Women, Daughters Take Part In Sold Out Concealed Carry Classes

By Joel Hillan

DENVER (CBS4) - Six concealed carry permit classes specifically for women sold out this weekend.

The three-hour course gave each woman a certificate good for them to take to their sheriff's office to obtain the necessary permit.

Addyson Simonds, 11, attended the women-only conceal carry permit class with her mother.

"A lot of people think that girls can't have guns and it's kind of sexist and I don't like it," Simonds said.

She won't be able to legally conceal carry for another 10 years, but thinks now is as good a time as any to learn.

"My family is very oriented around guns so I really want to learn how to use them so I'm ready for when I get older," she said.

Jesse Fox, who teaches the class says preparation is key.

"A lot my students walk out of my class and they realize they need to have a good foundation before they're ready to carry a gun on their person every day, and most of them wait," said Fox.

"Our main goal is to keep us protected, and we thought this would be a good class, me and my mom, just to get comfortable being around guns and just knowing they aren't bad and they are there to protect us," said Payton Rowen from Littleton.

Rowen and classmate Jolie Baty reject the stereotype that guns are for boys.

"I think that they are singling out women because it's like saying women aren't as powerful as men and men should be the only ones protecting girls, and I think it's wrong because women are just as strong as boys and it's just wrong," said Rowen.

"I shoot competitive archery and it goes hand-in-hand with shooting a gun too. A girl can do anything a guy can do," said Baty.

Including concealed carry.

Lorraine White works at Dakota Ridge High School and places a high value on education.

"It's not the guns killing. It's the people, so I feel like any kind of an education is a profitable thing for everyone," said White.

Women Protection Services says they plan on doing another set of conceal carry classes for women in May.

Joel Hillan anchors CBS4 This Morning on weekends as well as reports stories for CBS4 News at 5 and 6 p.m. Follow Joel on Twitter @joelhillan.