ROCHESTER - Twenty-five women received firearm safety certificates at the Sippican Rod & Gun Club in Rochester as part of the National Rifle Association’s “Women on Target” program.

This is the fifth annual year the club has hosted the event, and the goal, organizer Bill Fredericks said, is always safety.

“People think of the NRA as a political group, but its main responsibility is training,” he said. “We teach the ladies responsible use. It’s a perfectly safe sport if you’re responsible and trained.”

The course lasts all day, beginning in around 8:30 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m. The women spend the morning session in an educational course, before breaking for lunch and then heading to the range for hands-on training. The group split up and rotated between four ranges where they shot a variety of guns, such as rifles, pistols and shotguns.

At the end of the course, participants receive a Firearms Safety Certificate which allows them to apply for a License to Carry or a Firearms Identity Card.

The group on Saturday was diverse, with the youngest participants being an almost 16-year-old, and the oldest being 75.

“The oldest participant ever had was 85,” Fredericks said. “They come for a variety of reasons…but most prominent is curiosity to see what firearms are all about.”

There were a few mother-daughter duos participating, including Karen Colwell and her daughter Amanda, 19.

“She’s the reason I’m here today,” Karen said. “She wants to go into environmental protection and I wanted to feel comfortable with that, so I thought we’d do this together.”

Karen carefully lined up each shot she took with the AR-15 rifle, and consistently hit the target 100 yards down the range.

“It felt good,” she said. “But let’s hope I don’t ever have to use that aim.”

At another range, women got the chance to shoot rifles at clay pigeons.

“This is the hardest range,” Fredericks said. “The target is moving to you have to anticipate where it’s going when you aim.”

Beth Underwood said that it wasn’t her first time ever shooting a gun, but it had been awhile.

“Before today the only thing I had ever shot was a shotgun, and that was 50 years ago,” she laughed. “I’ve only shot twice before. I was better at it when I was 19.”