Mrs. Woody6
August 27, 2002, 11:31 AM
http://www.theadvocate.com/stories/082502/new_aim001.shtml
Aiming at crime
Classes give women word on guns
By MELISSA MOORE
[email protected]
Advocate staff writer
GONZALES -- Lisa Mitchell wasn't sure
what kind of gun she brought to a gun safety
class on Saturday. Her husband had chosen
it for her from the family's collection.
She learned that it was a .380-caliber pistol.
"I didn't even know what he was sending
me with," she said.
Mitchell and more than 100 other women,
mostly from Baton Rouge, went to the
Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office shooting
range for two gun safety classes.
Richard Lipsey, a Baton Rouge gun and
sporting goods wholesaler who provided
guns for the women to use at the event, said
response to an ad for the class was so overwhelming that two more classes
have been filled for next Saturday. Nearly 300 women have signed up, he said.
Fewer than half of those who attended Saturday brought their own guns,
Lipsey said.
Barbara Bourgeois, of Prairieville, is a new gun owner who decided to take the
class for some extra information and practice at shooting.
Bourgeois' 28-year-old daughter lives in Baton Rouge. Recently, a man
followed her home and parked behind her. He opened his door, but apparently
heard her frantic phone call to a friend for help. He left, but the fear of an
attack did not.
"She was too afraid to have the police come," Bourgeois said.
Her daughter called police, but asked that an officer not be sent to her home
because of rumors that the serial killer, who has killed three women in Baton
Rouge in the past year, might be an officer or posing as one.
Bourgeois did not grow up with guns. The first time she fired one was during a
recent class at Precision Firearms, she said.
"I was so afraid of guns. I was just terrified," Bourgeois said.
Finally, her fear of guns gave way to her desire to do something to make her
daughter feel safer.
"She said 'Mom, I am paralyzed with fear'," Bourgeois recalled.
They got matching .357-caliber revolvers two weeks ago at a gun show in
Baton Rouge, she said.
She also loaded up on chemical defense spray at the gun show and bought
herself and her daughter each a stun-gun.
"I am so ready," Bourgeois said.
After practicing at Precision, one weekend at a hunting camp and at the class
on Saturday, Bourgeois said she feels much better about the gun.
"I feel real strong now," she said. "You have to have some power."
Bourgeois said she and her daughter plan to take a course that will allow them
to carry their handguns concealed.
"She said she's beginning to feel a lot better," Bourgeois said.
DeLoise Gaudin brought her daughter to the class even though neither of them
own guns. Actually, she said, both Gaudins were there at the urging of DeLoise
Gaudin's sister, Judy Phillips, who is a gun owner.
"We're not really gun people," Gaudin said.
Her daughter Kelly Gaudin, who lives in Baton Rouge, said she still is not sure
she wants to get a gun.
"A gun is such a tremendous responsibility," she said. "I didn't really realize how
tremendous it was until I was standing behind it trying to shoot it."
Former Baton Rouge Police Chief Greg Phares spearheaded the organization
of the class and said Ascension Parish Sheriff Jeff Wiley was immediately
supportive.
Lipsey provided the guns, Jim McClain of Jim's Firearms donated the
ammunition and Dow Chemical gave safety glasses and ear protection for the
classes, Phares said.
More than a dozen instructors volunteered their time for the class, including Kit
Cessna, a former member of the U.S. Army's Delta Force and current member
of the Baton Rouge Police Department's Special Response Team.
Cessna told the women that they need to think about the aftermath of having to
kill someone as they consider whether to own a gun and about how they will
respond under excruciating stress.
"If you get into a deadly confrontation, you can win it or you can lose it. I
strongly recommend the former," he said.
If you have to kill someone to save your own life or the life of another person,
he said, there will be a legal inquiry. There may be civil lawsuits. Others may
say that you did the wrong thing.
"No matter how bad the aftermath is, it beats the alternative," Cessna said.
He said that shooting someone is inherently unpleasant. Cessna was shot in the
hand during a raid on a hostage-taker in Baton Rouge in 2000.
"The shock effect and the impact of that bullet has got to be felt to be
believed," he said.
Cessna told the women that their natural instincts, including fear, are an aid to
their safety.
"Fear has a little bit of a bad reputation," he said, but "that creepy little feeling"
that heightens awareness helps keep people safe.
"Panic is fear that is out of control," he said. "What we have to do is be able to
control the fear."
"If you can control the fear, you can survive the situation," he said.
Mildred Patrick said she hasn't shot a gun since her youth but was glad she
went to the class.
"I loved it. It was worth taking your afternoon," she said. "I did really well."
Patrick said she's looking into buying a revolver.
Madeline Souter said she also hadn't fired a gun in 25 years.
"I'm very, very impressed with everything," she said.
Her family owns guns, but the petite Souter said she is not strong enough to
control any of them.
"We need to get another gun that I can handle," she said.
Wiley said the women fired "remarkably well."
Ascension Parish Sheriff's Col. Paul Robert, who taught the women about the
legal issues surrounding justifiable homicide, said women are often easier to
teach than men, who sometimes think they know as much or more than the
instructors.
Women typically don't come in with any bad habits, he said.
