Who wrote this stuff?

About the Author

My name is Kathy Jackson. I'm a freelance writer with an avid interest in self-protection, self-defense, and the outdoors. Happily married for more than 20 years, my husband and I have five children -- all boys. Our youngest is 12, our oldest is 18, and our grocery bills are out of sight. We live in Washington state.

Formerly a contributing editor for Women and Guns magazine, these days when I write for traditional publication it's usually for Concealed Carry magazine where I am the managing editor. I love writing for this website because I've found a lot of freedom in writing for the larger audience on the web, and feel a lot less constrained in what I can say about products I've personally handled when I'm the only one who'll take the heat if I get it wrong.

On the weekends, you'll often find me on the range at the Firearms Academy of Seattle (FAS), working as an assistant instructor. The owners of FAS, Marty and Gila Hayes, have become good friends to me over the years. As much as I value their friendship, I value the things they've taught me and the world they've opened up to me as mentors and instructors.

Since I became serious about handguns nearly a decade ago, I've taken self-defense classes from Marty and Gila Hayes, Jim Cirillo, Massad Ayoob, Marc MacYoung, Tony Blauer, and from several other excellent, but less-well known personal safety instructors.

Because I started taking classes very soon after I began shooting, I was privileged to have other women's shoulders to cry on as I figured out what would work for me and what wouldn't. Although the group wasn't there when I first began shooting, what's maybe contributed most to my growth as a shooter has been the chance to work with a really great group of women at the Firearms Academy of Seattle in their Women's Study Group (open only to women who've taken at least one class from FAS). I've been spoiled by the opportunity to compare notes, help and be helped by other women as we all learn to shoot better, listen to sob stories and triumphs, and just watch as other women worked through a lot of the same questions I'd faced early on. It's been a rare privilege to have that kind of a support network in place and I kind of feel sorry for the majority of new shooters who simply don't have access to something like it.

Except where otherwise noted, all articles and images on this web site © 2006-2009 by Kathy Jackson. For permission to quote, please contact author.

Disclaimer: The author of this site assumes that you are an adult human being capable of making your own choices and taking responsibility for same. If you are not an adult, or are not capable of taking responsibility for your own choices, STOP. Do not read anything else on this site. The author has made a reasonable, good-faith effort to assure that the articles herein are accurate and contain good advice, but hereby advises the reader that the author is a normal human being who makes the normal number of human mistakes. Deal with it. If it sounds stupid to you, don't do it. The author accepts absolutely no responsibility whatsoever for anything you might say or do as a result of reading any material on this site. Live your own life.