What motivates a woman to carry a loaded gun?
Fourteen women from all over the U.S. were asked why they enrolled
in Lethal Force Institute's LFI-I, taught by Massad Ayoob, instructor,
shooting champion, policeman, author and expert witness extraordinaire.
The women had gathered for a forty-hour training program in the
legal, moral, ethical and practical parameters of the use of lethal
force and deadly weapons by private citizens in self defense.
Kate Alexander's Tugs'N'Thugs program provided the women with
an additional ten hours of anti-assault street defense techniques.
The answers given to that question on the first day of the five-day
class were as different as the women themselves, which included
an artist, a mayor, an attorney, a homemaker and a livestock farmer.
All of the women in the class had permits to carry a concealed
weapon. Several of the women had some experience with firearms.
For others, this was the first time they had ever handled a gun.
"Actually," said one middle-aged woman, "I'm here
only because my husband has been
pressuring me to carry a gun for my own safety. I have to admit,
I am afraid of it and all that it represents. I recognize the
need to protect myself in today's crime-ridden world, yet I find
the reality of it all extremely scary."
"I agree intellectually (about self defense) but deep down
feel incompetent," said a woman approaching her sixty-sixth
birthday. "As angry as I can get, as much as I can do - -
will it be enough? I have the fear of the old."
"Until now, target shooting was a hobby I enjoyed with my
husband," said a doctor who collects firearms. "Then
I started having babies, and it seemed my whole perspective changed.
My protective instinct just took over."
"Now that I have my permit, I find myself reluctant to carry
my gun. It's not that I couldn't use it if I had to - - but I
am afraid of the repercussions of a judicial system that has gone
haywire."
"My father has been into guns ever since I can remember,"
said a recent college graduate. "Personally, I don't know
what all the excitement is about, but he's afraid of his precious
little girl going out into the big, bad world and insisted I carry
a gun with me. He signed me up for the course so that I can use
it competently and safely."
"I'm here because I want the best, and Massad Ayoob's LFI
course is the best there is. I want it because I'm important,
I deserve it, and I want what's best for me," said another.
(no identity crisis problems here!)
Massad Ayoob encouraged the women to get to know one another during
class breaks and to socialize after class hours. The women bantered
politely to one another but stuck to safe topics such as the weather
or where they were from.
Meanwhile, the intense and grueling pace of LFI-I gained momentum.
Through the use of videos, psychodrama, lectures and practical
shooting, the course literally bombarded the students, frantically
taking notes, with information.
LFI-I is not only about learning to shoot a gun safely, but also,
responsibly. When is the use of deadly force justified? What components
must be evident before pulling the trigger? Does one shoot to
kill, or to wound? (Neither - - one shoots to stop.) What are
the advantages and disadvantages women have over men in practical
and legal issues of self defense with a handgun? Philosophical
issues soon gave way to pragmatism. How should one react to responding
officers if one has used a handgun in self-defense? What physical
and psychological symptoms can one expect as a result of post-shooting
trauma? At what part of the assailant's body should one aim the
gun? What type of ammunition should one use? Which guns best fit
a woman's smaller hand size? What are suggested ways to carry
a concealed weapon comfortably? (Holsters designed for a man's
body shape rarely fit women properly.) How does one keep a gun
safely in a house with small children? How does one go to the
bathroom in a public restroom while carrying a concealed weapon?
(Carefully!)
This is only a small sampling of some of the issues covered. There
was barely time to eat lunch (usually a sandwich nibbled from
one hand, while the other hand furiously scribbled notes). The
end of the day was reserved for Kate Alexander's Tugs'N'Thugs
program of self defense for women.
After teaching the women some basic aggressive physical techniques
of assault resistance, Kate brought in her "thugs."
These men were truly scary looking.
They wore denim overalls over their heavily padded bodies, and
wore protective headgear which included threatening-looking facial
masks. In the first exercise, women were told to stand on a mat,
and the two "thugs" would approach her from behind in
an attempt to assault her. The "victim" was to use her
newfound techniques of resistance to thwart the "thugs'"
evil intentions. Interestingly, the identities of these masked
thugs were not made known to the class. The anonymity and depersonalization
was essential, Kate said, to maintain objectivity.
If one saw a face, and knew that in real life these were good
guys just playing a role, one might not get as optimally involved
in the drills. Kate purposely did not want to take the edge off.
"I want to desensitize you, not humanize them," she
stated. Also, there was the small chance that the "thug"
might resemble a loved one at home, making it difficult to carry
out a counterassault with conviction.
The high level of tension, fear, and loathing in the room was
clearly tangible. Several women became visibly upset; a few were
reduced to tears. In the discussion that followed the exercise,
the women were invited to share their feelings. A palpable change
overcame these fourteen women, who previously had been polite
strangers. About half the women in the room revealed that they
had been victims of rape and/or wife battering. Kate Alexander
chided them. They were not victims, she said, but survivors.
"There is a fine line between aggression and defense. I'm
a survivor and I still have to learn control."
"The problem is that the mask has a face," said a woman
who had been raped thirty-one years ago. "When I faced (the
thugs), it was as though Evil was in the room. I hyperventilated.
But towards the end, I came to the conclusion that I can do something
and don't have to be a victim."
"It brought something back that I thought was settled in
the past," said another. "I came to the present, couldn't
deal with it, so I went back to the past, took control, and beat
the bastard up!"
