I can’t let Gina have all the fun with controversial subjects so I would like to introduce the web board to a group called the Second Amendment Sisters. I have no affiliation with the group for obvious reasons but I do applaud their efforts to bring to the national gun rights debate the perspective of women who passionately believe in their right to own firearms for the protection of themselves and their families. What follows is a segment from a presentation made by Maria Heil, SAS National Spokeswoman.

In December of 1999 five women took a leap of faith and decided to take on the so-called Million Mom March (MMM) in our nation's Capitol. These women were the first to "step up to the plate" so to speak. At first these five women thought that they were merely going to be doing a counter-rally to the MMM on Mother's Day of 2000. However, once they formed the Second Amendment Sisters (SAS), it took on a life of its own.

The five women who became the Founders of SAS had never met each other before.

They had chatted, on-line, at Free Republic.com, but that was all. None of the Founders met until two nights before the rally in DC. They came from Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Florida. Some were single, some were married, some had kids, and a couple were even grandmothers. Yet, together they started what has been termed the "first civil rights organization of the new century."
This new organization had served as a life-line to women across the country during the rise of the MMM. Due to the fawning and extensive coverage the MMM received as it geared up, many women across the nation were left feeling as though they were in a very tiny minority. Many had begun to question whether perhaps there were no other women who felt that the right to keep and bear arms was essential to their survival, as well as the survival of the nation.

For more information log onto www.womenandguns.com

I can hardly wait for your reply, Gina.

Dave

Oh my. Dave. This is too much pressure!

Well, I just logged on to that site. I went to check out their message board. Quite a different scene than this board. They were talking about what they shoot. Here's a direct excerpt...
I generally carry a Smith & Wesson 9mm "Lady Smith". On "light days", I carry a Beretta "Tomcat", loaded with .32 "Silvertips".

Personally speaking, on light days, a Kotex provides me with all the extra protection I need :) But, more power to 'em I guess.

Gina - you are too much. You're just jealous because
you don't own a Lady Smith or a Tomcat.

Yeah, I hope when you slap him in the face with that Kotex it hurts that raghead who's trying to kill you enough so he drops his box knife, or it ain't gonna do you a lot of good! :) So much for light protection days.

Kirby

I've had two experiences with guns. Once, when I was a kid, our next door neighbor, who was a retired cop, let us shoot his 22 caliber handgun. I did it, and wasn't at all intimidated. It was small and easy to handle. After Rich and I got married, his father gave him his duck gun for safe keeping - a Browning "Sweet 16" rifle. Rich bought some buckshot, or duckshot, or whatever you want to call it, and we walked up into the woods to try it out. Rich went first, and we stood across a field and he fired at an old abandoned car. I'll never, ever forget it as long as I live, because it scared the living daylights out of me - the speed, the power, the stream of fire, the kickback, the reverb. It was overwhelming. I think even Rich, who is totally fearless and brave, was a little shocked and scared. It was a really, really stupid thing to do, because someone could have gotten hurt or killed. That single shot changed my view on guns forever.

Here's my take on the whole gun thing - for real...
To decide to carry a gun (outside of hunting) is a tremendously serious and consuming undertaking. It's a mindset; it's a way of life; it's a gigantic responsibility. I totally believe that people who have worked in law enforcement and civil protection and who routinely are or have been exposed to the scum of the earth should carry guns. For people who have grown up around guns, it's second nature. For the rest of us, I truly believe to carry a gun would be more dangerous than smart or protective. The best way to protect yourself is to be smart. Use your head. Simple things like locking your doors if you're home alone, being aware of your surroundings if you're out, having a plan of action if you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation are all things we can do. And, there's always pepper spray. I have a container on my keychain, which, is totally useless because 1) I forget it's there. 2) it expired last year 3) I probably wouldn't even use it on a ferocious dog 4) With my luck, even if I did use it, I'd probably end up spraying it in my face.

