Decatur, Alabama is a gem of a small city, with a relatively low cost of living, scores of beautiful Victorian homes, and a vibrant restaurant scene that includes Big Bob Gibson’s Bar-B-Q, one of the oldest BBQ joints in the country that’s been around for more than 100 years.
The city is also home to the Women with Weapons training courses put on by the Decatur Police Department, which have proven to be wildly popular with local residents.
Holley Hibbert says that her husband bought her a gun for her birthday, but she never used it until Saturday.
“Never used my gun in eight years,” said Hibbert. “I thought that I needed training to be proficient in using a weapon.”
Hibbert is not alone.
“If you are in that position where you have to use it, at least you will have confidence now. You’ll know how to properly aim, properly squeeze that trigger. And this was the purpose of this training,” said Decatur Police Chief Torry Mack.
Mack told News 19 that the course may be the first of its kind for the River City.
“They have given me the basic training on how to prepare myself. If the need arises and I have to use my weapon, I know how to use it,” Hibbert explained. “I’ve lived in Decatur since 2015. I’ve never had anything like this done in Decatur, and we do appreciate this.”
Hibbert clearly isn’t alone in her appreciation. The Decatur Police Department hosted three Women with Weapons classes in June and July, and each and every one of them was at maximum capacity.
That suggests a huge demand for similar programs, not only in Decatur but across the country.
Why did it take a gun owner like Hibbert eight years to seek out training, and what made her decide the Women with Weapons class would be her introduction to gun safety? Was it the fact that the courses were free? Did having police run the training instead of a private instructor make a difference? And now that Hibbert and other attendees have absorbed this information, will they continue their training, education, and range time going forward?
I wish more departments would take a page from the Decatur police and offer up some basic firearms training on a regular basis; not just to women (though there’s clearly a demand), but to anyone who’s interested. I’m not trying to put any instructors out of business, but I’m sure that there are some folks who, for better or worse, are more receptive to learning from law enforcement than a firearms instructor who doesn’t wear a badge.
To be sure though, there are also plenty of would-be and new gun owners who are looking for a place where they can get educated without judgment and don’t mind paying for the experience. Knoxville, Tennessee firearms instructor Adrienne Goines was recently profiled in the local paper for her group Sistas of Steel, which she started four years ago.
She’s now proud to provide a space where Black women can feel welcome at the range in ways she never did.
“Sometimes as Black women, we don’t get that same emergency of a rescue,” Goines said. “It empowers me to know that I empower them to be their own first responders.”
Goines offers four classes that teach the essentials of gun ownership: defensive shooting fundamentals, handgun cleaning, self-defense firearms basics and “Stop the Bleed,” which is focused on treating gun wounds.
Goines also has a free course aimed at teaching gun safety to kids, and has been able to expand Sistas of Steel to Chattanooga in addition to Knoxville.
The popularity of these classes is proof that there’s still growing interest in the Second Amendment among women, much to the disappointment of groups like Moms Demand Action and Giffords. I’m thrilled to see the success that Goines has had, as well as the full classes hosted by the Decatur PD, and hopefully we’ll see more entities both public and private offering up courses that are targeted to those interested in exercising their Second Amendment rights but who’ve been reluctant to take that first step.
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