Article: Meet the Widow Known as ‘Shotgun Shirley’: She Details Her Pro-Gun Quest for Self-Protection (Plus: See Her Shoot)

Meer the Widow Known as 'Shotgun Shirley': She Details Her Pro-Gun Quest for Self-Protection (Plus: See Her Shoot)

Billy Hallowell

Shirley Hedge, also known as "Shot­gun Shirley" (Photo Cred­it: YouTube)

Shirley Hedge of Lees­burg, Flori­da, believes whole­heart­ed­ly in her right to bear arms. A mem­ber of the Pennbrook Pis­toleros shoot­ing club, she recent­ly spoke with the Orlan­do Sen­tinel about the rea­sons she's become a gun enthu­si­ast — and detailed her quest to obtain a concealed-carry license.

It wasn't until she was wid­owed that Hedge, also known as "Shot­gun Shirley," real­ized the impor­tance of self-protection.

"My hus­band died three and a half years ago and I real­ized that, except for a friend­ly dog, I real­ly have no weapons of defense at my ready if some­one should break in," she explained.

"I believe that it's impor­tant to have the oppor­tu­ni­ty and the right to bear arms…I never want to shoot any­body, but I want to know how to safe­ly han­dle it," Hedge con­tin­ued.

The widow believes that it is impor­tant, espe­cial­ly for women who live alone, to be schooled in self-defense. In addi­tion to home attacks, she high­light­ed that park­ing lots are also known as areas in which women could fall vic­tim to an attack.

She has applied for her concealed-carry license to pro­tect her­self when she's out and about and in poten­tial­ly vul­ner­a­ble sit­u­a­tions.

Impor­tant­ly, "Shot­gun Shirley" noted that, in her con­cealed carry class, par­tic­i­pants were encour­aged to do what­ev­er pos­si­ble to avoid shoot­ing some­one. While many crit­ics would argue that increased gun avail­abil­i­ty is a recipe for more reck­less­ness and vio­lence, Hedge claims that she was explic­it­ly taught to avoid dan­ger­ous sit­u­a­tions.

"The last thing they want any­body to do is to shoot somebody," she said of her two-day concealed-carry class she took.

Watch Hedge speak about her expe­ri­ence, while also fir­ing a gun, below:

(H/T: Orlan­do Sen­tinel)

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