New Lynchburg Chapter of A Girl & A Gun Holds First Meeting

SafeSide Tactical in Lynchburg, Virginia began a new chapter of national organization A Girl & A Gun, Women’s Shooting League in July 2017, affording enthusiastic women with an opportunity to bond over a passion for firearms.

On Feb. 8, during Lynchburg’s first AG & AG meeting, facilitator Judy Gallion presented 15 women at SafeSide Tactical with information about the national organization’s mission.

According to the program’s website, its desire is to educate and encourage women about firearm usage and safety and promote women’s shooting interest and participation in a positive and encouraging environment.

“I urge you, for the fun of it, try competition,” Gallion said. “There’s nothing like going up against some of these guys and beating them.”

In a room filled with women ranging from college-aged students to seniors, Gallion’s comment brought many laughs and cheers.

Rachel Luce, office staff for SafeSide Tactical, has observed that a lot of times, women are better shooters than men.

“I’ve found that even at the ranges … the men are always super welcoming whenever they realize, ‘Here’s a girl, and I can go home and tell my wife, look, here’s another girl who was shooting,’” Luce said.

Gallion began shooting in 2013 and has since been involved in competitions such as the Glock Sport Shooting Foundation, United States Practical Shooting Association, Steel Challenge and 3 Gun. While most women shoot for self-defense, Gallion encouraged the women at the meeting to consider competing.

AG & AG will meet every second Thursday at 6 p.m. and every fourth Tuesday at 9:30 a.m at Safeside Tactical. For each meeting, there will be 15-20 minutes of class time, shooting at the range and then a dinner or breakfast depending on the day of the month.

“If you have a concealed carry, you need to be practicing with the gun that you are carrying,” Gallion said. “You need to practice it at least once per month. I’d say once per week.”

In a relaxed and encouraging environment, each woman will learn grip, stance, how to load and unload a firearm, whether one is right or left eye dominant, etc.

The classrooms are cold classrooms, meaning that the gun inside each woman’s gun bag must be unloaded, with the magazine kept separate.

According to the organization’s website, they have designed their program for all demographics of women and all levels from recreational to competitive shooting. This arrangement helps to create a platform that appeals to a great deal of women.

“I work at the library as a research consultant and it’s like, ‘this little research nerd can shoot?’ and pretty decently actually,” Luce said.

With 128 chapters nationwide, AG & AG is cultivating a group of women who are confident and comfortable with defending themselves and others around them.

“You find that once people find out that you shoot, they get really intrigued,” Luce said. “Once you get proficient, there’s a lot of respect you get for being a female who shoots.”

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