Guns offer false security

USA Today ^ | 6/10/2003 | Kimberly Shearer Palmer

[RogueIsland]

Before I held a revolver, I thought only police officers and psychopaths shot guns. Guns seemed uncontrollable objects that could inflict death at any moment; I preferred to avoid them.

Then I learned how to shoot. My friends arranged a trip to a shooting range outside Chicago. Our instructor, a former police officer, taught us how to stand and point, hunching our shoulders for accuracy. We shot at the target silhouettes' heart and lungs before aiming for its head. In real life, our instructor explained, our attackers might wear bulletproof vests.

[A. Patriot]

The real false sense of security is that a woman without a weapon can fend off an attack from a determined large man.

Sure, it can happen, but not likely.

A woman with a gun is an entirely different matter.

[Pastor of Muppets]

"Like Jennifer Lopez's character in the 2002 movie Enough, in which she learns to fight to protect herself and her daughter against her abusive husband, we had reclaimed our right to feel safe while depending only on our own bodies."

Yeah, well I have a Lightsaber, sweetie.

Let's see if your knowledge of J-Lo-Do beats the power of the Force.

And if there are any Klingons around, feeling all uppity, I'd be happy to b--chslap them as well, ugly b--tards.

[dansangel]

He isn't going to wait while his prey fumbles through her huge, disorganized purse for her 38.

My carry purse has a separate compartment accessed from the exterior side gussett that allows me to reach in and pull out my 9 mm in one easy movement. No fuss, no muss.

HairOfTheDog has a rig I've been trying to find that allows her to retain her weapon in the event of a purse snatching. Thief has the purse and she has the gun - surprise!

[dighton]

Umm.... Why not take self-defense classes AND learn how to shoot a gun? Why limit your options?

An excellent point, worth repeating.

[Eagle Eye]

Training in how to yell and scream agressively is good, but training on how to use deadly force is bad?

[asformeandformyhouse]

Like Jennifer Lopez's character in the 2002 movie Enough, in which she learns to fight to protect herself and her daughter against her abusive husband,

Oh by all means, if it worked in a movie it must be true. Hey, Charlie's Angels (the movie) didn't need guns to fight. /sarcasm

[asformeandformyhouse]

Instead of buying a gun, I'm sticking to basic street smarts that will always be there when I need them most.

I see her plan, get more women hurt and killed and then we can yell for more gun-control laws. I wonder if Ms. Kimberly Shearer Palmer realizes that she has just told everyone who reads the article that she lives in a 'gun-free' residence. Stupid, real stupid.

[challenger]

[she wrote]
"In fact, a wide range of self-defense options, from chemical sprays to street fighting, gives women the tools
to fight back."

Not bad for a mere grad student. She actually has the beginnings of an actual thought. If she would just complete the analysis and say, "A wide range of self-defense options gives women the tools to fight back. The most effective of those tools is the firearm, since it equalizes strength differences and is effective at a distance, unlike almost all forms of unarmed self-defense and defense with contact weapons. These advantages can make a life-or-death difference when a criminal is stronger or more experienced, or when they outnumber you, or when they are attacking you from a distance. No one requires any citizen to choose between defense with a firearm and unarmed defense. Anyone with any intelligence or rational thought processes knows that you are allowed to use both, and you should."

[dd5339]

Yea right, I'd like to see someone try and take my wife's Kimber away from her!

Even if they did, she'd have her backup 357 in hand to finish the problem!

Semper Fi

[HairOfTheDog]

That's right! - Concealed carry purse... The handle strap for the purse is secured around the grip of the gun with strong velcro, and held to the purse with light velcro and a single snap. If I am gripping the handle strap, it is strong enough to carry the purse with, but if someone grabs the purse, the purse will break free, leaving me still with the gun. This is how I would draw it too.

They can have the purse! ;~D

When fastened up, the pocket containing the gun is not very evident to someone casually looking in the purse. And with that airweight there, the weight doesn't really even give it away.

[Centurion2000]

Guns seemed uncontrollable objects that could inflict death at any moment; I preferred to avoid them.

With an illogical statement as this ... what the heck is this idiot a graduate student in ?

[SauronOfMordor]

Yeah,right. Your average street thug will be wearing a bulletproff vest! I can't believe an instructor would teach this to a class.

Don't scoff. An increasing number of gang-bangers are wearing vests.

Wouldn't YOU wear a vest is you KNEW you were about to walk into an armed robbery

[dansangel]

Anyone with any intelligence or rational thought processes knows that you are allowed to use both, and you should.

*Excellent* rebuttal. You've earned your masters! :-)

[dansangel]

You need to hang on to that purse, HOTD - repair it, preserve it, the whole nine yards. I have been searching high and low (even checked the DeSantis website) and I can't find it!

The endless searching gives me something to do to keep me busy and out of trouble! :-)

(((HOTD)))

[PatrioticAmerican]

Another liberal, "I tried guns, but they really are abad thing. See, I tried them."

As someone who has played in the arts for years, I carry. No punch, no block, no kick, and no throw has ever stopped a bullet nor a shooter from 10 feet. My arms don't reach 10 feet but my bullets do.

The writer is a stupid liberal who thinks that movies portray reality. Reality is that a rapist doesn't screw with a woman pointing a snubby anthing at him.

[HairOfTheDog]

I will take care of it indeed then! - It is showing some wear too.... eek.

[PatrioticAmerican]

#13 Excellent point. "I can defend myself from attack, but I can't seem to keep the gun from being taken away." Right.

[Atlas Sneezed]

"Yeah,right. Your average street thug will be wearing a bulletproff vest! I can't believe an instructor would teach this to a class."

It's quite conventional wisdom. If you need to stop an attack, you shoot several to the torso, and if that doesn't work, you shoot for the head. If that doesn't work, you shoot for the pelvis.

I'm just surprised that a cop would be honest with civilians about proper tactics. Cops do this because bad guys sometimes do have body armor. Citizens face the same risk.

[SauronOfMordor]

"Guns can be taken away, and women can be killed by their own guns." Well,that doesn't make sense.How can a corpse take away your gun?

Cops are occasionally killed by their own guns. By the article's reasoning, cops shouldn't carry either (of course, given the minimal amount of firearms training and practice the average cop gets, maybe that wouldn't be a bad idea. It bother me a little that I, a CCW civilian, have about five times the formal firearms training that a cop gets.)

[SauronOfMordor]

Learning self defense is a good thing. But one needs a realistic idea of what it can actually do. A few practice spars at the YWCA does not a street brawler make.

Some good hand-to-hand training is a must, though, for CCW people. I made sure my daughter and I got some. You need to be able to respond to a surprise attack and gain time and distance to be able to draw your gun out of concealment

Drawing for your gun while a knife is coming towards your throat from two feet away is NOT a good idea. You need to handle the immediate threat first