Popeye
07-23-2012, 03:29 PM
CHURCHTOWN — The first annual Women’s Concealed Carry Holster Fashion Show in Churchtown Saturday was a well-received celebration of the Second Amendment and a showcase for women who carry guns.
Around 250 people packed the Churchtown Firehouse to eat dinner, listen to speakers and watch about a dozen models walk up to a small stage in various clothing before revealing rubber guns they were concealing. Among the models was County Clerk Holly Tanner.
Trish Cutler, who works as the pistol permit clerk in the Columbia County Clerk’s Office, organized the sold-out event. “We’re here to educate women,” she said, adding that she had at first wanted to simply start a group showing women how they could conceal handguns — which grew into the event.
Cutler said she had to turn away more than 40 people before the day of the event, since there was no more room in the firehouse.
All proceeds from the $25 per person showcase are going to the REACH Center of Columbia and Greene counties — a group that helps local victims of crime and abuse through hotlines, counseling and referrals.
Among the speakers were a few contestants of the History Channel show Top Shot, including Frank Melloni from Suffolk County.
“When I look around this room,” Melloni said, “ I don’t see criminals. I don’t see drug dealers. I see responsible gun owners.”
Another Top Shot contestant, Gabby Franco, a Venezuela native who also modeled Saturday, said she was introduced to shooting at age 11 by her father. Franco said it’s important for Americans to spread support for the Second Amendment, in part because she saw how quickly gun control laws came into effect in her country.
“Believe me,” she said, “once it’s gone, you won’t get it back ... I feel obligated to help protect a value that needs to be preserved.”
Jackie Emslie, an NRA representative started her speech by saying, “Good evening, brothers and sisters of the Second Amendment.”
She stressed the importance of getting trained in firearms before carrying, getting a gun that feels right for each individual and practicing skills often. “We ladies, we need to join with our brothers,” Emslie said.
Retired Lieutenant Commander Michael W. Walsh of the U.S. Navy also stressed the importance of skill and application, saying a gun should feel like an extension of the self.
“We’re in an age of lawlessness and it’s just getting worse — that’s really going to manifest itself by next summer,” Walsh said. “The Second Amendment is in trouble.”
Walsh said to always think of the worst case scenario and to be prepared for it to happen.
“You’re not part of the gun culture, you’re part of the American culture,” Walsh said, sparking applause.
Emcee Gracie McKee, a 24-year-old concealed gun advocate from Washington who runs the site packingpretty.com, announced each of the women who modeled the concealed rubber guns. The women — mostly local and of differing ages and body types — walked an aisle to mostly country music with references to guns in the lyrics.
The mock weapons were concealed in various holsters underneath dresses, pants, bell-bottoms, nurse scrubs, shorts, thigh garters and — in “Marilyn” holsters — bras.
http://www.registerstar.com/articles/2012/07/22/news/doc500b725538ead693803068.txt
Around 250 people packed the Churchtown Firehouse to eat dinner, listen to speakers and watch about a dozen models walk up to a small stage in various clothing before revealing rubber guns they were concealing. Among the models was County Clerk Holly Tanner.
Trish Cutler, who works as the pistol permit clerk in the Columbia County Clerk’s Office, organized the sold-out event. “We’re here to educate women,” she said, adding that she had at first wanted to simply start a group showing women how they could conceal handguns — which grew into the event.
Cutler said she had to turn away more than 40 people before the day of the event, since there was no more room in the firehouse.
All proceeds from the $25 per person showcase are going to the REACH Center of Columbia and Greene counties — a group that helps local victims of crime and abuse through hotlines, counseling and referrals.
Among the speakers were a few contestants of the History Channel show Top Shot, including Frank Melloni from Suffolk County.
“When I look around this room,” Melloni said, “ I don’t see criminals. I don’t see drug dealers. I see responsible gun owners.”
Another Top Shot contestant, Gabby Franco, a Venezuela native who also modeled Saturday, said she was introduced to shooting at age 11 by her father. Franco said it’s important for Americans to spread support for the Second Amendment, in part because she saw how quickly gun control laws came into effect in her country.
“Believe me,” she said, “once it’s gone, you won’t get it back ... I feel obligated to help protect a value that needs to be preserved.”
Jackie Emslie, an NRA representative started her speech by saying, “Good evening, brothers and sisters of the Second Amendment.”
She stressed the importance of getting trained in firearms before carrying, getting a gun that feels right for each individual and practicing skills often. “We ladies, we need to join with our brothers,” Emslie said.
Retired Lieutenant Commander Michael W. Walsh of the U.S. Navy also stressed the importance of skill and application, saying a gun should feel like an extension of the self.
“We’re in an age of lawlessness and it’s just getting worse — that’s really going to manifest itself by next summer,” Walsh said. “The Second Amendment is in trouble.”
Walsh said to always think of the worst case scenario and to be prepared for it to happen.
“You’re not part of the gun culture, you’re part of the American culture,” Walsh said, sparking applause.
Emcee Gracie McKee, a 24-year-old concealed gun advocate from Washington who runs the site packingpretty.com, announced each of the women who modeled the concealed rubber guns. The women — mostly local and of differing ages and body types — walked an aisle to mostly country music with references to guns in the lyrics.
The mock weapons were concealed in various holsters underneath dresses, pants, bell-bottoms, nurse scrubs, shorts, thigh garters and — in “Marilyn” holsters — bras.
http://www.registerstar.com/articles/2012/07/22/news/doc500b725538ead693803068.txt