"They really listen and they do everything right from the beginning," he said.
Aiming at crime
Classes give women word on guns
By MELISSA MOORE
[email protected]
Advocate staff writer
GONZALES -- Lisa Mitchell wasn't sure
what kind of gun she brought to a gun safety
class on Saturday. Her husband had chosen
it for her from the family's collection.
She learned that it was a .380-caliber pistol.
"I didn't even know what he was sending
me with," she said.
Mitchell and more than 100 other women,
mostly from Baton Rouge, went to the
Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office shooting
range for two gun safety classes.
Richard Lipsey, a Baton Rouge gun and
sporting goods wholesaler who provided
guns for the women to use at the event, said
response to an ad for the class was so overwhelming that two more classes
have been filled for next Saturday. Nearly 300 women have signed up, he said.
Fewer than half of those who attended Saturday brought their own guns,
Lipsey said.
Barbara Bourgeois, of Prairieville, is a new gun owner who decided to take the
class for some extra information and practice at shooting.
Bourgeois' 28-year-old daughter lives in Baton Rouge. Recently, a man
followed her home and parked behind her. He opened his door, but apparently
heard her frantic phone call to a friend for help. He left, but the fear of an
attack did not.
"She was too afraid to have the police come," Bourgeois said.
Her daughter called police, but asked that an officer not be sent to her home
because of rumors that the serial killer, who has killed three women in Baton
Rouge in the past year, might be an officer or posing as one.
Bourgeois did not grow up with guns. The first time she fired one was during a
recent class at Precision Firearms, she said.
"I was so afraid of guns. I was just terrified," Bourgeois said.
Finally, her fear of guns gave way to her desire to do something to make her
daughter feel safer.
"She said 'Mom, I am paralyzed with fear'," Bourgeois recalled.
They got matching .357-caliber revolvers two weeks ago at a gun show in
Baton Rouge, she said.
She also loaded up on chemical defense spray at the gun show and bought
herself and her daughter each a stun-gun.
"I am so ready," Bourgeois said.
After practicing at Precision, one weekend at a hunting camp and at the class
on Saturday, Bourgeois said she feels much better about the gun.
"I feel real strong now," she said. "You have to have some power."
Bourgeois said she and her daughter plan to take a course that will allow them
to carry their handguns concealed.
"She said she's beginning to feel a lot better," Bourgeois said.
DeLoise Gaudin brought her daughter to the class even though neither of them
own guns. Actually, she said, both Gaudins were there at the urging of DeLoise
Gaudin's sister, Judy Phillips, who is a gun owner.
"We're not really gun people," Gaudin said.
Her daughter Kelly Gaudin, who lives in Baton Rouge, said she still is not sure
she wants to get a gun.
"A gun is such a tremendous responsibility," she said. "I didn't really realize how
tremendous it was until I was standing behind it trying to shoot it."
Former Baton Rouge Police Chief Greg Phares spearheaded the organization
of the class and said Ascension Parish Sheriff Jeff Wiley was immediately
supportive.
Lipsey provided the guns, Jim McClain of Jim's Firearms donated the
ammunition and Dow Chemical gave safety glasses and ear protection for the
classes, Phares said.
More than a dozen instructors volunteered their time for the class, including Kit
Cessna, a former member of the U.S. Army's Delta Force and current member
of the Baton Rouge Police Department's Special Response Team.
Cessna told the women that they need to think about the aftermath of having to
kill someone as they consider whether to own a gun and about how they will
respond under excruciating stress.
"If you get into a deadly confrontation, you can win it or you can lose it. I
strongly recommend the former," he said.
If you have to kill someone to save your own life or the life of another person,
he said, there will be a legal inquiry. There may be civil lawsuits. Others may
say that you did the wrong thing.
"No matter how bad the aftermath is, it beats the alternative," Cessna said.
He said that shooting someone is inherently unpleasant. Cessna was shot in the
hand during a raid on a hostage-taker in Baton Rouge in 2000.
"The shock effect and the impact of that bullet has got to be felt to be
believed," he said.
Cessna told the women that their natural instincts, including fear, are an aid to
their safety.
"Fear has a little bit of a bad reputation," he said, but "that creepy little feeling"
that heightens awareness helps keep people safe.
"Panic is fear that is out of control," he said. "What we have to do is be able to
control the fear."
"If you can control the fear, you can survive the situation," he said.
Mildred Patrick said she hasn't shot a gun since her youth but was glad she
went to the class.
"I loved it. It was worth taking your afternoon," she said. "I did really well."
Patrick said she's looking into buying a revolver.
Madeline Souter said she also hadn't fired a gun in 25 years.
"I'm very, very impressed with everything," she said.
Her family owns guns, but the petite Souter said she is not strong enough to
control any of them.
"We need to get another gun that I can handle," she said.
Wiley said the women fired "remarkably well."
Ascension Parish Sheriff's Col. Paul Robert, who taught the women about the
legal issues surrounding justifiable homicide, said women are often easier to
teach than men, who sometimes think they know as much or more than the
instructors.
Women typically don't come in with any bad habits, he said.
"They really listen and they do everything right from the beginning," he said.