As I write this, I’m on my way home from a month of travels that began in northern Virginia and ended up at the Gun Rights Policy Conference in Orlando, Florida. Want to see some highlights?

In early September, I taught a two-day Cornered Cat defensive handgun class in Culpeper, VA. This was a co-ed class full of awesome people and organized by A Girl and Her Gun through FPF Training. One reason I enjoy teaching co-ed classes is that the men and women who end up in these things are universally nice people, and this class was no exception. Day One ended with a bang… well, actually with several bangs, all caused by lightning, and we decided to call it a day a little early rather than risk an electrifying experience for any of the students. Day Two dawned bright and clear, and we quickly worked through the remainder of the program that included more advanced skills such as shooting on the move.

The following weekend found me in Richmond, VA. The weekend started on Friday night in the classroom with the Holster Show (“Come see the secrets of concealed carry for women!”). I love doing the holster presentation. One comment I consistently hear is, “I thought I  knew about concealed carry, but I never realized how many different ways to carry there really are. I thought it would be impossible for me to carry, but now I know how I can do it!” Hearing comments like that really makes my day—and makes it worthwhile to lug those 50 pounds of holsters through security checkpoints at the airport.

Saturday in Richmond, I taught a one-day handgun class for women only. The students worked really hard, and we all struggled a little with the heat and humidity. Mercifully, our class organizer—Mike Leach of On Target Virginia—provided ice water, seating, and lots of shade at the back of the range, so we were able to keep our energy up. We ended the day with the concentration / speed up drill, which I’ve always found both challenging and rewarding because students are able to see how much progress they’ve made during the class.

Sunday in Richmond was a blast! Mike and his On Target Virginia instructor crew wanted to know a few of my secrets about teaching women to shoot. We went over ideas such as how to teach someone to rack a slide “the easy way,” and how to cheat with locking the slide open when a student can’t quite reach the proper controls. We also discussed helping students find appropriate equipment in the first place, which (of course!) would include a firearm that allows you to reach the slide lock lever. Lots more in this class, some of which will probably show up in future posts and articles.

On Monday, we said good bye to Virginia and tooled on down the coast toward the GRPC in Orlando—down North Carolina’s Outer Banks, past Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, through Savannah in Georgia, and finally turning inland somewhere around Ormond Beach in Florida. I was so thankful to get to see these places from a car rather than from an airplane window!

I’ll do a separate post about the GRPC later, since this one’s already getting too long.