August 31, 2011

Hi There!

I'm glad you've decided to subscribe to the Cat's Meow. We sure have a lot to talk about today, so let's jump right into it.

Cornered Cat in Memphis

A few days ago, I enjoyed a conversation with my friend Tom Givens. Tom is the director at Rangemaster, an excellent shooting school located in Memphis, Tennessee. By the time we got off the phone, it was official: Cornered Cat is coming to Memphis! That's right ... I'll be teaching a two-day, women's only class at Rangemaster on February 18-19, 2012. To find out more, or to sign up for this exciting class, visit Rangemaster's website at www.rangemaster.com (and tell Tom and Lynn I said hi).

Gun Rights Policy Conference

Every year, the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) organizes a Gun Rights Policy Conference that allows gun owners to get together with like-minded others to discuss human rights as they relate to firearms ownership and use. This year, GRPC meets in Chicago, a city that was recently on the losing side of an important Supreme Court case shepherded through the court system by SAF. This will be the 26th Annual GRPC meeting, and the first one I've managed to attend. You can read more about the conference on the SAF website at www.saf.org. If you're interested in learning more about ways to protect and expand the basic human right of self-defense, I'd love to meet you there.

Two New Articles

I have two new articles this week, both about purses.

• Concealed Carry Purses
• Purse Snatching Is Violent

Be sure to check them out.

Speaking of Purses

According to Denny Hansen, editor at SWAT Magazine, an article I wrote for them will be running in the January issue. Check this out: it's an article about purse tactics, of all things! It cracks me up to think about telling those guys all about purse carry, but you know what? It's important. And every one of the (mostly male) readers of SWAT Magazine likely has a wife, or a daughter, or a mom, or a sister, or a female friend of some sort, who could use this information. So I'm glad it's going to be out there for them.

There's a little bit of backstory to the purse tactics article that you might appreciate. You know I've been playing with concealed carry purses for awhile now, sampling products from several different makers and comparing the features. A friend of mine asked, "Well, you told me that Brand A has a certain type of strap and Brand B uses this other strap, but which is better? And how do I know it really is?"

Now that's what I call a Darn Good Question!

So my friend got me started on a quest to figure out the best ways to use a holster purse. Is it better to carry the purse on your dominant shoulder or your non-dominant one? Are crossbody styles better than shoulder styles? What's the fastest way to get into a gun compartment? Should you plan to shoot through the purse if you need to? To figure out this stuff, I called a group of friends together -- all experienced shooters, several instructors -- and we spent a day experimenting with a pile of purses. We beat each other up (well, not really, but since half the group were martial artists, there was a bit of that going on). We timed the draw from several different purse types. We shot through a few purses and found out we weren't as good at that as we'd hoped to be. (Here's a hint: don't plan on shooting through the purse to defend your life!) We did modified Tueller drills and watched purse-snatching videos and talked about all kinds of things. And at the end of the day, we had a few answers and a whole lot of exciting new questions to explore.

But I also had enough material for an article, and that's what I wrote for SWAT Magazine. You'll want to read that article when you can... and also, keep an eye on the Cornered Cat because a lot of that material (and the fresh experiments it inspired) will be driving website posts for some time to come.

ProArms Podcast

If you enjoy learning more about firearms, and especially if you're looking for material you can listen to while exercising or during your morning commute, you might want to check out the ProArms Podcast. The "preditor" (producer and editor) of this well-respected podcast is my friend Gail Pepin, an excellent shooter who has won several state and regional competitions. ProArms Podcast has been on hiatus for a few months due to technical problems, but Gail recently conquered the software dragon and restarted the podcast.

I'm especially excited about the podcast right now because Gail and I got to talking about purses when she was here in Washington state to help her significant other, Mas Ayoob, teach MAG40 and MAG80 classes at FAS (www.firearmsacademy.com). As we talked, Gail realized she really wanted to share my information about concealed carry purses with her listeners, so we recorded an episode to talk about that and several other subjects. Not sure yet when "my" episode will air, but I'll keep you posted.

You can find the podcast website at www.proarmspodcast.com. Lots of great material has appeared on the ProArms Podcast over the past few years, so it's worth your time to look through the archives while you're there.

Concealed Carry Tip

If you carry your firearm in a purse, don't worry about keeping control of the purse after you draw. Throw it down or let it go! If you need to shoot, you'll shoot better and more safely without the purse swinging like a pendulum from your arm and pulling you off target.

Stay Safe,

This is what you'll get:

Updates — When a new article is posted or an old article is updated on Cornered Cat, you'll be the first to know.

News — There's a lot of interesting stuff going on in the world. My position gives me access to stories that otherwise get buried by the general tide of information. I weed the clutter out and share what's relevant to the concealed carry woman.

Announcements — Up-to-the-minute information about upcoming classes or seminars sponsored by Cornered Cat and her associates.

Training and Carry Tips — It's all about learning how to carry comfortably, how to shoot accurately, and how to defend yourself successfully. I've come across a lot of good ideas and I'd like to share them with you.

Recommendations and Reviews — I have been blessed with the opportunity to get my hands on a wide variety of products, and I'm looking forward to telling you about the best of these.

Questions — Sometimes, students ask great questions, with answers that really deserve a wider audience. Think of this as your chance to "listen in" on my classes and seminars!

This is what you WON'T get:

Spam — Your email address is private to me. I never share it with anyone else. Period. And I won't sign you up for a bunch of lists you didn't ask for.

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