by ORA Outreach Director, Amber Parrow
If you look at any type of community, you will always find women. It doesn’t matter if it is the PTA, church, or any other group, women are present in the foreground and background. With groups that are traditionally more masculine, like the shooting sports, involvement is usually behind the scenes. That is changing within the shooting sports as women are discovering that it is enjoyable to be the one pulling the trigger instead of standing by and watching.
As I became involved as a marketing coordinator for a large non-profit gun club in Oklahoma, this sisterhood in the gun community found me. What I love about the Oklahoma City Gun Club’s history is that women have not stayed behind the scenes, but jumped right in to participate in the competitions and joined the ranks of the club’s leadership. I came to the club with marketing experience and understanding of the political and cultural environment firearm communities are facing, but not knowing a whole lot about the techniques and mechanics of shooting a gun. That is quickly changing as I was quickly enlisted to the sisterhood and its membership, making sure I was spending plenty of time at the firing line.
I wanted to take a moment and share a little about these women and their invaluable contributions. However, women like this will be found in all gun communities across the nation. Each one possesses unique personalities, talents and strengths that work together for a unified purpose: to preserve the freedom, legacy, and enjoyment of firearms and the shooting sports.
Suzi – This is one of my favorite stories, because you would not think the longest standing president of a gun club incorporated in 1957 would be a woman. That is exactly the role Suzi plays, working tirelessly to keep our club well maintained and growing at a high standard that was recently recognized by the NRA with the Gold Medal Club award and recognized twice as the NRA club of the year. However, it was when her husband was giving cowboy action a try when she thought, this looks fun and I want to shoot. Twenty years ago it was only guys shooting and she didn’t want to rock the boat, so the next meet she came prepared with cookies, got her chance to shoot and was welcomed with open arms. Her participation didn’t stop there as she formed a vision to make the shooting sports accessible and approachable for other women without having to bribe the guys with cookies! Suzi also understood the hesitations that keep women from giving this sport a try and approached the male dominated board with the idea of starting a women’s division at the club. The initiative she started over 20 years ago was to host a women’s only event that gave women a chance to become familiar with firearms and shooting specific to the needs of beginning and women shooters. At the same time, the NRA was launching the Women on Target program, and quickly the two merged with the Oklahoma City event flourishing through grants and support from the NRA, turning into one of the largest Women on Target events nationwide.
Carey – It doesn’t take long to be part of our club without seeing the tireless administration efforts of Carey. She is chair of the membership committee and volunteers time to keep things organized and running smoothly for a club of 2000+ members. That includes answering questions for new membership, fielding new membership requests, putting together new member packets for new member orientation, and making sure all the members have their badges. It is a big role that is vital to keeping the club running smoothly! Carey grew up plinking with her family, but became actively involved when her twin boys started participating in the shooting sports at age 10. She became the state coordinator for the NRA Youth Hunter Education Challenge and held that position for the past 10 years along with over 20 years working with youth development programs in 4-H at the county and state level, retiring as the county shooting sports coordinator. Her boys went on to shoot competitively in college. Now she is enjoying her own sport of cowboy action shooting and the life-long friendships that are formed in the world of shooting sports.
Paula – As a new shotgun shooter, my husband and I signed up for a two-day skeet camp, not knowing it would be an intensive way to learn the ins-and-outs of shotgun. However, various club members jumped in to help us learn the fundamentals. That is where I got to know Paula a little better. She had never shot a gun before until she attended one of the Women’s Fun Shoots at our club, but when she did, Paula was hooked. She became involved in shotgun that led her to be the first female to become a chair of a division at the club in 2014, not to mention it was the largest division in the club. She also formed a ladies-only skeet league called Chicks Breaking Clays and competes at a national level. Paula is a NRA Pistol and Shotgun instructor in addition to being a level 2 NSSA instructor. With the returning popularity of skeet shooting and organizing a ladies skeet league, Paula is reaching women who are discovering that there is community and sisterhood with shotguns and breaking clays.
Jamie – Women membership at the Oklahoma City Gun Club is still a small percentage, but the presence and efforts of women have kept the club thriving and growing for decades. In recent years another has joined the ranks of the club’s leadership, Jamie Meyer, who co-chairs the training division, which has trained hundreds of eager students in the past few years. Over a year ago she started a group for women to learn specifics in pistol, self-defense, and other disciplines. This group is the Ladies Pistol League and is growing and thriving. She now coordinates the state GSSF match (the Red River Shootout) with record female attendance in GSSF’s 30-year history. That competition was the first time in taking pictures at the club where I had to be intentional in capturing men participants as women participation was nearly equal to that of the men!
Countless Others – When you are out at competitions and club events, you may see a smaller number of women participating as competitors compared to the men, but they are there! If you look a little closer, you’ll also see their presence behind the scenes in the critical supporting roles. I was at the International Silhouette Championship at our club and noticed a wife spotting for her husband. At the Cowboy action shoot, there was the vital group of ladies putting together lunch. Then there were the countless mothers supporting the 80+ students participating in the .22 Rifle competition for the National High School Rodeo Association that our club hosted. In the days ahead, I hope we will see more and more women stepping up to the firing line, but no matter what role women find themselves most comfortable in within the gun community, the enjoyment and legacy of firearms and shooting sports depends on the support and passion of this sisterhood.
