A gun activism group will be giving free gun training to as many as 1500 women in the Detroit area.
The 9th Annual Laid Free Women’s Shoot will take place on August 15 and August 16. Put on by gun advocacy group Legally Armed In Detroit, the event seeks to train women on the safe handling and usage of a pistol.
The Michigan Star spoke with the organizer of the event Rick Estor who said he has been “a firearms instructor for about fifteen years.”
Estor said he was prompted to get involved with guns after being robbed at gunpoint. He added that he came up with this event idea after a gruesome crime prompted him to take action.
“I was watching TV and saw a distressing story concerning a woman in Detroit who was killed and raped in the street. And it haunted me, I thought someone should do something,” the gun-advocate said.
With its economy gutted by the pandemic, Detroit has seen a massive spike in violent crime recently. Homicides are reportedly up 31% and shootings 53%, according to the Detroit Free Press. The surge in violent crime has gotten so bad that 42 new federal agents were deployed to the city as part of President Trump’s anti-crime policy Operation Legend.
“The economy I guess is in shambles, people are scared to leave their homes, and we still have crime,” Estor said of the city’s situation. “If you can get a gun legally, and carry one. Do it.”
Estor estimated that his events have trained almost 3000 women since 2012, and he hopes to continue expanding the program.
“When we started the program we had about 50 people involved, we’ve been seeing some exponential growth over the years and it keeps growing. I want to see it expand throughout the Metro Area, and across the state after that,” he said
Registration for the event will open on August 8 at noon on Facebook. There will be 8 separate classes over two days. Recoil Range and Top Guns Sports Range of Taylor, Michigan will be hosting on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
Volunteers and anyone willing to donate ammunition is asked to contact the event at [email protected]
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Ben Kolodny is a reporter at The Ohio Star and the Star News Network. You can follow Ben on Twitter. Tips can be sent to [email protected]
