TGO Sandy

Thank you. I hope to include some information on activities for your children in shooting/hunting/outdoors activities each month. I think it's very important to teach our children about responsible firearms ownership and include them in our hobbies in general. If you have any suggestions or activities that I might include in future months I'd love to hear them.

Thank you. I will send you a message about sponsorship opportunities.

Fellow TGO Members, How many of you have had personal damage or close friends/family that have had damage from the floods? I have started hearing so many stories of people who lost everything and had no flood insurance. If there is enough interest on the forum, I would like to volunteer to organize collection and distribution of funds and/or supplies that are given to help as many people in our community as possible. Based on the response to the Christmas donations thread it is clear that we have the ability to help people and I would like to see that happen in this time of need. The greatest motivator to give is personal stories so I'd like to share the story of the person that I would like to help:

Everyone who donated their time or money to this effort deserves a big thank you and I hope that it inspired some Christmas spirit in a difficult year. I was very proud to be able to assist in choosing how these funds were distributed among the nominated families. I was on the receiving end of an effort like this as a child and trust me your thoughts will never be forgotten by these families. It is amazing to see a child get the Christmas they did not think they would be able to have, but even more touching is helping parents who were fearful of being able to provide for their children. It would be truly amazing to see this grow over the years. Thank you again to all the members here who made this happen, especially Brooksjr. He spent a lot of his own time and efforts to see this happen and did a great job coordinating it all. Merry Christmas!

That really is the most important part of this purchase. My grandmother passed away after years of battling with breast cancer and my mother was diagnosed in her thirties. Luckily my mothers cancer was detected early enough to treat and she is alive and well today, but only because a caring doctor made her go get a mammogram because she had not had one in several years. Every pink ribbon you see is a reminder to make a yearly check-up and I am proud to be able to repeat that symbol anytime I am able.

Compare it to a glock! Don't insult Smith & Wesson like that I'll be happy to let her shoot it but it will only make her want it more.

We finally got my M&P JG edition. We've been looking at these since they were announced last year. It has a red fiber optic front site, pink interchangeable backstraps in small and medium sizes and a laser engraved breast cancer awareness ribbon. My mom is a multiple-cancer survivor so this is a pretty meaningful cause to me. Hopefully I'll get to shoot it soon.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of taking the Defensive Pistol Class with Todd and Dustin at CIS. This was the first time I had taken a class other than my handgun permit class and was anxious to learn more from these guys. My husband gave a great review of the class overall so I'll just add some thoughts from my perspective about the class. First off, any woman who has taken the time to go through the handgun permit class and carries a firearm or has a firearm in the house needs this class. I did take my permit class from CIS and it was great, but the State requirements limit the amount of additional information they can give in the amount of time provided. The HCP class does not begin to train on you on how to use your weapon to defend yourself. Range practice is good for improving accuracy and building confidence in handling your weapon but Todd and Dustin illustrate real life situations in which you would need to actually use those skills and show that in self defense situations there is no such thing as a scripted environment. Just think about your day to day activities and what you would do if you were attacked during them. Pushing groceries out to your car, picking your kids up from the mall, having dinner with friends; all of these circumstances have things you're going to have to address to protect yourself and your loved ones. With no further training beyond a HCP class you will not know how to handle it. Do not make the mistake of thinking that you are protected if you carry a gun. If you do not have the skills to get to and use your weapon effectively, you might as well leave it at home. The realities of defending yourself with a gun can be overwhelming but with the insight that Todd and Dustin provide in this class, I feel much more prepared to be able to defend myself and my family. Overall evaluation: The class is physically involved but not overly strenuous. Any woman that is normally active would be able to complete the class without too much difficulty. Todd and Dustin do an excellent job teaching and demonstrating the skills and how to perform them correctly. They do not yell, embarass or curse at you. Their only criticisms are constructive so that you and everyone else can learn from mistakes. And you will not be the only one who makes a mistake. Even my husband who has taken the class already made some mistakes. You will not be perfect after this class but you will be better. As far as the actual shooting, there are some things that women can do to overcome some of the drawbacks of being, well, a woman. Wrist Wraps. Grip strength will start to fade after a few hundred rounds and limp-wristing will start to cause malfunctions. I bought a wrist wrap support from Walgreens and it helped tremendously. ... Blisters from the friction itself could cause a problem. My wrist wrap had a partial glove that covered the palm of my right hand and I used silk medical tape to wrap the parts of my fingers that would be in contact with the grips and that kept my hands protected. Don't feel bad about mummy wrapping your fingers, several of the guys were asking to borrow my tape before the weekend was over. ... Don't forget your left hand. One thing I wish I had was a glove for my left hand with a non-slip grip. I knew the impact that my right hand would have, but I neglected to think about the fact that my left hand would be slamming magazines into the gun all day and then having to rack the slide. My palm is still sore with a bruise from doing that, but a good work glove like Mechanix would have solved that problem. ... Speed Loader. A speed loader is essential to reload magazines and is very easy to use. I have a hard time loading even one magazine to full capacity without one but I had no problem reloading all day with this. ... Good Shoes. Don't underestimate the importance of good shoes. The range is not flat and you will be moving. I had a pair of hiking boots that went over my ankles to give support and stability and that helped a lot. ... Belt and Holster. You want a holster that you can get the gun in and out of. Try it on. Typical OWB holders tend to angle the gun in towards your body because of the way our hips are built. Guys dont have this problem so you might need a different holster if your using your husbands gun like I did. You will probably be wearing more gear than you ever have before, so a good sturdy belt is essential. ... Appropriate firearm. Last, but possibly the most important, is to take your time and find a gun that works for you. Your husband's/boyfriend's/whoever's gun is probably not the best gun for you. Having a weapon that works well in your hands will drastically decrease some of the problems mentioned above. For this class however you will want a full size semi-automatic pistol. I personally carry a J-frame revolver, but that is not the appropriate gun for a high round count class like this. Even if it is not the gun that you will be carrying, the principles and skills you will learn in this class are invaluable and will translate to whatever you might choose to carry day to day. Women, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of training to use your gun to defend yourself. I could not believe it when Todd told me that I was the first woman to go through this class. Their ratio of men to women is about 50-50 in the HCP but none of them have gone the next step. This is not a manly combat tactical class that is only for guys who want to spend a weekend running around and shooting things. This is a real life class that will prepare you to use your gun to protect yourself and your family in real life situations. Every skill they teach is backed by an actual story of how it is used in real life situations. Even if you only have a gun in the dresser and do not carry it with you everyday, you must know how to use it or you might as well just throw it in the toolbox with all the other tools that you don't know how to use. A gun will not protect you. You must have the skills to use the tool or it will not work.

