During the weekend, just over 1,400 women gathered in Detroit to receive personal one-on-one firearms training from National Rifle Association Board Director and Firearms Instructor Rick Ector for the 12th Annual training.

Katie Gardner (left), who is GOA’s Empowered2A coordinator in Michigan, is pictured here with several excited firearms trainees.

“We had zero injuries, no one was hurt, we did a good thing, “ Ector said in an interview with Michigan News Source, “We put a lot of women on the path to personal protection and taking care of their families – being sure that they can do what they can to learn more to be safe in our community.”

The event hosted more than 1,400 women ages 12 and up who had the option to learn individualized firearms safety and shooting training from qualified instructors.

“The manpower was ample and we didn’t have as many as I thought we needed, but the instructors that were there were doubly committed to ensure that we didn’t turn anyone away and that we remained safe the entire time we conducted the activity,” Ector said in the interview.

GOA’s Erich Pratt with Rick Ector.

In addition to the dozens of firearm instructors for the event, several other organizations donated time and resources including the Gun Owners of America, a grassroots lobby representing more than two million gun owners nationwide.

“Gun Owners of America bought dinner for all the trainers and volunteers who helped make this event such a success,” Erich Pratt, Senior Vice President of GOA said in an email to Michigan News Source. “In past years, GOA has bought the ammunition or eye [protection] for Rick Ector’s events – in addition to providing “Gun Rights are Women’s Rights” swag for each person in attendance.”

According to Pratt, the group aids in the event for several reasons including teaching women how to protect themselves.

“It is important that women are empowered to protect themselves,” he said in the email. “No one gets their own personal cop for protection, and courts have routinely held that the police are not duty bound to protect any particular individual—no matter how many threats they’ve received. Several studies—and anecdotal examples—have shown that women greatly benefit from having a gun to protect themselves, as opposed to remaining defenseless.”

“There is no greater equalizer for a woman than a handgun to protect ourselves,” Jennifer Devitto said, who came from Illinois to participate in a previous all women’s training. “Men are bigger than us and stronger than us, and we can’t fight them off.”

Pratt also added that some of the participants had their minds changed after participating in the program.

Read more at Michigan News Source