Gun-Toting Granny Still Firing at Age 82 - EarthLink - Strange News

Gun-Toting Granny Still Firing at Age 82 - EarthLink - Strange News

Gun-Toting Granny Still Firing at Age 82
From Associated Press
August 04, 2006 8:22 PM EDT

JANESVILLE, Wis. - Not even triple-bypass surgery has kept Rita Roherty from the shotgun shooting that has been her life's passion. The 82-year-old great-grandmother underwent surgery last year, and then recovered to win a bronze medal in the women's shooting division of the Badger State Games in June.

She hit 91 of 100 clay pigeons to take third place in the competition, three years after winning the gold.

"When a gun fits you, it don't kick," she said of her pet Browning Lightning 12-gauge over-under shotgun.

Roherty, born Rita McAuliffe in 1923, had 14 children in 28 years of marriage before her husband, Donald Glynn, died.

Then she met George Roherty, who took her trap shooting on the couple's first date in 1973.

"It was a very good couples thing to do," she said.

She says she shoots because she likes competing. When she won her gold medal in shooting, she hit enough clay pigeons to tie a woman half her age, then won in a shoot-off by hitting all 10 pigeons, she recalled.

She said she intends to keep shooting as long as she can still hold the gun, and she'll take on men as well as women.

But be forewarned - Roherty admits she sometimes can't resist asking competitors, "You let an old lady beat you?"

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Information from: The Janesville Gazette, http://www.gazetteextra.com

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I want to be HER when I grow up!!!!!!!!!!