My grips are supposed to ship this week and the countdown on my carry permit has begun. Im so excited!

Hey now, it would not be hideous, but I agree I am trying to stick to accessories that could be swapped out easily if we did decide to sell it. Although, I think ill probably hang to it for a while

I got on this one late so Im going to answer like Guns&Dobes I just bought my first gun. A S&W 642 J-frame revolver My hobbies also include photography and being outdoors. I LOVE to travel. Anywhere I can get to. I love seeing new places. We are expecting our first baby in January. And will probably have at least one more sometime in the future I am an RN. And I also love funny movies. I have 2 Boston Terriers, Daisy and Ginger. Okay, thanks for indulging me, I dont get to play online very much. So my question, Do you prefer sunrise or sunset?

That was not my favorite shade of pink either but there are very few options and so far weve found none for that particular gun so Im not being very picky. It just wouldnt be me if it wasnt pink

My husband has the same gun with the black finish and ive shot his. I really like the rubber grips, it makes you feel like you have good control even though its a smaller gun. I cant wait to shoot mine. And yes, my first gun. I had already picked out a second one to play with at the range. Its the Julie Goloski M&P 9mm. Just waiting for Hero Gear to get one in stock. I also found a very nice stainless version of my husbands Wilson there on Saturday;)

I am planning on taking my permit class in June and right now I dont go anywhere except work, where I cant carry, without my husband so I probably wont carry much right now. However, were expecting our first child in January and then I will be spending a considerable amount of time without him and I intend to carry when he is not around. I want to be able to protect myself, our child and our home when I'm alone. I bought a gun that will be fairly easy to conceal but I will be adjusting my wardrobe to a more carry friendly style when Im alone. When Im with my husband and dont need to carry then I will wear my more fitted clothes. After all, hes the one that should be enjoying the view My safety is more important to me than looking good while Im buying diapers at Target.

So we went out to Hero Gear today and I got my first gun. This is what it looks like now but I'll take more pics when I get the pink grips Cant wait to shoot it next weekend at Owl Hollow!