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RoyGBiv wrote:I've given several "anti's" their first shooting lesson. One in particular was very afraid of even touching a gun. I started slow, with a gun in parts. Put it together in front of her. No cartridges anywhere in the room. Then let her hold it, rack the slide, dry fire. Once she had some comfort that the thing would not fire unless you loaded it and pulled the trigger, I took her out to shoot a smaller gun (.22).

In the end, she became a decent shooter and enjoyed shooting enough to join us occasionally. She eventually married a friend of mine who was also a shooting buddy.

So..... I think the secret is to convince folks who are afraid to just sit and watch for a while... No need to touch or shoot anything. Just let them watch you handle the weapon properly while you explain things.... One on one... And let them ask questions... The rest will come.

This.

It is amazing how many people, particularly women, who haven't yet arrived at the "I've got to be animal mean to survive" realization yet, but they just want to get over their fear of guns because they have come to the realization that they may someday need to know now to use one. And they arrive at that conclusion on their own, without any help from an instructor.....which is why they seek out an instructor in the first place.

Demonstrating that a gun is unloaded and unable to fire before even letting them handle the gun is a good place to start. In yesterday's class, we used a video to help explain the mechanics of guns, and the "student" in the video is a woman who was afraid of guns before taking instruction. That was something that the two female students in yesterday's class could understand and relate to. Just letting them handle, load and unload dummy rounds, and dry-fire the guns of different types went a long way to dispelling the fear. By the time we headed for the range, they were nervous, but looking forward to actually trying it. They both did very well. The woman I was working with is a better natural shot than I am, so it was easy to encourage her to develop her skills. Long before it was over, she was well past her fears and having a really good time.

I helped with my first basic pistol class today courtesy of Crossfire-Training, since having recently taken the NRA Basic Handgun Instructor's course. The two women we worked with were both scared of guns, but wanted to overcome that fear and learn how to shoot. We had a very successful outcome. The one I was working with turned out to be one of the finest natural shots I've ever seen.

Lots and LOTS of positive reinforcement and gentle quiet corrections make for a happy gal with a gun. Both students left feeling pretty good about their ability to handle a gun safely, and pretty confident about their ability to shoot one reasonably well. They also left with a commitment to shoot recreationally as often as possible. You can't hope for any better than that.