here in the Women Shooters forum?

i like most/some of the stuff that's been posted, but somehow i don't think it's getting the job done in attracting/keeping the fairer sex at this site or increasing any interest in the shooting sports.

and forgive what follows for it might seem to be rooted in arrogance, but that is most assuredly not the case.  as moderator of this forum, i have some feelings of ownership:  like i don't want it to turn into GD (yikes!) and i definitely want it to be helpful and fun to the females interested in shooting in general and/or the AR15.com rifle in particular.

so i'd really like to know what i can do, as a moderator, to help things along and make this particular forum at least more enjoyable for you ladies.

more technical stuff?
more real-world applications of firearms for self-defense?
information on how to become more involved in the shooting sports in general?
information on how to support our 2nd amendment rights?

(i'd use the poll feature, but i couldn't find the button for it.  hmmmm.  did GB forget to make it applicable to Women Shooter's forum?????  well, consider that my first order of business.  [;)])

[blue]aha!  found the poll feature![/blue]

so how about it ladies  what would you like to see more of?

[email protected]

ARlady i think its great you post here i wish more ladies would join the shooting sports and this a great way to do it. i tought my little sister to shoot and she loves it, im working on my older sister now, shes not anti, just needs to "find the time", well keep up the good work.(just my two cents)

WooHoo!  a vote!  Floridians must be going nuts!

thanks to whomever voted.  would it be too much to identify yourself.  maybe if you have some specific ideas in mind too.

c'mon ladies.  i have a sneaky suspicion that the 38 readings (really 36 cuz i've had to open this twice) are from a majority of the boyz.  i know y'all don't come here everyday, (and i'm trying to change that), but let's get those ideas rolling in.

SKSboy, i forgot to add that if you think your sister would be interested, send her this way.  of course, we don't have a lot to offer (YET!) in the women's forum.  have her send me an email instead if that works.

i'd like to help out in whatever way i can!

I know I stop in here to see what the fairer sex is thinking. Actually a female friend will be back from Ga. soon, so we`re going to try to get together to do some pistol shooting to see how she likes it. I always try to encourage my female coworkers to give it a try. Unfortunately without too much success. Any helpful ideas would be a help.

Twas I who voted.... [:D]

My point being that I figure a lot of women here are new to shooting... explaining the technical aspects of shooting as well as suggesting excercises to improve accuracy may give new shooters something to work on.  

And I'm always looking to learn new stuff! [:D]

ARlady, I think it's great what you're trying to do here.  I feel a little guilty that I don't visit the women's forum very frequently.  I get most of my information from the other boards.  I realize that many of the female shooters don't feel very comfortable in those discussions, so we really do need to try to provide some useful information here.

There seems to be a lot of debate as to which handguns are best to carry for self defense.  Maybe some reviews and comparisons of guns from different manufacturers, different calibers would be helpful.  

Personally, I would appreciate any tips about improving accuracy, good deals on ammo, mags, etc.  I'm now starting to reload, so I'll be visiting the reloading forum a lot, but maybe some of the other ladies would like info on that here.  Just a few thoughts, and thanks again for your proactive approach.

ARLady, I don't know what you can do -- what this forum needs is: Women!  And they don't seem to be there.

Every time a post gets started, the responses are almost 90% male, and while males should certainly not be excluded here, it just doesn't end up feeling like a women's forum.  At least most of the guys who have posted here have been polite.

But it's hard to have a women's forum if women don't participate.  I've started a couple of threads just to be start threads...but it's not coming together.  

All you can do it start some threads yourself and try to put something up that will pull responses.  I wonder how many women find their way to AR15.com to begin with -- I never would have except for my husband's obsession with ARs, but I was intrigued with the women's forum idea even though I mainly shoot pistols.

This is funny...you're back to the age-old question, what do women want?

so true.  i'm hoping for the "if you build it, they will come" phenomenon.  if i get the information out there, maybe they'll come and get it.  right now the forum doesn't offer much for women.  the strong-willed ones can bash it out with the guys in the other forums.  but some of the more trepid females might not feel like that.  i'm trying to make it feel more available to post, be it questions, ideas, comments, whatever.

i'm trying anyway.

Just dropping a note to let you know i am here and i do check in on this forum ....I don't post a lot but i do read ...
I am pretty new to guns and do not know a whole lot so unfortunately i cant contribute much. I do enjoy reading and learning though.

I check this forum from time to time also, ARLady.
But sadly, many "women's gun forums" are either geared towards newbies, or become coffee and quilting bees.
Not that *this* one has gone this way, but others have.
I was most interested in how other females dealt with concealed carry, because many of us do dress differently than men.
Also, which guns we prefer, as our hands tend to be smaller.
I haven't seen anything on how women with small, very young children manage to keep loaded defense guns out of their reach, yet handy in case needed, as this is often asked of me when I teach my gun classes. But men wrestle with this same problem, so why would this be a "woman's issue"?
I have seen men come here to ask us how they should *dress*, for krissakes! How degrading! As though our armed women are only useful as sounding boards to help the guys look presentable... what the hell does our fashion sense have to do with our interest in guns? That's about the time I went back to the main board, almost exclusively. Heck, I am armed, I can hold my own. [8D]
I tend to not want seperate places for men and women on gun boards, because knowledge and opinions have little to do with gender, and seperate forums only reinforce sexist attitudes.
The most attractive thing about guns and shooting to women, I believe, is a sense of *empowerment*. We no longer have to rely on physical strength alone, or a strong man to defend ourselves or our children. This applies to Grannies, Moms, college girls.... ALL of us.

This is from Mrs. Delmarksman. Hi to everyone. My husband and I used to target shoot every weekend before we had our two daughters,(Shelby who is 6, and Tiffany who is 4).I think shooting tips would be a great idea.It has been about 6 months since my husband and I took his AR out shooting together, and it was only the second time I had the opportunity to go shooting with him since we had kids. My oldest daughter, Shelby has taken an interest in learning how to shoot, but the AR is a a little too difficult for her age. At this point she likes my husband's Ruger since it is easier for her to handle.  

Congrats on getting the little ones involved. That is just so great. Is that a 10/22 that little Shelby likes? I know a guy that custom makes a terrific youth stock for them. Keep up the good work.

One idea (uh, I'm not a lady but I've lived with many does that count?) that I've seen work elsewhere would require your assistance ARLady.

Perhaps novice shooters could post their questions to you directly and then you post them on the board or answer them directly on the board.

This way no one has to be leery of posting 'dumb' questions and the answers are put out where all can read and learn from them.

FWIW, you just gained a new member here. She should be writing as soon as she gets her password.

As for me, I am always willing to answer tech questions as I see it as a duty and an honor to get women into shooting.

Tweak, excellent idea!  In fact, I'll discuss with some of the other members about stopping in here (Women Shooters Forum) routinely for answering any questions.  Sort of like a panel of experts.  [:D]

If we don't do something, I'm afraid our Forum won't have life much longer.  The irony is that most of the women who post have no problem holding their own in the GD forum and others.  And the ones who aren't comfortable doing that seem to be uncomfortable coming here at all.  oh, the paradox.  =)

I would expect nothing less from the fair sex.[sex]