianna, who is active in 4H, Steel Challenge and recently competed in 3-Gun. Denise says participating with A Girl & A Gun gives Christianna confidence both in the shooting sports and in life.
They recently competed at A Girl & A Gun’s Fall Fest Multigun Challenge, where they made lifelong friendships. Christianna shared the mentoring she received from women from all over the country will last far beyond shooting.
“It was my first 3-Gun match, and I may not have shot very well, but the fact I was able to be there, shooting alongside my mom and all my AG & AG sisters, was such a blessing that’s hard to capture in words,” she said.
Family Time
When a dad is the only marksman in the family, shooting is often considered a hobby; however, when a mom gets involved in the shooting sports, there’s a major shift in the family’s time and budget. Gun safety and shooting sports become part of the family’s lifestyle. Suddenly, gun safety rules and safe storage protocols become frequent topics of conversation.
Not only do the shooting sports include a variety of shooting competitions that are fun for the whole family, but they can also lead a youth shooter to college scholarships and Olympic dreams. Regardless of the outcome, time spent together as a family promotes fun opportunities for learning and memories to last a lifetime.
Robyn Sandoval is co-owner and executive director of A Girl & A Gun Women’s Shooting League, and manages the day-to-day operations of the organization. She’s a certified pistol instructor, range safety officer and serves on the board of directors and advisory board of the DC Project.
