Stephanie Was Robbed at Gunpoint at 18. Now, She is a Firearms Instructor.

“They chose to point a 38 snub nose revolver in my face and demand everything that I owned. 

“I was 18 years old, walking out of a convenience store. It was just an average Thursday afternoon, and someone else decided that they were going to make me a victim. And that’s shocking for an 18 year old, much less anyone. This guy was twice as big as me, and he was determined to get what he wanted, and I was terrified and helpless. When you’re in that position, something clicks, and in an instant, you decide this can’t happen again. And then the question becomes, can it just not happen to you? Or do you need to do something to make sure that it doesn’t happen to anyone? And how do we make sure that it doesn’t happen? Those were the things that went through my head while I was standing there in the doorway at that convenience store. Time stood still. 

“I know what it’s like to have a loaded gun pointed at me, and I know what it’s like to point a loaded firearm at another person for the purpose of saving my own life. Everyone has the right to feel safe. Everyone has the right to protect themselves in an unsafe situation. Many people choose a firearm as a tool for maintaining their safety. But, ultimately, firearms are inanimate objects. They’re not capable of anything except sitting where someone puts them. It takes direct human interaction for a firearm to be dangerous. I cannot relate to the mindset of someone who would use a gun to create an innocent victim. I have built the skills and acquired the knowledge to position others so that they are less likely to become a victim, to know what to do if they are victimized, and to try and push that needle so that we have fewer people thinking that violence on an innocent person is a viable answer to their problems. 

“I was a child, and then a sibling, and then a friend, and then a mother, and I became a firearms instructor because I respected and held dearly those roles that I had previously in life. I think any certified instructor or Second Amendment supporter who doesn’t cherish those roles is doing everyone a disservice. Certified firearms instructors do have that stereotype of being gung-ho, guns-a-blazing and thinking that everybody needs to own one, and if you don’t, there’s something wrong with you. I vehemently disagree with that. I think there are certain laws related to owning or using a firearm that would make our society safer. One example would be the universal background check. Another one would be the strawman purchase law and closing the gun show loophole. 

“We are all in this together. And if we can’t appreciate how we got here, and we can’t appreciate somebody else’s perspective, then there’s no hope. Why are we even trying?”

People across Tennessee have different perspectives on gun rights and safety. We highlight their stories as a part of Citizen Solutions — a new civic experiment that empowers Americans to counteract the extreme forces dominating media and politics by elevating the will of the people.

The time for Citizen Solutions is now. Be a Solver.

Starts With Us is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and does not endorse any particular proposal on gun rights & safety.