RSWC #075 Brooke Cheney – Riding Shotgun With Charlie

Riding Shotgun With Charlie

#075

Brooke Cheney

A Great Start Shooting School

The DC Project

I met Brooke Cheney at The DC Project dinner in Washington last summer. Then we ran into each other again in Massachusetts at the Gun Owners Action League Concealed Carry Fashion show back in March. Of course, we kept in touch and with the current times, I needed to stay local for a show. We did use some Leadslingers Hand Sanitizer, thanks for LeadslingersWhiskey.com, and headed out for a drive.

Brooke grew up and learned a little about firearms when she was a young girl. Her dad would load up a firearm and have her shoot them. When she was dating her to-be-husband, they would go shooting, and he would load the firearm and have her shoot it. It wasn’t until after she had children, that she really needed to learn about firearms since they were going to be in the house.

Like many of us, after we take a safety course, we learn that we have more to learn. She learned that the course to get her license was just the beginning of the journey she was going to be on. She ended up getting into competitive shooting and built a backyard range for practicing. When she looked into insurance for the backyard range,she decided that it was time to become an instructor. In less than a week, she was an NRA Certified Instructor, teaching courses to help women get their Connecticut permits.

Brooke shares when she had what she calls her “Wonder Woman Moment”! She realized that she can instruct and help women have their own Wonder Woman Moment to overcome their fears and concerns about firearms and firearm ownership. At A Great Start Shooting School, Brooke offers many courses and opportunities for women to learn and get comfortable using their firearms. Instructing led to a chance to work with A Girl and A Gun and teach at their National Conference.

Becoming active with firearms and instructing led to her getting involved politically about gun laws with the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, especially after Newtown since it was so close to her. Her actions have led to her getting involved with Dianna Muller and The DC Project. The DC Project heads to the Capital every year to connect with Congress members, sharing their stories about why gun ownership among women is very important.

Back in 2006, you could have never gotten her to believe that she would be doing all of the things she’s doing. Besides competitive shooting, instructing and becoming a Training Counselor, CCDL, AG & AG, & DCP, she also does something on her AGSSS YouTube channel. Its the Suicide Prevention Saturday! Its a live video chat she does on Saturdays at 9 pm/eastern time. She’s put a lot of study into mental health and issues and how it’s related to gun owners and suicides. SPS gives her an outlet to reach out and talk about these issues.

We barely had time to bring up SPS because she’s got a lot going on. And she’s still a mom and wife and has to work, too!

Favorite Quotes:

“You have to become a competitor to learn what you need to learn to get better”

“It also built my confidence to realize that it was OK that I sucked”

“I tell everyone of my Wonder Woman moment, where I packed my own range bag”

“Every step of my career has been an impetus from someone else”

“Being a gun owner has made me more confident, it has made me more educated about our political system”

A Great Start Shooting School

Website https://www.agreatstartshootingschool.com/

Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/agreatstartshootingschool/

YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZAeFAuFzQcPNREbIp8pcyA

Team Icarus Shirts (Look Like Brooke!)