I live in a small town in Berks County, Pennsylvania, where I decided to build a new home. Before the paint was finished drying, a hate group came and busted my windows, spray-painted my car, and terrorized me for a year. We don’t have local police, so you have to contact the Pennsylvania State Police. The station is located 45 minutes from my home. By the time they would arrive, the hate group terrorizing me would be gone and I looked like a crazy woman who just made up the whole incident. I thought, these people are going to kill me, and I have to protect myself.
I knew how to shoot a firearm ... at least I thought I did. You don’t know what you don’t know until you are trained. I contacted one of the local ranges to sign up for lessons, and my first trainer was Kyle. He started training me with a Victory .22 pistol and I was very comfortable. The minute he switched the gun to a 9mm, I was so afraid that I wanted to quit. The owner, Dave Chang, a fellow Training Counselor, didn’t want me to quit, so he took over my lessons. I took lessons during the week and every weekend for starters. We started with pistol for the first year, then rifle, and then my scariest gun--the shotgun.
I learned all aspects of defensive shooting, coming out of the holster, behind cover and concealment, and shooting on the move. It became so fun, and I became so addicted. I felt more comfortable knowing that I knew how to protect myself, but I was still very afraid. When someone breaks into your home, that fear is so crippling that sometimes you can’t fight or fly. That's why Dave trained me under all types of stress.
He was very tough, but sometimes it was fun, and boy, I dumped so much adrenaline that I developed tunnel vision so bad that I went to the eye doctor and told him that I kept developing tunnel vision. He asked me what I was doing when this happened. I politely said, "I am shooting a gun." He laughed and explained what was happening to me.
One day, I woke up and decided, "Today is the day that I am no longer running from these bullies." I am a Christian and strong in faith. I thought, today might be the day that I go to heaven, but I was prepared. I decided to go to the gym that morning. When I returned, they were at my home. It was 10 a.m., which was odd because they usually came in the evening or during the night. They were blocking my driveway, and I asked them to move their car. That was when they started to hurl insults and racial slurs, which didn’t bother me because I was used to them. I grabbed my cell phone and called 911.
A Pennsylvania State Police Corporal answered the phone. First, I identified my county, my name, and stated what the problem was. The Corporal could hear them, and he asked me if that was their yelling he heard. I said that it was them. He then told me to turn around and back myself into my house. I said that I was not doing that because I decided that I was no longer running. They were yelling at me; the police Corporal was yelling at me, and I was yelling at the police Corporal. Then, only by the grace of God, I decided to turn around and back myself into my home. Two of the women in the group were about to jump on me, but I was able to get into the house and lock the deadbolt.
Within 2 minutes, the police arrived. They just happened to be on the next road over. The bullies were finally caught in the act, and arrested, and my life forever changed. They didn’t sow good seeds, so they did not reap them. Approximately one week later, the State Police Corporal came back, brought all the Troopers as they gave me a formal apology and filed all the police reports. I accepted their apology; then we sat down and had that uncomfortable conversation.
I continued to train. Then the range that I shot at and trained decided to close. I had to go and join a new range (Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club). That day came and I was very nervous. I drove by the range 10 times before I worked up enough nerve to turn in. I just assumed that the same people that I just spent one year of my life running from would be inside this club. (The gun ranges in my area aren’t very diverse.) Boy, was I wrong!
My friend Amanda Foley was my sponsor. She introduced me to many of the people and board members who made me feel very comfortable. I filled out the proper paperwork, then I had to come back and shoot a qualification. I signed up to do my qualification on a rainy Saturday. When I went to the pistol range it was raining, and we had to wear a mask. I uncased my firearm properly but then when I went to shoot, I nervously threw a couple of rounds.
I was working with Ray, and he said to me, relax. “I have seen you shoot at another club.” I did and shot the qualification. I then went down to the rifle range where I met a nice man, NRA Board Member Todd Ellis. He watched me uncase my gun properly. When I took it out, he asked where I got it, and I told him that I had built it myself. It was an AR-15 chambered in 5.56mm but I had brought along a CMG conversion kit to convert it to .22LR if I need to. I shot 10 rounds on the steel targets at 100 yards. His demeanor was relaxed and kind. He asked me if I was military, or a police officer, and I told him that I was nobody. Just a woman trying to shoot her firearm. Then he asked me if I ever considered becoming an instructor. I said no because I already had too much information floating in my head.
He spoke with another woman, who then called a Training Counselor for Todd Ellis, and his name was Dan McMonigal. Dan contacted me and told me all the details about becoming an instructor. At first I did not want to do it, but Dan kept asking me ... and finally I said yes. The first discipline I did was Shotgun with him and TC Frank Tait. They taught me, worked with me, and certified me. Then I did Rifle, Pistol, NRA CCW, Personal Protection In the Home, Personal Protection Outside the Home, and Range Safety Officer--all within a year. After that, I started helping Dan teach Women on Target and I was giving a few private lessons. Dan, Frank, and Todd asked me about becoming a Training Counselor. I didn’t think it was for me, but they did. They all mentor me.
The next thing I knew, I was on my way down to NRA headquarters for the Training Counselor Development Workshop. I met Martin Sprick. He was a very nice man. His course was tough, but it made me the best Training Counselor. During the final course of fire, I failed the shooting portion by a hair, and I was really upset. I told Martin that I would rather fail and be extraordinary than succeed at the ordinary. I was more embarrassed, because I shot that course of fire for three months every day before going down for the training. Martin spoke with me, and I said that I really didn’t think I could do it. He said: “Anna, I know you can.”
He invited me back, and I told him that I wasn’t sure that I wanted to do it again. Martin, Todd, Dan, Frank, Dave, and my friend Dwayne Bolt, as well as my family, especially my son Guy A. Carter III, encouraged me to come back and to stop overtraining. I did, and I passed. I was beyond happy. I never ever thought that I would learn how to shoot a firearm so well and train other people to do it. Then I joined many other Gun clubs in the area.
I went from FEAR to FIREARMS, and I started my own firearms business, which is called Nice Grouping Tactical Firearms Training, LLC. The NRA is for EVERYONE. Reach for the stars, because you can break the glass ceiling too! I want to give a special thanks to many. First and foremost to God - without him in my life nothing is possible.
Thank you to my fiancé Craig Snyder for his love, encouragement, and support. My family, Debra, Laura, Dina, Anthony, David, my son Guy, his wife Melanie, and my granddaughter Ariana for all their love, support and continuous encouragement, and for listening to countless stories from the range. Dave Chang, Todd Ellis, Dan McMonigle, Frank Tait, Brett Wells, Dwayne Bolt, and Ryan Light for all the training and mentoring. Kings Shooter Supply in King of Prussia, PA; Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club; Swamp Creek Rod and Gun Club; Upper Perkiomen Sportsman Club; Northern Chester County Sportsman Club; and Kimberton Fish and Game Association for granting me membership and allowing me to teach their members. A special thank you to Mike Wilcox and Leroy Helms and Lower Pottsgrove Sportsman Association for diversity and inclusion within their club and allowing me to teach their members.
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