Defensive Handgun Training for Women
Alisha KetterDescription
Alisha Ketter, a Defensive Firearms Coach at Reno Guns & Range, focuses primarily on women’s handgun training. Most of the women who come to RG&R for training come in after a critical incident. They have experienced something in their life that makes it useful for them to explore self-defense for women. Alisha’s role is to help women get the training they need.
Be Your Own First Responder
Like many of these women, Alisha had kept a gun under her bed but didn’t know how to use it. Then her home was robbed — twice. After the second robbery, the responding sheriff’s deputy told Alisha she needed to carry a gun, because he wasn’t going to be there until after the incident (whatever the incident was) and she needed to be her own first responder.
This advice changed Alisha’s life. She developed the mindset of being her own first responder. This led to her becoming a women’s handgun training instructor, as she developed a passion for helping women who were in the same position she had been in.
Taking the Responsibility Seriously
The first step is to get solid defensive firearms training. Alisha admits it was intimidating at first to go to a range, and to join firearms classes where she was the only woman and sometimes the only private citizen. But her commitment to her family’s safety and protection remained the most important consideration.
She encourages other women to do the same: get good handgun training and don’t let your commitment waver. No one is coming to save you: You’re it.
A Few Words for Men
Alisha encourages men not to train the ladies in their life because she has observed that it usually doesn’t work out well. But men can help a woman find competent women’s handgun training, and later you can practice together.
Hi, I'm Alisha from Reno Guns and Range. I'm an instructor here. And my primary focus is women. Most of the women who come in for training have come in sort of after a critical incident, they've either been victimized, traumatized experience something in their life that has made it a value for them to come get training. So that's my role here is to help them get that training. And mostly like those women I came from that same background. I owned guns. I had a gun under my bed, but I didn't know how to use it. And then my home was robbed twice. And on the second time talking to the Sheriff's deputy who came, he asked me if I carried a gun. I said, no. And he told me that I needed to, because he wasn't gonna be there until after the fact he was gonna be there to write up the report and clean up the mess. But I was my own first responder, that struck me and it struck me hard and it changed my whole life. That mindset of being my own first responder changed the course of my life and drove me into instruction because I developed a passion for women who were in that same position. Now, when I started out, I was terrified. I didn't know where to go get training. I didn't know who was competent in training and I didn't know where I wanted to go with it. So I saw good instruction. And honestly, like most women it's really scary to walk into a firearms class. Most of them are men in those classes but the reality is at the end of the day, you're responsible for your own safety and your own protection. So it doesn't matter who's in that class, I've been lines, firing lines with men who are highly trained operators. And I'm the only civilian, I'm the only female but I have a responsibility to myself and the ones that are in my charge, my children, my family, etc. And so I would implore other women to do the same thing, go out there and get training. When you're on the line, you have to own it. You have to run that gun. Like you mean it. That means you gotta wrap your own slide. You got to engage your own targets. You got to own that mentally for you because you're it, nobody's coming to save you. So ladies, if you're watching this, I would encourage you to find competent instruction in your area. Find an ICE trainer, find me online. I'll get you hooked up with somebody. Get competent training for you because somebody is waiting for you to come home tonight. And that's important. Men I would encourage you not to train the ladies in your life that doesn't usually work out well. But what you can do is support her in her journey. You can help her find instruction. Once she's trained, go on and train with her make it a partner thing. But for each of us, we're responsible for ourselves, our own protection, our own safety. You have to get good training and you have to own it.
I think the point of the video is to encourage women to adopt the mindset that they need to be prepared to defend themselves should the need arise and to seek out the training to develop the skills needed...I didn't see it as self promotion...
Little information - I don`t look for self-promotions when I watch videos.