Our Authors
Some of our articles were written by specific members of our group. Here is some information about them.
Jeanne
As I reminisce about my childhood and guns, there were only two times that I actually saw one with my own innocent eyes. In reality, the only time I saw guns was on Sunday evening at 6:30 pm watching the Roy Rogers TV show. My first time seeing a real gun was in the late 1940’s, or early 1950’s. My older sister, who was 6 years older than me, was walking home from school one day on the rocky dirt road we lived on in the Mojave Desert when she came across a rifle laying in the road. For some unknown reason she did not pick it up and carry it, she dragged it all the way home, bouncing it on the dusty rocky road. That gun must have looked like it had been in the trenches of WW2 by the time she got home. The owner and the beat up gun were reunited in short order. The second incident was again back in the same time period. A wildcat got in our chicken coop and made a disaster of our chickens. The feline got trapped under the chicken coop and was contained until mom drove lickety-split down the dusty rocky road to get a man who owned a rifle. I saw that gun very briefly and heard how very loud it sounded.
Now, race forward to 2014—the year Mags Indoor Shooting opened in Moriarty, NM. I was very excited to read in the local newspaper that an indoor shooting range would be opening not far from my home. I bought my first yearly membership before they opened. The same day I bought the membership, the range master, Jodi, gave me a tour of the building. I was very impressed. Later, I would take my first lessons on using a firearm safely from Jodi. About 9 months later, WSC was formed. We officially began taking memberships in March 2015.
I learned to love shooting and wanted to do more than hit paper targets because there was no incentive to improve. There were two other WSC members who felt as I did. We knew that there had to be more we could do to improve our shooting skills. We became familiar with an NRA program called The Winchester/NRA Marksmanship Qualification Program. We ordered the books from the NRA. After receiving the books that had many different shooting exercises, we chose to begin with the first chapter: Pistol Qualification.
The preface to this course states, “The NRA Basic Pistol Qualification Course provides the perfect self-paced shooting activity to help develop your skills...” Each step is built upon prior steps you have mastered. You can complete each step as many times as necessary to accomplish the requirements. I found it really fun to participate with my friends as we supported and helped each other to accomplish each goal. They were in my cheering section as I was in theirs. It was exciting as we completed each goal as it grew a little more difficult from step to step. I could feel my confidence grow as we met each Wednesday morning at Mags to continue the course. Before very many weeks went by, we had completed the entire course. Up to the date of this writing, we are the only three from WSC who have ever completed it. We would sure like to see all of your names added to ours and for you to earn the recognition that we received from the NRA. Grab some of your friends and work together as we did. You will enjoy getting together with your friends, and you will be very excited and proud when you have completed the course. ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE!
Dr. Lisa
Dr. Lisa has been an NRA Certified Firearms Instructor and Refuse To Be A Victim Instructor for over 25 years, as well as an NRA certified Chief Range Safety Officer and Regional Training Counselor for Refuse To Be A Victim. She is certified by the New Mexico Department of Public Safety to teach Concealed Carry Weapons Classes and is certified by DTI International/Gun Tote’n Mamas as an Off Body Draw Instructor. Dr. Lisa serves on the board of the DOES (Discovering the Outdoors and Experiencing Sportsmanship) committee, under the Mule Deer Foundation and is a Hunter Education instructor with New Mexico Game and Fish.
Dr. Lisa was the Faculty Adviser of the Central New Mexico Community College Shooting Club for over 17 years, until her retirement from CNM. She is founder of the Lethal Ladies Gun Club and a founding member and Past President of the Women’s Shooting Connection Gun Club. Dr. Lisa has shot competitively in Small Bore Silhouette shooting and has participated in Rim Fire competitions.
Dr. Lisa has been shooting firearms and archery since her participation in the Hunters Safety Course of Michigan when she was 12 years old. She has also been active in Junior Olympic Archery Development (JOAD) when she was a teen, participating in archery leagues, 3-D shoots and the Society of Creative Anachronism (SCA), shooting recurve bows.
Dr. Lisa has been featured on WOMEN OF THE NRA website, and was selected along with 11 other NRA female Instructors from around the country to participate in an NRA focus group to come up with ideas to get women interested in the shooting sports. She was selected by the New Mexico Department of Public Safety to participate in a focus group consisting of the top 12 Concealed Carry Weapon instructors from around New Mexico to help shape state policy for instructors.
Dr. Lisa teaches nationally for Shoot Like A Girl, locally for Mags Indoor Shooting, as well as instructing private clients in introduction to pistol, basic pistol, pre-concealed carry, concealed carry, and off body drawing techniques.