Sisterhood of the Gun

Sisterhood.

That's the word I kept hearing repeated as women gathered in Texas hill country last week for A Girl & A Gun‘s sold out national conference.

And, after spending a few days among the ladies, it wasn't hard to see why.

About an hour away from the BBQ pits of Austin, among the Bluebonnet-covered rolling hills, where there's a Whataburger in every small town, lies the massive Reveille Peak Ranch. It's there where 450 women congregated to take courses from 60 different professional firearms trainers over the course of 3 days. They came from all across the country and all different backgrounds to improve their shooting.

And they did it together.

"Oh my gosh. You will never go anywhere in the world other than this event where you will find 400 women and no drama," Gabriella Marra, a club facilitator from Newington, Conn., told me during the event. "They are a drama-free bunch. All they want to do is shoot, be safe, have fun. They are probably the nicest people you'll ever encounter."

"It's a sisterhood," Samantha Brengard, a member from Florida, said. "It's not ‘what can I get back,' it's ‘what can I do for you?'"

The camaraderie and kinship really radiated. Whether it was borrowing ammo to finish a class or some cash for dinner, the women were there for each other. If somebody couldn't get a shooting drill quite right there was guidance from not just the instructors but the other attendees and it was given with a considerate touch.