Hey Dude, 
.
Whatcha carryin'?
Posted on 05/30/2007 10:28:14 PM PDT by goldstategop
I'm the last person you would ever expect to own a gun, let alone become a gun rights activist. I'm often asked how a Jewish woman, a native of San Francisco and a graduate of Stanford and Harvard Law became president of the NRA. My story is not unique but it may remind us, around this Memorial Day, of the value of the right to own a firearm, and it may help you explain that right to someone else.
It was a night in 1982 when I was living alone in suburban Los Angeles. At about 3 a.m., I awoke to a sound at my front door. At first, I thought it was a raccoon rummaging in the bushes, but when I peeked through the peephole on the front door, I saw a man on my porch trying to break the lock with a screwdriver.
All my lights were off, so I thought, "He must think no one is home." I pounded on the door from the inside and yelled, thinking he would run away when he knew the house was occupied.
He straightened up for a moment, looked back at me through the peephole and, to my horror, bent down and kept working on the lock.
I dialed the number for my next-door neighbor, just 50 yards over the fence, but not one answered. I called another neighbor. Still no answer. I was afraid to leave the house and was beginning to panic. What did he want? What would happen if he got in?
I called the police and told the dispatcher what was happening.
"Is he in the house?" she asked. (I still can't believe she asked that before telling me that the cavalry was coming.) I said no, so she said, "Well, lock yourself in your bedroom. Someone is on the way."
I was shocked at my meager options and decided to do something, anything. I flipped every light switch in the house to on and turned up my stereo full blast to make as much of a disturbance as possible. Maybe one of my neighbors would call to complain.
I ran back to the peephole. He was still there. At this point I realized that a man still trying to break through the door with lights, noise and a person in the house would probably not just take my stereo and sneak away. I was in terrible danger.
I was 32 years old then. I'm 5 feet 2 inches tall, and weighed, well, let's just say I weighed less then than I do now. The bottom line is I would have no chance against the thug who was about to come through my front door.
Then, all of a sudden, the pounding stopped.
I crept to the door and looked. He was gone. He couldn't break through the lock and had probably decided he'd been there too long.
The police arrived … about 10 minutes later.
I promised myself that I would never be defenseless again.
I went to a gun store the next day. Never having touched a real gun in my entire life, I had to look up "guns" in the phone book to find the nearest gun store.
When I walked into the store and the salesman asked me what kind of a gun I was looking for and I answered, "Any gun!" he looked concerned. I explained what had happened and he convinced me to take a safety course before buying a gun. Not long after, I bought my first firearm.
Life would never be the same.
I found out to my surprise that I was a good shot. I took a lot of training to perfect my skills. Sometimes when I spoke about my new hobby, I found out some people don't like guns. So I joined the NRA to learn about the politics of gun control.
A decade later, I was asked to share my story at a rally in Phoenix opposing federal firearms legislation. There I met Arizona Attorney General Bob Corbin, an NRA Board member, who was in line to be the next NRA president. He convinced me to run for the Board.
I was elected to the Board in 1992 and have served ever since. In 1998, I became NRA second vice president under President Charlton Heston, and I became first vice president when he retired five years later. (NRA's bylaws limit presidents to two one-year terms, but the bylaws were amended for Heston because of his unprecedented value to the organization.) In 2005, the Board of Directors elected me president of the National Rifle Association. I served two years, stepping down last month.
As immediate past president, I speak to groups and organizations about firearms, protecting families and the need for judges who will be faithful to our Constitution and Bill of Rights, including the Second Amendment. And I'm writing to friends like the readership at WorldNetDaily. Our freedom to own firearms is important for every American. We must make the case to our fellow citizens, and that's why I'm sharing my story with you.
As I reflected again this Memorial Day, many brave men and women have paid the ultimate price for the freedom to keep and bear arms that you and I enjoy. We owe it to their memory to keep that freedom alive for all who will follow after us.
Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Goes to prove that a good door and lockset is better than a gun! [/VPC]
B U M P!!
From an armed CCW holding dude : )
Enjoy your fear.
We yanks have difficulty with dry British humor sometimes Brityank. I enjoyed your profile sheet, and you bear out my belief that those not born in this country often have a better understanding of what we have, and what can be lost.
Thanks. I would guess that JoeSixPack1 doesn’t realise that VPC is the Violence Policy Center — as rabid an anti-gun group as you can get. Maybe I should have typed /Brady? ;^)
bump
Hey Dude,
.
Whatcha carryin'?
(/sarc) tag would have worked. :-)
I’s not easy keeping up with letter abbreviated organization on a worldwide basis.
MOLON LABE BUMP
“Maybe I should have typed /Brady?”
Perhaps, but for the really thick ones like myself you should throw subtlety to the wind and go with/Schumer, Feinstein, Bloomberg. My hair’s thinned to the point where I can ill afford any extravagant scratching.
Stanford alumni bump!
That ought to keep the bugs off the porch light.
9 mm Lugar....Paid 460.00 for it.
My daughter is a Stanford grad....2004!
Good gun. Developed in 1908. Many iterations over the years. Just like the 1911.
The main thing is that I can shoot accurately with it.
That’s all I care about : )
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