Item from Newsmax.com:
CommentMax
Women and Guns
Dr. Michael S. Brown
March 27, 2000
One of the great ironies of the cultural war over gun rights is that
women are generally more anti-gun than men. Violence against
women is an extremely serious problem, yet women are constantly
told to forgo the most effective means of self-defense.
A young woman known to my wife was abducted and raped
recently by a sex offender on parole. She is now HIV-positive and
the assailant left town before police could build an airtight case.
Another woman in our area was forced to change her own name
and move to a new home because her attacker knows her identity.
A woman I know and two female family members were terrorized
by an intruder who entered their home at 5 AM. The man escaped
before police could respond to a 911 call and he has not been
caught.
Contrast this to a case in Arizona where an unarmed woman was
raped, shot and left for dead. The attacker then forced his way into
a private home where he was promptly shot and killed by a second
woman with a handgun. He will not rape again. Episodes like this
happen around the country, but are totally ignored by the national
media.
The bias against armed self-defense is one of the most insidious
forms of victimization of women. The dominant cultural
conditioning tells women that they are not capable of defending
themselves with a gun. They are told that if they arm themselves,
the attacker will simply take the gun away and use it against them.
Although this rarely happens, millions of women have accepted the
degrading concept that they are not capable of learning to defend
themselves and their children with a firearm, should they so choose.
Many women are afraid of guns because they have never been
encouraged to understand them. They are often afraid that guns go
off on their own. A man who provides firearms training to women
helps allay his student's fears with a story from his childhood. It
seems that his mother was a dressmaker and kept several sewing
machines in the house. The boy was terribly afraid of them,
because he thought that they might suddenly start up and sew
through his hand. Once he understood that sewing machines are
simply tools that will not function without human control, he lost his
unreasonable fear.
Some women have conquered the conditioning and acquired
firearms training. It can be an empowering and life changing
experience. They lose some of the fear that all women are forced to
live with, because they can now provide security for themselves and
their children. Once they discover that they can handle a gun safely
and responsibly, they resent the way they have been lied to all their
lives.
Although firearms accidents have steadily declined for the last
century, concern for child safety has been a major weapon of
anti-self-defense groups like Handgun Control Inc. While there are
legitimate concerns about keeping guns in a house with children,
there are many excellent options for childproof storage and many
effective ways to raise children safely around guns.
Unfortunately, firearms training and safety programs are also under
attack, since certain political factions have a vested interest in
perpetuating the myth of the incompetent woman. Women who feel
helpless and vulnerable are more likely to vote for greater
government control, while those who can provide security for
themselves and their families are not.
There are some women who are speaking out against this unfair
stereotyping and conditioning. Authors Camille Paglia and Claire
Wolfe have written in support of gun rights. Respected firearms
trainer Gila Hayes at the Firearms Institute of Seattle said that,
"Women are taught from childhood to fear guns and to believe they
are not capable of fighting back. They are literally taught to be
victims. When properly trained in gun safety and marksmanship,
they realize the gun is just a tool -- one with which they can save
their own lives."
There is always much discussion in women's media about what to
do when attacked. Armed self-defense is invariably discouraged.
Unarmed resistance has not been very effective, so the current topic
is whether a woman should ask a rapist to wear a condom. It is
difficult to understand how a nation that has been heavily influenced
by the feminist movement can sink to this level of collective
cowardice.
In 1966 the city of Orlando responded to a wave of sexual assaults
by offering firearms training classes to women. The number of
rapes dropped by nearly 90%. Thanks to the efforts of the
anti-self-defense movement, such an effective and common sense
solution to violence against women would be impossible today. No
doubt the folks at HCI would rather have women ask a rapist to use
a condom.
------------------------
Dr. Michael S. Brown is an optometrist in Vancouver, WA who
moderates a large email list for discussion of gun issues in
Washington State. He may be reached at mb@e-z.net
CommentMax
Women and Guns
Dr. Michael S. Brown
March 27, 2000
One of the great ironies of the cultural war over gun rights is that
women are generally more anti-gun than men. Violence against
women is an extremely serious problem, yet women are constantly
told to forgo the most effective means of self-defense.
A young woman known to my wife was abducted and raped
recently by a sex offender on parole. She is now HIV-positive and
the assailant left town before police could build an airtight case.
Another woman in our area was forced to change her own name
and move to a new home because her attacker knows her identity.
A woman I know and two female family members were terrorized
by an intruder who entered their home at 5 AM. The man escaped
before police could respond to a 911 call and he has not been
caught.
Contrast this to a case in Arizona where an unarmed woman was
raped, shot and left for dead. The attacker then forced his way into
a private home where he was promptly shot and killed by a second
woman with a handgun. He will not rape again. Episodes like this
happen around the country, but are totally ignored by the national
media.
The bias against armed self-defense is one of the most insidious
forms of victimization of women. The dominant cultural
conditioning tells women that they are not capable of defending
themselves with a gun. They are told that if they arm themselves,
the attacker will simply take the gun away and use it against them.
Although this rarely happens, millions of women have accepted the
degrading concept that they are not capable of learning to defend
themselves and their children with a firearm, should they so choose.
Many women are afraid of guns because they have never been
encouraged to understand them. They are often afraid that guns go
off on their own. A man who provides firearms training to women
helps allay his student's fears with a story from his childhood. It
seems that his mother was a dressmaker and kept several sewing
machines in the house. The boy was terribly afraid of them,
because he thought that they might suddenly start up and sew
through his hand. Once he understood that sewing machines are
simply tools that will not function without human control, he lost his
unreasonable fear.
Some women have conquered the conditioning and acquired
firearms training. It can be an empowering and life changing
experience. They lose some of the fear that all women are forced to
live with, because they can now provide security for themselves and
their children. Once they discover that they can handle a gun safely
and responsibly, they resent the way they have been lied to all their
lives.
Although firearms accidents have steadily declined for the last
century, concern for child safety has been a major weapon of
anti-self-defense groups like Handgun Control Inc. While there are
legitimate concerns about keeping guns in a house with children,
there are many excellent options for childproof storage and many
effective ways to raise children safely around guns.
Unfortunately, firearms training and safety programs are also under
attack, since certain political factions have a vested interest in
perpetuating the myth of the incompetent woman. Women who feel
helpless and vulnerable are more likely to vote for greater
government control, while those who can provide security for
themselves and their families are not.
There are some women who are speaking out against this unfair
stereotyping and conditioning. Authors Camille Paglia and Claire
Wolfe have written in support of gun rights. Respected firearms
trainer Gila Hayes at the Firearms Institute of Seattle said that,
"Women are taught from childhood to fear guns and to believe they
are not capable of fighting back. They are literally taught to be
victims. When properly trained in gun safety and marksmanship,
they realize the gun is just a tool -- one with which they can save
their own lives."
There is always much discussion in women's media about what to
do when attacked. Armed self-defense is invariably discouraged.
Unarmed resistance has not been very effective, so the current topic
is whether a woman should ask a rapist to wear a condom. It is
difficult to understand how a nation that has been heavily influenced
by the feminist movement can sink to this level of collective
cowardice.
In 1966 the city of Orlando responded to a wave of sexual assaults
by offering firearms training classes to women. The number of
rapes dropped by nearly 90%. Thanks to the efforts of the
anti-self-defense movement, such an effective and common sense
solution to violence against women would be impossible today. No
doubt the folks at HCI would rather have women ask a rapist to use
a condom.
------------------------
Dr. Michael S. Brown is an optometrist in Vancouver, WA who
moderates a large email list for discussion of gun issues in
Washington State. He may be reached at mb@e-z.net
(Really.) Guns, I'm more sure of.