W.A.R. Intro
Welcome to the world of shooting! My name is Lexi and I’m a USCCA-certified instructor at Accurate Range. Believe it or not, though I grew up around guns, it was largely considered a men’s sport, and being the only girl in my generation of siblings and cousins, that didn’t always include me. I didn’t start consistently shooting until September of 2021, so a little over a year ago. My father bought me my first gun for Christmas in 2020, a Smith & Wesson Shield EZ 9mm, and it wasn’t until the summer of 2021 when I shot it for the first time, that I realized I had no idea what to do with it. I was terrified to shoot it, had no idea how it worked, and needed help. My grandpa recognized this and started shooting with me once a week in his backyard so I could gain some confidence and knowledge about my gun. Once it got too cold to shoot in the woods, we started coming to Accurate Range.
Coming into the range for the first time was something I’ll never forget. I had gained confidence in my shooting and was a lot more comfortable with my gun, but shooting indoors is so different from shooting in the peaceful woods behind my grandparents’ house. It was nerve-wracking, but we stuck with it, as shooting had become a stress reliever for me, and I had the day off from work on Fridays (Which is ladies’ day, come get $5 off your lane!). After a few visits, I gained more confidence in myself, and even though my grip was wrong and I had almost no knowledge about firearms, aside from my own, I was “recruited” off of the range by Tyrel. A few interviews later, I quit my job where I was working with juvenile delinquents to come work at Accurate Range as an instructor specifically for women shooters. My goal here is to ensure that any women who don’t have a grandfather like mine have an instructor that they’re comfortable starting with and have somewhere they can go to consistently practice and gain confidence in their skill set as I did.
Every one of my coworkers has been so helpful and kind in sharing their expertise with me. In the 6 months I’ve worked here I’ve learned so much more than I even thought was possible in such a short period because I had each of their experiences to learn from. Then, when a woman asked me for good online resources to learn more or to go to for advice, I realized that while there are a lot of resources for women, sorting through them all to get honest advice is next to impossible, and thus the idea for our blog was born. Here, you can ask any questions you might have and I will be more than happy to answer them with the help of my wealth of resources. One of the resources I lean on a lot in these articles is USCCA’s “Concealed Carry and Home Defense Fundamentals” by Mike Martin, which you can purchase at both Accurate Range and Accurate Firearms. I’ll also be posting gun reviews, holster reviews, tips and tricks, and articles all tailored to our readers and customers. So, what would you like to learn first?
