A Virginia community recently held its first Women on Target® Instructional Shooting Clinic and had a very successful day introducing new shooters to firearms and teaching proper firearm safety:

Women Get Shot at Firearms Training

ARARAT, Va. — Since Angie LaChappelle, a postal worker from Pilot Mountain, wanted more hands-on experience with guns, a shooting clinic held Saturday proved to be right on target for her and about 15 other area women.

That made Rabbit Ridge Enterprises — an Ararat gun business with a shooting range — somewhat noisier than usual as LaChappelle and other participants learned to use various guns in a safe, responsible manner through the National Rifle Association’s Women on Target program.

“A lot of these women have never actually held a firearm,” organizer Tina Swaim of the Rockford community said as shots from .22-caliber rifles rang in the background while participants took their turns at targets positioned about 25 yards away.

“Maybe they shot a handgun in their backyard a couple of times, and that was it,” Swaim added.

Saturday marked the first time the Women on Target program has been held locally. Its overall goal is to provide education and create more hunting and target-shooting opportunities for women, which an estimated 6 million are participating in already. Open to those 18 and older, it allows participants to learn about guns in a secure and supportive women-only atmosphere.

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