DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – When National Rifle Association Board Member and experienced Firearms Instructor Rick Ector began his firearms training to empower women and teach about firearms and personal defense classes nearly 12 years ago, he had no idea how large it would become. 

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Legally Armed in Detroit, is inviting interested women to register for training on July 29th and 30th at two separate locations, Recoil Firearms and Top Gun Shooting Sports, at the same time, with a choice of several morning and afternoon options of registration. 

“It is completely free, there is nothing that participant in the program has to provide,” Ector said in an interview with Michigan News Source, “We will have free range time, a free range safety briefing, free access to a gun, free ammunition, free eye protection and ear protection, free one on one with a shooting coach, the only thing that the participants have to do is register online for free.” 

Ector’s class for women of all ages 12 and older – though girls under 18 will need to be accompanied by a parent or a legal guardian – was first conceived after he had watched a tragic death on the news that spurred him to try and enact change. 

“Literally 12 years ago I was watching a local TV news, I don’t know what channel it was,” he said in the interview, “And this particular episode, it was a woman whose body was found on the street, I said body because she was killed, her body was discarded on the street.” 

According to Ector, the lady was raped and robbed before she was killed, and he felt that he had to do something about it because he found it to be a “particularly heinous crime.” 

“Typically we hear or see these stories in the media, we hope and pray for the families, and hope and pray that law enforcement can find the guilty perpetrators and bring them to justice, but I just didn’t think to myself that that was enough, and I talked with five fellow firearms trainers and I gave them my vision. I threw out to them like hey, what if we band together at a gun range and see if we can provide some free shooting lessons to women.” 

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While the first year had fifty female participants, the program has since grown exponentially for Ector who had 1,000 or more participants for the past three years, even having 1,942 trainees in 2020.  He expects close to if not more than 2,000 participants this year. 

So far there have never been any incidents or accidents aside from the occasional hot ejected shell casing that might cause “discomfort” but Ector assured that the one on one instruction is very important to him. 

“We have completely vetted, trained, credentialed firearms instructors, we teach it one on one,” he said, “It’s not like you have one person issuing commands to 12 women at the same time and he or she is trying to monitor all 12 shooters and ensure that everything is going to plan.  I have never had any problems, any issues, or any injuries, and I want to keep it that way.” 

In addition to the vast number of firearms instructors that donate their time, and the ranges which provide range time, the Michigan Coalition of Responsible Gun Owners, which is providing all of the ammunition for the event. 

“This whole event is designed to empower women and present them with a positive experience with handguns, with firearms,” he added. “What I hope that the [participants] take away from the event, is that if they are at least curious about firearms and their role in personal protection, here is a free resource – I’ve removed all the barriers – it is completely free of charge.”