Well, I always thought I was sexy as all get out- this clinches it,eh!?
http://www.nypost.com/living/1965.htm
GUNPLAY
By DAVID KOEPPEL
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July 31, 2003 -- MANHATTAN television producer Amy Heath doesn't expect fireworks on a first date. But she wouldn't mind a little gunplay.
Heath, 33, a gun enthusiast who teaches an instructional rifle clinic called "Women On Target" at the West Side Rifle and Pistol Range on West 20th Street, hasn't found Mr. Right yet, but admits it would "enhance the relationship" if her perfect mate were packing heat.
"These are manly men. They're studs," Heath says of firearm aficionados. "There's all that testosterone being thrown around. Shooting is a sexy sport."
Local gun club and range owners say in recent years, more couples are abandoning dinner and a movie to shoot a few rounds of ammunition together.
And while the women of "Sex and the City" are far more comfortable at Prada than home on the range, firearms enthusiasts have seen an increase in women who shoot recreationally or train for their own self-defense.
Heath's classes (the next one is Saturday) typically draw 50 to 60 women. She also coordinates the New York City Shooting Sports League for Women, a group that Heath says shatters the stereotype of buckskin-wearing, pistol-packing, tobacco-chewing Annie Oakleys.
"These are beautiful women," she says. "Women that most men would fall in love with."
West Side Rifle hopes to entice couples with a "Beef and Guns" night, a pre-paid, $98 package of uninhibited gunfire followed by a USDA prime steak dinner at Frank's Restaurant on 10th Avenue.
One recent Saturday, Jennifer Grech surprised her husband, Michael, with a trip to the range and restaurant to celebrate his 30th birthday.
"She's been scared around guns," Michael says. "But I could see when she had that rifle in her hands that she really loved it. I could see her smile when she hit a bull's-eye from 25 feet."
Patty Hefferan met her husband, Pete, at a "ladies day" class he was teaching at a New Jersey rifle range. Impressed with his vast knowledge of firearms, Patty approached him after class to request "private lessons."
"I hunted him down," she says. "I asked if he would remember me when I called and he said, 'I may forget what I'm teaching, but I never forget a beautiful face.' " They married about two years later.
A registered nurse and one-time member of Greenpeace and the Sierra Club, Hefferan now revels in her own gun collection.
Another New Jersey couple, Mike Bodner and Peggy Hodgkiss, credit a love of guns for their mutual attraction. They met in 1999 when planning an event for the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs.
"It's guns that brought us together," Bodner explained on a recent night at the West Side Rifle and Pistol Range with Peggy.
They're so enamoured with firearms their upcoming wedding will look as if it's being catered by the NRA. The invitations feature a gun-toting Cupid and tables will be named for gun manufacturers like Smith & Wesson.
John DeLoca, owner of the Seneca Sporting Range and Gun Company in Ridgewood, Queens, has some tips for men taking their girlfriends and wives on a shooting date.
"Indoctrinate them on a low-caliber weapon," he advises. "The mistake some men make is letting their girlfriend shoot a .357 Magnum that kicks like a Missouri mule."
DeLoca recommends the more controllable 22-caliber rifle that's available for unlicensed beginners in New York.
Amy Heath believes the image of gun enthusiasts as unsophisticated "Bubbas" is changing. She even compares the joys of recreational shooting to the serenity of yoga.
Like yoga, deep breathing and proper body alignment are critical to good shooting technique. And you don't even need a mantra.
"Shooting," she says, "can be a very Zen-like experience and I think a great way to spend a date."
http://www.nypost.com/living/1965.htm
GUNPLAY
By DAVID KOEPPEL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
July 31, 2003 -- MANHATTAN television producer Amy Heath doesn't expect fireworks on a first date. But she wouldn't mind a little gunplay.
Heath, 33, a gun enthusiast who teaches an instructional rifle clinic called "Women On Target" at the West Side Rifle and Pistol Range on West 20th Street, hasn't found Mr. Right yet, but admits it would "enhance the relationship" if her perfect mate were packing heat.
"These are manly men. They're studs," Heath says of firearm aficionados. "There's all that testosterone being thrown around. Shooting is a sexy sport."
Local gun club and range owners say in recent years, more couples are abandoning dinner and a movie to shoot a few rounds of ammunition together.
And while the women of "Sex and the City" are far more comfortable at Prada than home on the range, firearms enthusiasts have seen an increase in women who shoot recreationally or train for their own self-defense.
Heath's classes (the next one is Saturday) typically draw 50 to 60 women. She also coordinates the New York City Shooting Sports League for Women, a group that Heath says shatters the stereotype of buckskin-wearing, pistol-packing, tobacco-chewing Annie Oakleys.
"These are beautiful women," she says. "Women that most men would fall in love with."
West Side Rifle hopes to entice couples with a "Beef and Guns" night, a pre-paid, $98 package of uninhibited gunfire followed by a USDA prime steak dinner at Frank's Restaurant on 10th Avenue.
One recent Saturday, Jennifer Grech surprised her husband, Michael, with a trip to the range and restaurant to celebrate his 30th birthday.
"She's been scared around guns," Michael says. "But I could see when she had that rifle in her hands that she really loved it. I could see her smile when she hit a bull's-eye from 25 feet."
Patty Hefferan met her husband, Pete, at a "ladies day" class he was teaching at a New Jersey rifle range. Impressed with his vast knowledge of firearms, Patty approached him after class to request "private lessons."
"I hunted him down," she says. "I asked if he would remember me when I called and he said, 'I may forget what I'm teaching, but I never forget a beautiful face.' " They married about two years later.
A registered nurse and one-time member of Greenpeace and the Sierra Club, Hefferan now revels in her own gun collection.
Another New Jersey couple, Mike Bodner and Peggy Hodgkiss, credit a love of guns for their mutual attraction. They met in 1999 when planning an event for the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs.
"It's guns that brought us together," Bodner explained on a recent night at the West Side Rifle and Pistol Range with Peggy.
They're so enamoured with firearms their upcoming wedding will look as if it's being catered by the NRA. The invitations feature a gun-toting Cupid and tables will be named for gun manufacturers like Smith & Wesson.
John DeLoca, owner of the Seneca Sporting Range and Gun Company in Ridgewood, Queens, has some tips for men taking their girlfriends and wives on a shooting date.
"Indoctrinate them on a low-caliber weapon," he advises. "The mistake some men make is letting their girlfriend shoot a .357 Magnum that kicks like a Missouri mule."
DeLoca recommends the more controllable 22-caliber rifle that's available for unlicensed beginners in New York.
Amy Heath believes the image of gun enthusiasts as unsophisticated "Bubbas" is changing. She even compares the joys of recreational shooting to the serenity of yoga.
Like yoga, deep breathing and proper body alignment are critical to good shooting technique. And you don't even need a mantra.
"Shooting," she says, "can be a very Zen-like experience and I think a great way to spend a date."
