Firearm Safety And Awareness for Women

ALL RIGHT, SO A LITTLE TRIVIA QUESTION FOR YOU TO PONDER THIS MORNING. WHEN DOES LEARNING TO PROTECT YOURSELF, YOUR HOME, AND YOUR LOVED ONES MEET ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING SPORTS IN AMERICA? THAT WAS A LONG PAUSE, SO I DON'T THINK YOU MAY KNOW. SO I'M HERE TO TELL YA THIS MORNING. MOST OFTEN, IT'S ON THE U.S. GUN RANGE. YES, A U.S. GUN RANGE. AND WOMEN ARE ITS FASTEST GROWING, MOST ENTHUSIASTIC SUPPORTERS. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT FIREARMS, AND REALLY WHAT WE'RE GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT HERE THIS MORNING IS LEARNING HOW TO SAFELY HANDLE, USE, AND CHOOSE THE MOST APPROPRIATE FIREARM FOR YOU, AND HERE'S A YOUNG LADY WHO IS SO PASSIONATE ABOUT ALL ABOUT IT. WE'RE SO HAPPY TO HAVE HERE WITH US, ONCE AGAIN, DAWN WEHUNT FROM SPRINGFIELD ARMORY. HEY DAWN. HI, DANIELLE. GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN. AND YOU. YOU KNOW, WHY DO YOU THINK SO MANY WOMEN ARE EMBRACING THE SPORT OF TARGET PRACTICE AND FIREARMS? WITHIN THE LAST TEN YEARS, IT'S REALLY BECOME MORE SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE. SURE! SO THERE'RE A LOT MORE LADIES GOING OUT. THEY'RE HAVING LADIES NIGHT AT THE LOCAL RANGE, GETTIN' WITH THEIR GIRLFRIENDS. (SINGING) LADIES' NIGHT... YEAH! OKAY! SO IT'S BECOME COOL TO HAVE A FIREARM AND COOL TO LEARN HOW TO USE IT. RIGHT. OKAY, SO WHAT AGE GROUP WOULD YOU SAY MOST TAKING UP THE SPORT? ARE WE TALKING SINGLE, MARRIED, 20s, 30s...? IT'S ACCEPTABLE ACROSS THE BOARD, AND I'VE TALKED TO--. ACROSS THE BOARD! YEAH. I'VE TALKED TO YOUNG LADIES THAT ARE IN THEIR LATE TEENS, EARLY 20s, TO LADIES THAT ARE IN THEIR 60s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springfieldarmory.com. THAT'S springfieldarmory.com. ALL RIGHT, AND BALANCING ACT FANS, WE WANT YOU TO SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS AND YOUR FEEDBACK WITH US, SO GO TO OUR WEBSITE, thebalancingact.com. YOU CAN ALSO FIND US ON FACEBOOK AT BALANCINGACTFANS AND TWITTER @BALANCINGACTTV.