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5 reasons why I decided to take my gun carry permit class… and carry this time for real

5 reasons why I decided to take my gun carry permit class… and carry this time for real

Last updated on: November 7, 2017 at 11:11 am by Nancy French

5 reasons why I decided to take my gun carry permit class… and carry this time for real 2017-11-07T11:11:50-05:00 Nancy French

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5. When my husband almost ran for President

This summer, my husband David French briefly considered running for President. Even though he was considering this in private, news leaked and our lives were turned upside down. Reporters found us at our apartment in New York, where we were living for the summer, and they also went to our rural Tennessee home.

Even though the chaos lasted just a few days, life gained a much sharper focus with a pretty straight forward death threat: a military veteran warned me that if I didn’t stop writing about my political beliefs, he knew how to use a gun and wasn’t afraid to use it. The flurry of threats was so great we had to deal with law enforcement and considered hiring private guards.

This is when I decided to finally learn to take care of myself.

I signed up to take my permit class at Agape Tactical. Yes, Agape Tactical. Here’s a description of this company:

As a Christian based company it is the goal of AGAPE Tactical to educate and train individuals, families and churches in the art of self-protection. Proverbs 22:3 states that a prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it. With this scripture as our guide we are duty bound to provide superior training to our clients so that they may see the danger and know the paths to refuge.

When I went to my carry permit class, I was one of only three students. Everything seemed familiar, since I’d already taken the class once, but this time everything seemed more grave. At one point, the instructor – named Steve — could tell I was nervous.

“Don’t worry,” he said as he was describing a real-life scenario and how one might need to respond if attacked. “You don’t go places where you would actually encounter threats like this, right?”

I started to cry — a huge embarrassment since I was the only female in the class. Of course, how could I explain the weirdness of our life at that moment? I couldn’t, so I cried.

The instructor was kind and compassionate, but my hands shook as I went inside the indoor range and began shooting.

“There’s a world of difference between blowing things up in the back yard and learning to carry and shoot a weapon properly,” he said.

And that was what I needed to hear. I’d grown up around guns, but I had not ever considered actually carrying one. I needed to learn how to do this independently of my dad or husband being right there handing me the gun and telling me where to aim.

I was sobered by what I now had to learn.

“If you only take this class,” the instructor said, “You should not carry a gun. You need to learn how to handle your weapon and to do so with skill, precision, and confidence.”

And so, I decided to take a journey through Agape Tactical’s many stages of gun training… and finally take control of my own safety. I thought this might help other women who feel the need to protect themselves but don’t know where to start…. so stay with me as I blog every class!

READ THE COMPLETE SERIES:

5 reasons why I decided to take my gun carry permit class… and carry this time for real

4 things I learned in my “women only” beginner pistol class

The most important, life-saving advice I learned during my Intermediate Pistol Class

What I learned when a man almost killed me

Slide: 6 of 7

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