BarcroftA mother who founded a gun holster company has garnered attention online for proudly teaching her seven children how to handle and shoot a range of different firearms.
Anna Taylor, founder and CEO of holster company Dene Adams, set up her business as a way to create holsters and garments for women who wanted to carry a concealed weapon. Her garments can allow women to carry up to four guns and a knife at any time.
Now, Anna has revealed how she, her husband, and her seven children aged five to 16 are always ‘situationally aware’ and fully educated in marksmanship.
Living on several acres of private land in Kansas, Anna and her husband Jason regularly take the children out to practice shooting on their home range.
Anna, 35, said:
I know that evil exists and I certainly don’t live in fear. But it is a reality, and I am the first line of defence for my children and my family.
I’ve heard it said ‘I carry a gun because a cop’s too big to fit in my purse.’ Well that’s so true.
The family, from five-year-old Savanna, to 16-year-old Samie, all enjoy shooting, though Savanna is in a ‘dry-fire’ stage where she uses unloaded guns.
Seven-year-old Addi says his favourite gun is a rifle, while eight-year-old Dylan prefers a pistol.
BarcroftAnna’s passion for pistols began in her 20s, when she was living in rough part of Kansas City with her two children at the time. After a neighbour was shot, she felt she had to do something.
She said:
It was such a vulnerable place to be. I thought that if somebody was to bust down my door and intrude at night, I would be very defenceless against them. So I really wanted to get my concealed carry permit.
When she was expecting her fourth child, Anna decided to buy her first gun, before going on to become a USCCA training counsellor and an NRA certified instructor.
Since then, Anna has built up a hefty collection of guns including a Desert Eagle semi-automatic handgun that is fully-plated in 24-carat gold.
Anna said:
I have a Glock 19 and an extra 31 round Glock Magazine. I have a Walther CCP, all 9 millimetres. I have a North-American Arms mini revolver, and a Sig Sauer P238, which is a micro 380.
I’ve got guns in all kinds of colours.
Anna claims the firearm education she provides for her kids is just part of keeping them safe around guns, and adds that she’s not concerned about their early exposure to weapons.
BarcroftShe said:
I’ve carried since some of the kids were little. My second-youngest, she was still nursing and I would carry my gun around my waist so since they’ve been little they’ve been up against a firearm or seen it, or felt it, or known that it was there.
Asked whether she sees any problem with guns in the US more generally, she explained how she views personal responsibility as the major factor in the debate:
The US has a personal responsibility problem. The US has a parenting problem. I don’t even know how many guns there are in America, but I know it’s a lot.
If someone has ill intent and they don’t have respect for human life, they will find a way to cause harm to others. Definitely not a gun problem.
If it was between someone with ‘ill intent’ and a family of nine all armed with guns, I think I know who I’d want to face…
If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.