Margaret Hurst engages in target practice with a handgun at Bullseye shooting range in San Rafael.
Posted on 12/05/2005 7:38:31 AM PST by SmithL
For a long time, Margaret Hurst lived in fear.
Gangs control turf just a few blocks from her Mission District apartment in San Francisco, and she's sure a neighbor across the street deals drugs. Her building was broken into four times in one year. She saw teenagers on her street display a gun. And while she was stopped at a red light one day, a man tried to punch in her car window in a case of road rage.
So she bought a handgun. Now Hurst is no longer scared.
"I'll tell you one thing. If I'm going down, I'm taking them with me," said 49-year-old Hurst, who is about as un-Charlton Heston as any woman with a British accent, braided bun and long flowing skirt could be.
After a heated campaign brought the national debate over gun control to San Francisco, the city's famously liberal voters passed a law last month banning the sale, manufacture and distribution of firearms and ammunition within city limits. The measure, which takes effect Jan. 1, also makes it illegal for residents to possess handguns.
And as that date approaches, handgun owners like Hurst are becoming increasingly fearful of the consequences.
"We're exactly the kind of people that should have weapons. We're vulnerable," Hurst said during a recent conversation in her cozy apartment, where she lives with her partner and their two cats. "The guns are not going away unless they absolutely have to."
When 58 percent of the city's voters approved the handgun ban, San Francisco joined only two other cities in the nation with similar laws, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
The day after the election, the National Rifle Association and other gun advocates filed a lawsuit challenging the ban, saying it oversteps local government authority and intrudes into an area regulated by
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
San Francisco isn't really in the United States anyways.
Reminds me of what Napoleon said about Queen Louise of Prussia - that she was the only "real man" in Prussia.
This lady may be the only "real man" in San Francisco.
"San Francisco joined only two other cities in the nation with similar laws, Chicago and Washington, D.C."
Ahh, those crime-free havens of rainbows and sunshine!
Won't San Fran be suprised when crime with guns does not go down....
Wow, her weak hand thumb is in a bad position, and as a result her grip is way too low on the frame. Fortunately the Ruger has a high backstrap or she would be seeking medical aid for a sliced thumb!
Superb photographic evidence that seeking competent instruction is critical to learning the proper operation of firearms.
Not at all, reducing crime was never the point.
It's about control, and making political statements. Reality is not part of the calculation.
Ping!
Thank you for the clarification, you are so right.
I suspect that most of the competent firearms safety instructors have long since fled California as the legislature and cities have steadily tightened the screws on lawful gun ownership.
Yep, most of them probably have fled. Same with NY and a few other commie north east states...
There comes a point when ya have to say, 'Honey, it time to move out of the enclave of California or Northeast and migrate to the United States".
She's going to try somebody else's pistol at the range, and get a nasty cut.
A silver lining?
That's a dangerous statement on so many levels....
Those that want to take away the means to protect myself and my family are far more dangerous to my security than a firearm in the hands of responsible law abiding people ever would be.
"Gangs control turf just a few blocks from her Mission District apartment in San Francisco"
I'm leaning towards Sierra 168 gr. HPBT in .308 as a possible solution to this infestation. But that's just me, please feel free to use a caliber of your choosing.
I noticed her grip immediately. I emailed the author of this piece and asked her to have Ms. Hurst get some additional training to adjust her grip.
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