Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Effective Defense a Winner, June 12, 2000
Gila May-Hayes is a well-known female firearms instructor with the Firearms Academy of Seattle, WA. This small but fisty shooter is also accomplished at defensive tactics. But what I really like is that the first 89 pages of her book concentrate on recognizing, avoiding and preventing being a victim of a crime, empty handed defense and use of less than lethal defensive tools. As a LFI graduate and firearms instructor, plus a personal defense instructor, I can recommend this wonderful paperback without reservation to women and men.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Book for the Prospective Female Gun Owner, August 8, 2004
Gila May-Hayes, a female firearms instructor and gun writer based in Washington state, has written a book for women considering purchasing, using and/or carrying a defensive handgun.
At one time, Gila May (not yet Hayes - she's now married to the head man at the Firearms Academy of Seattle, Marty Hayes) was a self-described "woman who grew up with my mother's repertoire of fears: attack by strangers, rape, and other violent acts by men against women." Her mother warned young Gila to avoid strangers, keep window shades down, dress modestly, etc. Gila's early training was in avoidance, with no game plan if evasion failed. Part of her avoidance plan was that she never left her home after dark. This changed when her job-at-the-time reassigned her to swing shift which entailed nighttime commuting through a bad neighborhood not far from downtown Seattle.
Now that she was forced into driving the streets at night, Gila realized it was just possible she might find herself caught in the middle of a situation all the avoidance in the world (and a can of OC spray) couldn't get her out of. Unfortunately she'd never had any training on how to fight and win under such circumstances. The answer to her problem came from an unexpected source: a college professor's dissertation discussing the reasons people gave when applying for concealed carry permits. As Gila puts it in her introduction to the book: "Ah, ha! I exclaimed. Of course! I need a gun!"
Gila was smart enough to realize her gun wasn't a magic wand that would make her safe by its very presence: she needed to get training in how to USE the gun. What followed over the next several years was the remaking of a shy, timid woman into one of the finest female firearms instructors in the country. Gila trained with and/or picked the brains of Massad Ayoob, John Farnam, Jim Cirillo, Jim Lindell, Ed Nowicki, Greg Hamilton, Evan Marshall and future husband Marty Hayes, among others. Eventually, she took up the mantle of instructor herself, became a frequent contributor of articles to Women & Guns magazine, and wrote Effective Defense.
I've had the pleasure of shooting and training with Gila when we were both students at another instructor's speed shooting course...and let me tell ya, this woman knows what she's doing with a gun in her hands. I got to watch her fire a Government Model .45 with full-charge loads, all day long, day after day, better than most men can. It was COOL.
Most books on using guns for self protection start out telling you that things like mental attitude, being conscious of your surroundings, avoidance skills, and tactics are far more important than guns per se...then they spend the entire rest of the book talking about nothing by guns, totally ignoring the more important stuff. Gila by contrast begins by telling you the same thing...and then spends most of the rest of the book talking about mental attitude, being conscious of your surroundings, avoidance skills, and tactics.
One of the most important chapters in the book for the new female gun owner will be Chapter 2, The Will to Live, in which Gila addresses the determination to fight for your own life, even to the extent of killing your attacker if need be. Gila puts it bluntly: "The primary concept in self defense mindset is: The assailant forfeited his right to live when he began the assault with intent to cripple or kill." Not to be overlooked, however, is Chapter 6, the one on tactical avoidance skills. The title of this chapter, Victory is a Fight Avoided, pretty much sums up the contents. This is a lesson, in my opinion, more than one macho male gun carrier I've met could stand to learn, as well.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Effective Defense, August 7, 2000
Written by a woman for women who are considering their options for personal protection, both lethal and less than lethal. Clearly written for easy understanding of both techinical jargon and the overall concern a woman should have about her surroundings. Recommended reading for any woman who is concerned about her personal safety.
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