"Even yesterday, knowing (the thugs) were going to be here,
I got flashbacks and got
emotional," said a woman who had been assaulted more than
a decade ago. "The first time they "attacked" was
scary; the second time was a bit better. I knew that if I could
get myself pissed, I could take care of myself."
"I hate it," said a successful professional. "I
don't know why I'm doing this to myself. But every day I put myself
in situations where this (self-defense class) makes sense."
Said one survivor of a rape, "Every time we did the exercise,
I hated it. Every time I meet someone who went through what I
did, I go through (the experience of the rape) again. But it also
makes me more determined not to have anyone else go through it.
And by learning these techniques, I can help change the ending."
"I've taught martial arts to women for years," said
a high-ranking martial artist taking the class, "and usually
women are really inhibited about verbalizing and yelling aggressively.
How on earth did you get fourteen women to ki'ai (the controlled
power release scream used in martial arts) on the very first try?"
The women parted that night with hugs, tears, and feelings of
growing empowerment. The next day, Kate Alexander arrived early
to describe the electric moments of the previous evening.
"Mas," she said to Ayoob, "you simply wouldn't
have believed it. The whole session was just simply amazing. Women
were able to release skeletons that had haunted them for years.
The polite but aloof ladies you said goodbye to yesterday afternoon
are not going to be the same ladies that you see this morning.
They really bonded! Why don't you ask them how it went?"
Kate urged enthusiastically.
Indeed, the women of Day Three of LFI-I were different. They sat
closer together, shared cookies and jokes. Massad Ayoob began
the class promptly at nine.
"So, ladies, I understand from Kate Alexander that last night's
Tugs'N'Thugs session was extremely productive. Would any of you
like to share your thoughts?"
Silence.
"Uh, hmm, I see. So tell me, how did you like it?" he
nudged.
Finally a woman spoke up. "Okay," she said simply.
"Okay?" Mas Ayoob asked cautiously, having heard such
an enthusiastic recounting from Kate Alexander.
"Yeah, it was nice," said another woman rather curtly.
"Sorry, Mas," a woman spoke up from the back. "It's
not that we don't want to tell you about it, but you know - -
it's a gal thing!"
With that, the entire female audience broke into raucous laughter,
leaving Mas Ayoob to (as he jokingly put it) "get in touch
with his feminine side."
The moment was shortlived, however, as Ayoob the Tyrant continued
to bombard the women's brains with more facts, case histories,
and range time.
Safety was the number-one priority on the range. Once indoctrinated
as to safety techniques, and under the very watchful eyes and
personal attention of the (female) range officers, the women learned
to shoot their personal firearms under varying adverse conditions:
shooting one-handed with both weak and strong hands; shooting
from crouched, kneeling, and semi-kneeling positions; shooting
using three different shooting techniques (Isocoles, Weaver, and
Chapman stances); shooting from a distance of two to fifteen yards;
and shooting and reloading three magazines under various time
constraints, within a certain range of accuracy.
Though the women were of disparate shooting experience and skill,
every single woman
managed to qualify on her very first try on her shooting competency
test, which measures safety, speed, and accuracy using the newly-learned
skills listed above.
Day Four brought a renewal of tense emotion as the Thugs came
back, this time to the shooting range, where the ladies took individual
turns behind the shooting line. The thugs stood behind the shooter
who was wearing electronic hearing protection and therefore able
to pick up even the softest sounds. Goading each woman with obscenities
and horrific suggestions of rape, murder and mayhem, it was up
to the ladies to fire at a paper silhouette target in front of
her only at the moment when legally appropriate to do so. Many
of the women were fairly traumatized by this exercise until their
adrenalin was fully activated. Then, amazingly, these
women showed just how well they could handle a gun - - and themselves
- - under adverse conditions. One woman, who had been only a fair
shooter until now, shot bullseyes with repetitive shots that were
so rapid it sounded like fully automatic gunfire.
The sixty-five year old class "senior" who had earlier
admitted to having "the fear of the old" became not
only a proficient shooter, but so verbally aggressive and assertive
during this exercise that she got a standing ovation by the entire
class upon completion. This was one tough lady; one would think
twice before messing with her!
Just as Kate Alexander empowered the women with increased self
esteem and physical prowess, Massad Ayoob handled the class with
aplomb. Alternately stern, dramatic and sensitive one moment,
funny and poignant the next, he was able to demand the utmost
from his students, all the while enriching them with his wisdom,
expertise, and years of life experience. The class was an overwhelming
success, and as the women exchanged addresses on their fifth and
final day of class, several vowed to meet again, at LFI-II.
As one woman wrote in her class evaluation, "Lethal Force
Institute, LFI, is something of a misnomer. 'LFI' should stand
for "Life Force Initiative!"
Lethal Force Institute, under the direction of Massad Ayoob, gives
self-defense training courses throughout the country several times
a year. Applicants must undergo a rigorous screening process.
If you have any questions regarding this article, you can contact
the author. e-mail Galia Berry
Read an interview with one of the LFI "thugs."
Copyright © 1995 - Galia Berry, All Rights Reserved, Reprinted
with permission
For more information, contact:
Lethal Force Institute
P.O. Box 122
Concord, NH 03301
Kate Alexander
Tugs 'n' Thugs Defensive Training
P.O. Box 924
Concord, New Hampshire 03302-0924
603-226-3857
FAX 603-226-6683