My brother, the cop, once tried to teach my sister how to shoot. We were all in our early 30s at the time. He explained sight picture, breath control, stances, etc. She closed her eyes and jerked every time she fired the gun. She couldn’t hit a thing at 25 yards (where he insisted she learn to aim).
I elbowed him out of the way, put a silhouette target on the holder, and ran it out to 7 yards. I handed her the gun and told her to imagine that it’s a rapist and he’s coming at YOU. Now, put him down. She put three rounds in center mass in about 2 seconds.
After that, she settled down and started shooting with a lot more confidence.
My wife was nicknamed “Deadeye” at her instruction class. I couldn’t be more proud.
Haha, proper motivation!
link from the article: Armed and Angry about Regulation: Women Gun Owners
http://truth-out.org/news/item/15314-armed-and-angry-about-regulation-women-gun-owners
// In fact, NBC News reports that 23 percent of US females presently own at least one firearm, up from 13 percent in 2005. The reason? According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a 51-year-old pro-gun organization headquartered just three miles from Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, while 24 percent of women use guns for hunting or sport, 80 percent say they purchased them to protect themselves, their homes and families from burglary, mugging, rape and other forms of assault. // end snip
Indeed, getting over the psychological reaction of the recoil is a difficult thing to get a lot of people to overcome.
Fixation and concentration of hitting the target is paramount, along with the absolute determination and conviction of controlling the weapon and not visa versa.
However, most cases of self defense occur within a short range, usually 10 feet or less. In fact, shooting anyone further than that is going to be hard to justify self defense, unless the perp pointing a gun at you.
My wife recently acquired a hand gun and every instructor at the range advises practice at 9 feet.