By Patrick Ross
Photos by Karen Moore

How many 23-year-old women in Southern California can proudly talk about being the fourth generation of gun-savvy women in their family? In addition, how many can work two jobs, take college accounting courses, ride dirt bikes, and still find time to practice shooting handguns, shotguns, and rifles? Eileen Wilson, for one.

Wilson is an NRA Certified Range Safety Officers (RSO) at The Firing Line in Huntington Beach. The Firing Line is a modern indoor shooting range and one of Orange County's oldest indoor ranges. While visiting The Firing Line, we noticed Wilson's friendly, professional manner with customers, and her easy bantering with her older male co-workers. The range was very busy that day with many first-timers coming in to shoot. Wilson handled the counter with an effortless efficiency that is rare in this day and age.

We caught up with Wilson in The Firing Line's comfortable lounge for an interview. The first thing we noticed was that she was sporting some serious-looking scrapes on her arms. In her spare time, she likes to ride mountain bikes and she had taken a spill that day, but she brushed off the injuries as minor.

Wilson grew up in a large Irish family in Orange County. She is the youngest of four sisters and two brothers. When we asked her how she became interested in guns, she credited an interesting family history.

Family legend has it that her great-grandmother Goldie lived in Missouri and carried her gun in a thigh holster. When an intruder broke into Goldie's house she had to shoot, but "she only winged him" according to Wilson.

Wilson's grandmother owned a pellet gun. During the 1992 Los Angeles riots, Wilson's mother, "threw her own handgun into her car and drove to Grandmother's house trying to convince her to leave her house, which was located in the middle of the riot area. Grandmother was stubborn and stayed, using the pellet gun for security."

Wilson's mother, who passed away when Eileen was twelve, was also interested in shooting. She owned pistols, rifles, and shotguns. Her mother and father would shoot trap together, and her father and brothers participated in Civil War reenactments. Once her mother bought her father a John Wayne Winchester lever action 30/30 for an anniversary present. Just recently, Wilson found out that her mother even shot at The Firing Line years ago.

As a child, Wilson had BB guns and when she showed interest in her father's guns, he taught her how they work and to respect them. She took up shooting again when she was 19 and became a regular customer at The Firing Line, shooting three or four times a week. "When I first started I became almost obsessed with it. I wanted to get good." She still recalls the "long wait" until she turned 21 so that she could buy her first handgun, a Kimber Pro Carry 1911. When she found out that The Firing Line needed another employee she applied. Since everyone already knew her, it was a natural fit.

As a Range Safety Officer at The Firing Line, Wilson sees her prime duty as maintaining a safe shooting environment and enforcing the range rules. Her secondary responsibility is customer service and she is good at it, having previous experience with customer service in the retail business. One female shooter left the range and remarked that Wilson "was very helpful and made her feel comfortable."

When asked what rule she has to enforce the most, Wilson said "the double doors-customers have to make sure that the first door is shut before opening the second door to the line. That's our hearing protection here in the lobby. Then there are double-taps and rapid fire. This is an indoor range with limited space. When inexperienced shooters try rapid firing, the barrel tends to rise and they loose control of the gun. That's how we end up with holes in the ceiling. We have to make sure that they run the target out to at least 21 feet. Any closer and you can get sprayed with fragments if you hit the target hanger."

Eileen likes her customers at The Firing Line. "It's a small community of interesting people. Some people think gunowners are whackos that use guns irresponsibly, but they're not. Our customers are professional people, engineers, mechanics, law enforcement and machinists that are really fascinated with mechanics of guns. I enjoy the interaction with all these people."

When asked how she is accepted by the customers and the staff, Wilson said, "It's no problem, once in a while someone from the older generation might ask how I got this job but they are usually polite and not at all condescending. On rare occasions I might run into someone that doesn't want to follow the range rules and doesn't like being corrected, but I can deal with that okay. Since I've been here though, we've never had to kick anybody out or have anything really stupid happen."

"The guys here at The Firing Line are nice people that are fun to work with and they are all willing to teach me what they know. Since we rent out a wide variety of guns, I have learned how to take apart and clean many types of guns. I like to learn so I really appreciate this part of the job," Wilson said.

The regular customers also recognize that she is a crack shot. Steve, a frequent visitor at The Firing Line, told us that on a recent rifle outing to the desert (at an outdoor range), Wilson shot a _- inch group with five rounds from 100 yards.
When asked about female patronage at the range, Wilson noted that it has been increasing. "Just a couple of years ago, we mainly saw girls wearing heels and dresses on date nights. Now, there are serious female shooters and about 30% of our customers are women." Wilson said that she likes to see families that come in to shoot, mainly on Sundays.

When asked about the politics of gun ownership, Eileen said, "I understand politics are a very sensitive issue, but I do step in when someone says things about shooting that are just not true. But I don't get into heated arguments trying to change people's minds, which is all an argument is. When someone sees that they haven't changed someone else's mind, they think the other person doesn't understand, so they make the same arguments six times. I realize I am not going to change someone's opinions, so I usually hang back."

"A lot of people feel guns are horrible, especially here in California. It's almost funny. People get up in arms when they feel their right to watch sex on TV is going to be taken away. I say, 'now you know how it feels to have your rights taken away.' Gun control laws are way too restrictive here. Written tests, paperwork, practical tests, a ten-day waiting period. And discouraging people from owning guns won't stop crime.

"When people find out what I do they are usually nice about it. They say, 'you shoot? Oh, that's cool' or 'you work with real guns? Isn't that scary?' What is surprising is how when you mention shooting, you'll find people that say 'Hey I didn't know you shoot, so do I.'"

Wilson has cousins that live in England, where guns are highly restricted. When her cousins visited Southern California they knew nothing about guns, but were interested in her shooting hobby. She took them to the range for an introduction to target shooting and they "really liked it." She laughed as she described how one cousin asked if the bullet from the .45 caliber would make it all the way to the backstop.

Wilson prefers guns that look good and are functional. A Kimber Pro Carry 1911 .45 Stainless was her very first gun. She says that she has always liked the way the 1911s look and went with a Kimber because of their reputation. The Pro Carry has a full-size, aluminum frame, and a 4" barrel. She says it's a good carry gun.

For a target gun, Eileen uses a Kimber Team Match 1911 .45 Stainless. It's a full-size target gun with adjustable sights for accuracy.

Wilson's rifle is a Remington 700 PSS .308; she chose it because of its reputation for accuracy and durability. She considers the caliber versatile and says that it makes a great long range target rifle.

Her shotgun is a Remington 870 Marine Magnum 12-ga. It has an 18" barrel with a capacity of 6+1. She chose this one because it's shiny and it makes a good home defense gun.

When asked about long term goals, she said that she would like to continue going to college to study accounting. This would enable her to follow in her father's footsteps as a CPA. She is close to her family and appreciates the fact that they all live nearby and they support each other.

Although Wilson likes practicing with her Kimber 1911 full-size and 1911 compact she said her current interest is rifle shooting. After much coaxing were finally able to get her to admit that with her Remington 700 .308. she can shoot close groups at 100 yards. She also shoots out as far as 600 yards.

Eileen comes from a long line of women with guns and moxie. At 23, she has the background, talent, and drive to become anything she wants to be.