Speed shooters pistol-to-pistol near Piru

NEAR PIRU, Calif. (KABC) -- The World Speed Shooting Championships are underway near Lake Piru.

Alicia Setting and Molly Smith are both 11 years old and are among the world's best pistol shooters. They are two girls who say they enjoy guns over dolls.

Alicia can fire a pistol at five targets, hitting the bull's-eye on each of them in a blistering four seconds. Molly is just as fast. They are both competing in the preteen division in the Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Championship.

"It takes training, practice, and a lot of guts," says Alicia.

"She comes from a shooting background. I mean, I shot competitively for years; her mother shot competitively. And it was just assumed that she would," said Matt Setting, Alicia's father.

"I would prefer shooting to dolls, or makeup, or anything like that. Just because I don't like it. I'm not into that. I'm more into outdoorsy stuff, I guess," said Molly.

"She got the opportunity to go down to the range and she shot a .22 rifle and just loved it," said Steve Smith, Molly's father.

With a blazing draw, steady hand, and quick eye, shooters from nearly 20 states and nearly half a dozen countries are going pistol-to-pistol through Sunday. Top shooters can claim as much as $20,000 in cash and prizes.

"Everybody here is having fun. It's perfectly safe. There are all levels of skill," said a Steel Challenge organizer.

"Today, my best run was a 189, which is about where they all should have been. But they weren't. But, that's OK. It's a good practice score for me," said Kay Miculek, World Champion shooter.

Steel Challenge organizers say all shooters learn how to be safe and to respect firearms. Organizers say the public can watch the shooters free of charge.

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