BENTON — I don’t like much Top-40 country music. But one song, “Gunpowder and Lead” by Miranda Lambert seems to speak to me. The song is about a woman planning to shoot her significant other as soon as he gets home from jail. PLEASE NOTE: I do not condone gun-related violence in any form or fashion, but the last line of the chorus is, “I’m gonna show him what a little girl’s made of — Gunpowder and lead.”
And I always liked that — the idea of being a tough girl who can defend herself in the event of an emergency.
I started thinking more about this idea when I wrote a story about Angela Swenson back in May.
Swenson is a 32-year-old woman who competes in International Defensive Pistol Association matches.
The story was my co-worker’s idea. Photographer Rusty Hubbard also competes in IDPA matches.
“I’ve been shooting competitively since 2005,” Rusty said. “I’ve shot IDPA and USPSA (United States Practical Shooting Association) matches. I was the ‘High Press’ competitor and fourth in Stock Service Pistol/Expert at the 2009 IDPA Nationals. I was top Limited Division shooter from Arkansas at the 2010 Arkansas USPSA Handgun Championship.”
For the unfamiliar, IDPA is an organization that simulates self-defense scenarios and real-life encounters.
“The main goal is to test the skill and ability of the individual,” the organization’s website states.
“I could be at Walmart and pushing my groceries out to my car and two guys come up in ski masks and try to kidnap me,” Swenson said.
The scenarios assume the competitor has a concealed-carry permit and is carrying a gun for protection, which Swenson does regularly.
Anyway, Rusty isn’t bragging, either. Swenson confirmed that Rusty is a pretty good shooter.
So when he suggested taking me and a few other girls out to the shooting range for a lesson, I couldn’t refuse.
We met at Rusty’s parents’ house early Friday morning because it was near the Benton Gun Club, where we were going shooting. We were greeted by a happy pug named Charlie and Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard, who seemed confident in my abilities.
“I’m sure you can do it,” Mrs. Hubbard said.
My own parents had been supportive of this idea as well. They liked the idea of me learning how to use a gun for protection.
I’m not sure what I was expecting when we got to the shooting range, but my first impression was that it was actually a really beautiful place.
It looked almost forgotten about with the tiny metal pieces scattered over the ground and dirt piled up at almost every corner. Dust flew up off the road as I followed Rusty to the location of our first lesson.
I brought one of our layout artists, Sasha Cerrato, with me for moral support and so she could try her hand at shooting as well.
It would be the first time either of us city girls had touched, let alone shot, a gun.
“We couldn’t have picked a prettier day for it,” Sasha noted, getting out of the car.
And she was right. It was one of the first cool mornings we’d felt in a long time.
While Rusty poked around and explained how to load a magazine, we both started to get a little nervous.
At the same time, I couldn’t help but compare loading bullets to loading Pez candy into one of those cheery, plastic containers, aware that the end result isn’t quite the same thing.
Before he allowed us to touch anything, Rusty reminded us of an e-mail he’d sent the week before: Jeff Cooper’s Rules of Gun Safety, which are as follows: All guns are always loaded; never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy; keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target; and finally, be sure of your target.
Of course, the first thing I did was turn the unloaded gun around in my hands and point it in the wrong direction.
We got that settled rather quickly. Rusty told me to “put the gun down.”
I realized then, that was the first time anyone had to give me a command like that. I obeyed quickly, and after a lesson on gripping, Rusty pulled out our targets.
“I usually use index cards, but I brought y’all some paper plates,” he said.
Sasha rolled her eyes slightly.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a plate or a flashcard; I’m still pretty sure I’m not going to hit it,” she said.
But she did! Sasha shot first, and she hit her plate several times. I was proud.
By the time it was my turn to shoot the .22 Browning Buckmark, I’d already forgotten the correct grip.
Everything felt so unnatural to me, but I hit the plate! I even hit the bull’s eye with the .22!
“I think you did pretty good considering that you never shot before,” Rusty said.
Apparently, hitting a paper plate from 10 yards away is good enough for a first-time shooter.
“It just takes awhile to get used to the feel of the gun,” Rusty said.
He was right because the next pistol we shot, a .40 Tanfoglio Match, seemed to have a bit more of a kick, and I ended up with a blister between my thumb and first finger.
After a few more turns, we moved on to the “action range,” where many of the competitions are held so we could learn about rifles.
We shot an AR-15, which Rusty said is one of the most popular rifles in America. I decided I’d have to build some upper body strength to continue shooting the rifle, because I could only hold the gun for so long without getting tired.
So even after all that, I’m still a wimp with a weak left arm, and it might take me a few more lessons to really figure out what I’m doing, but who knows?
I guess for now, I’ll still aspire to be like Angela Swenson, who is a girlie girl at heart, herself.
“I love to dress up and wear my high heels,” she said, “but the same day, I can go home and put on my boots and muddy jeans and play.”