Last year, one of my closest friends' husband was shot in the leg in his driveway in a fluke robbery gone awry. Even if he was a sharpshooter with a gun strapped around his hip, it wouldn't have made a bit of difference, because the perpetrator totally ambushed him and he didn't have a split second to act. Carrying a gun doesn't guarantee a damn thing.

Here's my last comment on guns. Back in the 80's, a common man on his way to work named Bernhard Goetz was being robbed at knifepoint and gunpoint on a NYC subway by 5 young thugs. He carried a concealed gun and used it, injuring and crippling some of the boys. One may have been killed, I don't remember. Bernhard ended up going to jail for a long time on technicalities. And the lawyers of all the boys argued that they weren't really going to use their weapons on Bernie, they just wanted to scare him and rob him. So, if you use your gun, just know that the laws won't protect you, and you'll end up being the criminal.

Gina,

You're absolutely right on more than one point. 1) If you haven't grown up around guns and for some reason have gotten scared of them, and are unwilling to become "unscared", you're better off without them. 2) Guns won't guarantee a damn thing. But neither will any of the other "defenses" you mentioned. Plenty of criminals know how to pick locks to get into your comfy locked house, and plenty of others know how to use a crow bar. 3)The law won't stand behind you. So you make the choice: Do you want to be a live criminal or a dead or crippled victim?

Hi again, Gina,

Hey, during my stretching phase of Body for Life today I let myself get deep in thought, as I often do in that stage. (At least as deep in thought as a know-nothing hillbilly from Idaho can get!) There is one more thing to think about in this whole issue.

You say carrying a gun will not guarantee your safety, and as I said in the last letter I completely agree. ABSOLUTELY. There are no guarantees.

You can get on your motorcycle wearing the best leather wear and the best helmet and still snap your neck when you fall.

You can get in the biggest, stoutest truck in the world, put on the most high quality seatbelt, and when that train hits you or you get knocked unconscious as you fall in the lake it won't save your life. Of if your belt won't come loose and the truck starts on fire it's even arguable that the seatbelt CAUSED your death.

You can train a horse for days and days and DAYS, and he can still decide one day to fall over backwards on you and crush your chest.

There are no guarantees. But I would rather wear that safety gear, that safety belt, drive that big stout vehicle, and train that horse than choose not to do them because they do not "guarantee" my safety.

Going out and voting for the best mayoral candidate doesn't even guarantee he'll be mayor, but at least I won't have to feel like I could have done something more.

Don't let your emotions get in the way of this kind of decision, Gina. If you don't think you could handle shooting someone, DO NOT GET A GUN FOR SELF DEFENSE. But if you think having one more edge could one day be the ONE thing that stands between you and death or the death or mutilation of a loved one, please don't rule it out. I would rather be alive with a dead human being on my conscience and wonder every day if I did the right thing than be a vegetable or have a dead kid or wife because I chose to believe guns were evil.

Bernard Goetz and people like him at least stand a chance in court--even in liberal places like New York, Illinois and California--but having a knife blade in the guts or a bullet in the head is undebatable. No jury can save you then. Those crooked lawyers can debate all day about whether or not those thugs would have used their weapons on Bernard. But I'm not betting either way. If they pull a gun or knife on me they had better immediately start using it because there are no second chances.

Kirby

I can see you're not at a loss for words on this topic.

Hey, I did Body for Life last summer and dropped 10 lbs. That's cool that you're doing it. I'm trying to get back into it, since I stopped during my student teaching. I don't remember seeing a "stretching" day in the book. Is that what you do on your off day?

No stretching day. It's just I think Bill Phillips missed a major component of any workout program in his book when he never once talked about stretching. I always stretch anywhere from 5 to 40 minutes after a workout, depending upon how far I want to stretch. After a 40 minute stretching period I can put my nose to either knee. I think at least 25 % of a person's strength stems from their flexibility.

Kirby