Many of the people who’ve encountered me leading a hunt or teaching at Gunsite have wondered about how I got into shooting. I’ve heard variations of the question over the years, and I understand why – as a small Asian woman, I don’t fit in with an inaccurate and outdated, but lingering, stereotype.
To me, it all comes down to mindset, as with most things in life.
My mindset has been deeply shaped by my parents’ – and their parents’ – own battles, literally. My mother’s father was a general in China. He was part of Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalist army and fought both Mao Tse Tung’s communists and the Japanese, trying to save his homeland. He was fighting battles and wars, in one form or another, from 1918 to 1949. Even after being relegated to Taiwan, he never lost his love for his homeland, and I don’t think he ever gave up hope that it could be won back. I never knew him as anything but a warrior.
How does concealed-carry training differ for women?” As a firearms trainer at Gunsite Academy, when I was asked this question, the expected topics sprang to mind: Should we adapt our clothing to firearms, or is it the other way around? Should we choose handguns that are best suited for us smaller folk? Should we carry in a purse (on-body carry is always better, but there are times…)?
While people still snicker at Joe Biden’s famous “self-defense” advice (“Buy a shotgun! Buy a shotgun!… If there’s ever a problem, just walk out on the balcony and fire two blasts outside the house…”), I’m still disappointed by the widespread belief that the shotgun requires less skill at arms than other guns used for defense. And by people who should know better! It’s not just what people like Joe Biden have said—though he certainly did us no favors. Misinformation about all firearms continues daily, simply through osmosis—what people see on TV and in the movies, what they hear others say. But the myth seems to be the worst for shotguns.
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