scout26
Member
From the Chicago Tribune no less. Knock me over with a feather. I'm not a member of the St Charles Sportsmen's Club, but I have shot there and know some of the members and members of AIM. http://www.girlswithguns.net/
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...coll=chi-newslocalwest-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...coll=chi-newslocalwest-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
New Annies get their guns
A group of women is right on target while taking aim and firing on the range
By Steve Schmadeke
Special to the Tribune
Published July 19, 2007
Inside the crowded clubhouse at the St. Charles Sportsmen's Club, where the sounds of men's voices drown out the shotgun blasts outside, a group of women sit around a table, passing smiley-face cookies and admiring a diamond-inlay Beretta.
The eight women, some wearing shotgun-shaped belt buckles inscribed with their group's slogan: "Girls With Guns Have More Fun," are members of Allied Illinois Markswomen. It's the only women's gun club in the state, according to an Illinois Rifle Association official.
Sharpshooting women
Members are CPAs, business owners, warehouse managers, teachers. They meet once a month, "shoot clays" -- clay pigeons -- or handguns other times, and some hunt on their own.
Retired veterinarian and certified pilot Rosemary LoGuidice, 52, an original member, recalls that when she started shooting about 20 years ago, women weren't always welcomed at gun clubs and firing ranges. But then, she encountered the same sort of resistance when she started practicing veterinary medicine nearly 30 years ago, she said.
"You're always going to have a curmudgeon who thinks women should be barefoot, pregnant and chained to the stove," said LoGuidice, who wore a pink cap reading, "Shoot like a girl ... if you can." In the early days, she was always careful not to gloat if she outshot a man, she said.
Not that LoGuidice is exactly shy. Others were admiring her diamond-studded Beretta, which she created after inheriting a diamond ring and having the stones rearranged in the shape of the veterinary symbol on the walnut grip. Even though she no longer practices medicine, LoGuidice heads the membership and field services branches of the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Aurora resident Rosemary Jendras, 55, the markswomen group's membership director, said people's "mouths drop open about three feet" sometimes when she tells them about her gun hobby and hunting. But, "it's just like any other sport if you treat it with respect," she said.
"My father used to be a trapshooter, but he never took me out," Jendras said. Her father died in 1993, and "I was out here one day shooting and it felt like he was there with me -- I felt closer to him," she said.
Though trade associations and such groups as the National Rifle Association say more women than ever are participating in shooting sports, Peggy Tartaro, executive editor of the 18-year-old Women & Guns magazine, said there are no reliable figures on gun ownership among women.
Tartaro said she believes the gun industry and groups such as the NRA are doing more to draw women into the sport. The NRA has conducted more than 400 instructional clinics for women since launching its Women on Target program seven years ago, said Mary Sue Falkner, director of the group's community service programs division.
More manufacturers also offer products geared toward female gun owners, Tartaro said.
Steve Lauer, owner of Lauer Custom Weaponry in Chippewa Falls, Wis., said he ships about 300 guns a month coated with his "Pink Lady" finish.
"It's pretty fun and not that expensive of a hobby," Tartaro said. "To pay for one or two guns, a couple boxes of factory ammo and club fees is going to be a hell of a lot cheaper than joining a golf club or loading a car up with skis and driving 200 miles."
But she acknowledged other factors are at play in the industry's efforts to draw women.
"Most of the people in the larger shooting community realize we're all in this together and the more the merrier," she said. "You don't have to be a genius to realize if you have more political issues being raised, there's a vested interest in welcoming women into the community."
Mary May, a markswomen group member whose vehicle tags read LDYHNTR, received a free shotgun a decade ago after buying a certificate of deposit from a Colorado bank. The only person she knew who owned guns lived two states away, so she exchanged instant messages with her friend to learn how to take apart and clean her new weapon.
"I'd have the gun in front of me as I sat in front of the computer," she said.
Her husband's family didn't understand her new passion. "They asked me if I was going through menopause or something," she said.
The women's group runs occasional clinics and holds an annual charity event. This year's will benefit a domestic violence prevention program. Members shoot at a number of places, although the St. Charles club seems to be the most convenient.
Finally, it's the women's turn to shoot. LoGuidice puts on battery-powered earplugs and yellow-tinted safety glasses and heads out the door with her shotgun slung over her forearm.
"Most serious trapshooters, when they get out on the line, they don't talk, they're very focused," she said. "You will notice that we like to talk a lot. Sometimes people next to us shake their heads.
"We're just here to have fun. It's not brain surgery. Don't get me wrong, we all want to shoot well, but if I can't have fun, I'm going to find something else to do," LoGuidice said.
The women shoot, pausing to joke and laugh between rounds. The smell of gunpowder lingered in the air as they said their goodbyes.
"Thanks for the cookies!" someone shouts as they separate and head for home.
