Ladies putting guns before butter

Published 5:00 pm Wednesday, September 8, 2004

Elizabeth Wilson squeezed an eye shut, tightened her two-handed grip and let loose the first pistol round of her life.

“My heart was beating through my shirt,” she said as she stepped away from the pistol range at the Bainbridge Island Sportsmen’s Club.

While Wilson’s pistol of choice was a petite .25-caliber Raven, it packed enough wallop and noise that she was hesitant to squeeze off another round.

“I have a lot of respect for its power,” she said.

Wilson was one of 20 participants in a women’s pistol safety class last weekend, organized and hosted by the club.

Bainbridge Police Lt. Chris Jensen and other members spent the day teaching women how to load, fire and clean pistols following detailed safety procedures.

The class filled up quickly, with a number of women turned away for lack of space, said club official Bill Omaits.

“We’re very pleased with the turnout,” he said. “We’ve had several calls from women wanting us to announce another class.”

The class’ main goal is to promote gun safety, Omaits said.

“A lot of women have handguns for protection, but don’t know how to use them,” he said. “A large percentage of people are killed while cleaning guns. This is all about what to do with that gun. It’s for safety.”

Women fired all sizes and types of pistols, with the fist-sized Raven squawking under the roar of a nearby .44 Magnum revolver.

One man watched his wife handle the .44’s heavy kick with ease. A smile spread across his face as her bullet-riddled target was reeled in on a steel wire.

“That’s the gun Dirty Harry used, you know,” said the islander, who with his wife asked not to be identified. “Remember, the entry wounds are small. It’s the exit holes that are big.”

Some women came to the event in heels and tasseled earrings. Others, like Terry Zumwalt, came sporting ammo vests and fingerless gloves.

“You need to fire 3,000 rounds ‘til your brain gets used to it, ‘til it’s wired into you,” she said after blasting a target with a .38 Smith and Wesson.

Zumwaldt is a club member and has enjoyed shooting firearms for years. She stressed the need for gun owners to practice with their weapons and not simply store them away.

“In order to be 100 percent competent, you need to fire lots of rounds,” she said. “You shouldn’t just get a gun. You have to know how to use it. Otherwise, it can be taken and used against you. It’s very easy to take a gun from a woman who doesn’t know how to use it.”

Pat Adair, a silver-haired owner of 10 guns, wanted to brush up on her target skills. A former hunter and competition shooter, she also keeps guns for protection.

“I’m a member here, but I thought I might want to go to the ‘Annie Oakley’ class,” she said.

Katrina Knable said curiosity drew her to the women-only day at the range.

“It sounded like a fun and interesting thing to do on the island,” she said after sampling a smorgasbord of six-shooters and automatic pistols. She said a gun might be a handy safeguard against cougars on her frequent back-country trips.

“But safety is not my main concern,” she said. “I feel safe without it.”

Wilson said she took the class to broaden her understanding of a common, household weapon.

“This is for my own edification because there are so many guns in the world,” she said.

And there are plenty here at home, Omaits said. “Take a look around,” he said. “There are something like 200 bullet holes in road signs on the island.”

There are more than 3,400 licenses for concealed pistols in Kitsap County, according to Bill Forth of the firearms unit of the state Department of Licensing.

There are 465 concealed firearm license-holders on the island, according to Bainbridge Police records.

“The typical Bainbridge resident probably doesn’t think there’d be that many,” Officer Shane Hanson said. “They might ask, ‘why do they need a concealed weapon? It’s safe to walk down our streets at night.’”

But one participant said self-defense is important, even on a quiet island.

“It’s not perfectly safe here,” one woman said. “You have to learn to take care of yourself.”

Jensen said recent Winslow business break-ins could have taken a dangerous turn had an unarmed employee confronted the thieves.

“Look at the downtown burglaries,” he said. “If a young, unarmed woman walked into that situation, who knows what could have happened.”

While there are few criminal incidents involving firearms on the island, Jensen stressed accidents can happen with the many guns on the island.

“Finding guns in the woods is not uncommon,” he said. “The number one reason to find out about gun safety is because we are all around guns.”

The Sportsmen’s Club plans to host a womens-only trap shoot and a second handgun safety class in the coming months.

Call 842-6033 for more information.