Sent this in to the local rag last week. If they publish it, it will be the fourth pro-gun article of mine to hit the streets. The paper is super-liberal, but to their credit often present the "other side of the story."
"Women should support gun rights"
More and more I hear women calling for additional gun control to protect their children. Instead of thoroughly researching this important issue, their opinions are often formed instead based on the misinformation of the Clinton administration and the biased media. Chances are more thought went into purchasing the family car than on gun control, and yet they are willing to dismiss a constitutional right without so much as a second thought.
Polls show that the majority of these outspoken women reside in middle to upper class suburbs and enjoy a relatively secure lifestyle. They are often educated professionals or housewives that have disposal incomes and some free time to enjoy the pleasures of family life. A criminal invasion of their lives is a foreign concept.
Unfortunately, this is not so for the many women who must endure the punishing existence in the poverty-stricken inner cities of our nation. Every day, these women fear for their lives from attack by drug users, rapists and other criminals. Their children cannot go to the playground, as it is usually a haven of the aforementioned criminals. When they go to work, they often must navigate on foot through areas you and I would avoid even in our cars.
Given these facts, is it then logical, or even moral, that women should be calling for additional gun control? A firearm is often the only means that permits many women to survive this horrid existence. It is their last line of defense; the great equalizer against an evil specter so foreign to the women wishing to disarm them. Firearms are used illegally many times every year, often is the commission of crimes against women. That will continue with or without new laws. What we can't overlook is that firearms are also used over 2 million times each year in the legal defense of family and home, often without being fired, and often by women in the defense of themselves and their families.
I ask that before women (and men) condemn firearm ownership that they first research the facts and look beyond their own personal feelings and try to comprehend and understand the perils of others less fortunate. And don't ever forget, none of us are immune from crime, no matter how tall the gate or loud the alarm.
"Women should support gun rights"
More and more I hear women calling for additional gun control to protect their children. Instead of thoroughly researching this important issue, their opinions are often formed instead based on the misinformation of the Clinton administration and the biased media. Chances are more thought went into purchasing the family car than on gun control, and yet they are willing to dismiss a constitutional right without so much as a second thought.
Polls show that the majority of these outspoken women reside in middle to upper class suburbs and enjoy a relatively secure lifestyle. They are often educated professionals or housewives that have disposal incomes and some free time to enjoy the pleasures of family life. A criminal invasion of their lives is a foreign concept.
Unfortunately, this is not so for the many women who must endure the punishing existence in the poverty-stricken inner cities of our nation. Every day, these women fear for their lives from attack by drug users, rapists and other criminals. Their children cannot go to the playground, as it is usually a haven of the aforementioned criminals. When they go to work, they often must navigate on foot through areas you and I would avoid even in our cars.
Given these facts, is it then logical, or even moral, that women should be calling for additional gun control? A firearm is often the only means that permits many women to survive this horrid existence. It is their last line of defense; the great equalizer against an evil specter so foreign to the women wishing to disarm them. Firearms are used illegally many times every year, often is the commission of crimes against women. That will continue with or without new laws. What we can't overlook is that firearms are also used over 2 million times each year in the legal defense of family and home, often without being fired, and often by women in the defense of themselves and their families.
I ask that before women (and men) condemn firearm ownership that they first research the facts and look beyond their own personal feelings and try to comprehend and understand the perils of others less fortunate. And don't ever forget, none of us are immune from crime, no matter how tall the gate or loud the alarm.