As the newest member of the Advisory Board of AHSA, member and current vice-chair of the Gun Owners Caucus for the Texas Democratic Party and former member of the Gun Owners Caucus for the Democratic Party of Oregon (GOC-DPO), it's time that I begin blogging about women and gun-ownership.

Rather than talk about today's vote in the U.S. Senate's vote regarding concealed weapons across state lines, I'd rather chat about the relationship between women and guns.

When I poll my friends on whether they own a gun or not, while many of my guy friends either own a gun or know how to operate one, very few of my girlfriends a) own a gun and b) know how to shoot one. It's time for that to change.

Typically in the urban city areas, very few women feel the need to own a gun for one reason or another. The overwhelming reason seems to be that they are scared of guns - they don't know how to shoot, clean, and properly own a gun, and they feel either foolish or silly asking the men in their lives (fathers, brothers, husbands, boyfriends, etc.) about owning one. Sometimes, these men just scoff at the idea of the women in their lives (wives, daughters, girlfriends) owning a gun and indicate that they will be there to protect them, or maybe there is an underlying fear of knowing their women are armed. Whatever the case, that needs to change.

Women, as well as men, have the right to defend themselves - the second amendment to the U.S. Constitution was not written for men alone. And with more single women out there either living alone or traveling alone, we need to take it upon ourselves to properly arm ourselves with protection. Many times we are left to our own devices to defend ourselves, and a gun is a much better line of defense than having an alarm system, chemical mace or pepper spray. Also, not many offenders probably expect for a woman to be carrying a piece, so the element of surprise would likely play in our favor if the need arises.

My primary mission of this blog is to keep women informed about the world of guns - legislation that would impact their ownership and operation of weapons, resources on where to go to learn more about guns, how to obtain a concealed weapons permit in various jurisdictions, and other items necessary for us to properly defend ourselves.

So, you may be asking why the "The Well-Heeled Shooter"? Well, in homage to my affection for a wide variety of shoes , I may choose to wear any sort of shoe to go shooting....it may be a flashy pair of sandals or my Prada ankle boots. As a female who believes in the right to keep and bear arms for protection, who knows what kind of shoe I'll be wearing if I ever have to use my weapon to defend myself, but rest assured that regardless of footwear, I'll be packed, stacked and well-heeled if and when that time comes.