In many of the debates / flat-out-arguments regarding gun control, recently, it's been interesting to see how some anti-2nd Amendment folk trot out the notion that gun owners who claim self defense as the basis for their right to own firearms must have some gender inferiority complex. What are you compensating for?, is the Dr. Phil-ish question that explains what these misguided gun owners are suffering from. Essentially, advocates of gun control claim that the supposed need for having firearms is inexorably linked to the fabrication of an essence, be it ever so false, of manhood.
Maybe they have a point. If I own firearms for self / family defense then what exactly am I compensating for? Well, I'll tell you what:
Among other things, I'm compensating for the 6'-4", 225 pound, 25 year-old thug who, after breaking into my home, would not think twice about shooting me in the head (or stabbing me or clubbing me) regardless of whether I was armed or complied with his demands. I'm compensating for the multiple assailants who, after training in prison*, would not think twice about slitting my throat, raping my family, and then strangling them to death. I'm compensating for the inevitability of civil unrest given a natural or man-made disaster in the metropolitan area I live in. And I'm compensating for the sheep-like mentality you display, insuring that your such departures from reality will not inhibit my right to defend the lives of those I hold dear to my heart.
In the meantime, let's take a look at some stories which illustrate that there are many women who seem to have taken to "compensation", regardless of whether they suffer from the gender-complex issues that gun grabber psychoanalysts say they do. And, as a sidenote, notice that not all defensive gun uses (DGUs) involved actually firing the weapon.
15 Million women "pack heat" in the US
And that was in 2011. From the article,
One mother named Elena who lives in Roseburg, Ore., explains how her job as a 911 dispatcher led her to overcome the discomfort she felt about owning a gun.
“Dealing with the calls that we field on a daily basis made me really aware of what people are capable of doing,” Elena writes. “I’m a single mom and I’ve got two kids, so I feel like if I’m ever put in a situation where I need to protect them, I’d prefer to have a gun.
Gun-toting Grandma pulls handgun on two men who tried to rob her
More women using guns for fun and protection
From the article,
Several factors are driving women to the gun range, experts say.
"The first and foremost reason is women no longer want to feel vulnerable," Parsons says. "They want to feel responsible for their own personal safety and the safety of their families. Just by their physical size, the perpetrator is going to be bigger and stronger. A firearm is the great equalizer."
From the article,
To those who say guns are masculine, Ellanson says, "It would depend on how you define femininity. I think a capable woman is the most feminine expression of power that there is."
15 year-old girl scares burglars (note - plural) with dad's... gun
From the article,
Officials said a teen in Texas City was alone when a pair of intruders broke into her family's house, but she turned the tables on the suspects by grabbing her father's handgun.
In Detroit. From the article,
The people of Detroit are taking no prisoners.
Justifiable homicide in the city shot up 79 percent in 2011 from the previous year, as citizens in the long-suffering city armed themselves and took matters into their own hands. The local rate of self-defense killings now stands 2,200 percent above the national average. Residents, unable to rely on a dwindling police force to keep them safe, are fighting back against the criminal scourge on their own. And they’re offering no apologies.
From the article,
More women throughout the United States are buying guns and learning how to use them. And we're finding that to be true in South Dakota. In fact, a 2011 Gallup Poll found that 43% of women say there's a gun in their home. KSFY's Courtney Zieller is finding out why numbers are at a new high.
21 year-old woman shoots and kills intruder who kicked in her door
Oh, and at least one of the intruders was armed with a gun. From the article,
Tweets sent from the official Dallas Police Department Twitter account said two suspects kicked in the door of the home at about 11:30 a.m. The resident was alone upstairs and heard the noise. She confronted the two burglars as they ascended the stairs and shot at them several times.
The two ran out the front door and one collapsed from a gunshot wound. Police later recovered a gun at the scene, "indicating at least one of the suspects was armed." Nobody has been identified.
12 year-old girl shoots intruder
Yeah, this one kicked his way in as well. From the article,
A 12-year-old girl took matters into her own hands during a home invasion in southeast Oklahoma.
It happened on Wednesday when the girl was home alone. She told police a stranger rang the doorbell, then went around to the back door and kicked it in. She called her mom, Debra St. Clair, who told her to get the family gun, hide in a closet and call 911.
* Not based on my own knowledge but as related by a retired LA County Sheriff and a current LAPD Police Officer.
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