PM sent to original poster.

One other thing to keep in mind, ladies are often intolerant of classes running late. Sitter schedules and so on. Try to keep on schedule.

I've been an instructor at Norpoint range in Arlington for about 5 years. We run a women's only basic handgun class a few times a year. It's usually led by one of our female instructors and assisted by either a male or female 2nd instructor. We take a max of 18 students and I think it comes close to filling up each time we run it. Most of our students come from Lynnwood and farther north. So I would think there would be some demand for it in the Seattle/Bellevue areas. Our regular basic handgun classes are usually filled with at least half women.

Yeah, that's a really, really good point! We all should be on time, regardless of our gender. It is consistent with giving our word and abiding by it, which engenders trust.



Everyone with whom I've spoken has said there clearly is demand. I'm going to pick a date about 1 month out and see if it fills up with 10-12 people. If it fills up, I'll open up another one!

Now to buy the NRA insurance, choose a DBA name!

Are you talking about Amy Bozell's class? I'd talk to Amy and see if she can hook you up with the club and you can step into an existing operation. My wife took her class and is sorry that Amy "retired" before she could take another. I think what my wife liked most about the class was it was women only - for women by women. That was the selling point that sold her on taking the class. Heck, Amy even went in and cleaned the bathrooms before the class - those types of things are important to women (and impressed the hell out of my wife). Nothing against you, but at least with my wife (and her friends) that would be an automatic strike - even if you had other women helping teaching.

Demand - I don't know
Ammo - I'd talk to local dealers about a sponsorship or see about buying in bulk.
For contact - Facebook, club announcements from the various clubs, website.

Amy is absolutely amazing. Every single person who's been through her class is a stark, raving fan. I don't think anyone will be able to replace her.

And you're right, my gender is an interesting obstacle! The course is only for women attendees. My wife and 26yo daughter (also NRA certified instructors) are helping to teach. I believe this will go a long way towards overcoming the reluctance. I've been teaching women shooters for a long time and they say they love my teaching style. Sadly, the woman who gave the absolute most glowing testimonial is now a school principal and is outraged over some recent statements. Might not be able to use hers for a bit! With a few other testimonials from women attendees I think we might be able to demonstrate we're more women-friendly than most.

If you've any other suggestions to help women feel comfortable attending, I'm all ears.

Offer rental/loaner guns (+holsters/belts if you cover that). Even women who "have a gun" may not have chosen it for themselves/be comfortable shooting it. Many men have provided women with snubby wheelguns, yet these are difficult fornew shooters to run satisfactorily: small grip, short sight radius, small ammo capacity, and recoil heavy (comparatively). Full size semi -auto.22 will support much faster improvement on fundamentals.

Be clear on accuracy standards for class, combat accuracy is not bench accuracy. Fist sized groups on paper that doesn't move at ten yards is not combat accuracy, so time spent achieving that standard can't be spent on other issues

Excellent suggestions. I know someone who almost made that mistake! He had the perfect pistol selected, based on the opinions of all the other men who'd bought their wives pistols. Then a woman piped up and said he should take his wife to the gun store and let her select her own. Sure enough, she couldn't pull back the slide on the recommended favorite. This program is designed to let women handle a number of firearms and shoot them to find the one that fits them. And we'll focus on form and function--they need only hit paper at 5-10 yards

Clear, consistent range commands. "Up!" Can sound like "Stop!" In a noisy shooting session.
"Go" can sound like "No"
Ladies usually appreciate an explanation of how to safely handle "hot brass + wardrobe malfunction" before it happens, which, if you are in a line, it probably will.

My two cents. Quantsuff offers really good advice here. Recently my wife and I have been taking training classes with a local trainer. He's been awesome and Nannette has really enjoyed the training. One of the big focuses in our training was selecting a suitable handgun for my wife. In this matter I think that choice of handgun is very personalized depending especially on hand size, grip strength for slide racking, recoil sensitivity, and other factors. In addition, a lot of folks find that some particular guns point and align much more naturally for themselves than other guns. What's good for the gander is definitely not necessarily good for the goose.

So I bowed out of this process for the most part, encouraging her to work with our trainer and also ask the LGS staff their own opinions on what would work for her skill level and particular hands/grip. In the end she rolled with a Walther PPQ M1 (she really likes the paddle release) and also a Walther PPS Gen 2. She's a happy clam with these pistols.

So having a good selection of rental handguns, particularly striker guns with interchangeable back straps, is a great idea. A stable of different 9mm striker pistols with some 22 pistols thrown in for good measure is a great idea. I always start new shooters into 9 mm first. If they are intimidated or have trouble with flinch, then I resort to dummy rounds interspersed in the magazine and/or 22 rimfire pistols to work through that.

Many training schools offer a specific handgun selection course just for this purpose. Something to think about.

I also cringe when I see guys recommend snubbie revolvers to new shooters, women or not. Great for carry, not so great for practicing with. Heavy recoil on these guns is a quick discouragement to sufficient practice for a new or novice shooter. I love shooting revolvers but practicing with 38 +P loads in my 642 is a chore compared to working with my PC627 or a nice 686. Leave the j-frame revos for more advanced shooters once they've already got a good grip on shooting fundamentals.

So . . . it looks like someone is taking over for Amy:
https://www.cascadeshootingfacilities.o ... gun-class/

"(NOTE: THIS COURSE IS TAUGHT BY NEW INSTRUCTORS AS OF APRIL, 2018)"

Rutilate, are you the "new instructors"? If not, doesn't anyone have any intel?

Good eye!
That is me (us). Our two female instructors both have degrees in psychology and will be bringing that into the course. The first course filled up with 11 people on the waitlist in 24 hours. The club site has been updated with two new dates but we've not yet promoted them.

Anyone know where we can find good prices on used Ruger 22/45s?

Woohoo! Congratulations!

It has been a wild ride in a very short period of time! Lots of learning about wordpress sites and facebook advertising.

We're really, really looking forward to it.

We need to find a couple more Ruger 22/45 for the firing line and a Ruger gp100 or single six or a Model 10 to round out the collection.
And probably another very female-friendly person to act as RSO this first time (i.e. leering old men need not apply! :-).