Posted on 12/12/2011 9:58:57 AM PST by Between the Lines
Robin Natanel picks up a compact black pistol, barrel pointed down range. Gripping the gun with both hands, she raises the semi-automatic and methodically squeezes off five shots. If the target were a person's head or heart, he'd probably be dead.
Natanel is a Buddhist and self-avowed "spiritual person," a 53-year-old divorcee who lives alone in a liberal-leaning suburb near Boston. She's a tai chi instructor who invokes the benefits of meditation. And at least twice a month, she takes her German-made Walther PK380 to a shooting range and blazes away.
Natanel is one of a growing number of people in groups once considered anti-handgun - women, liberals, gays and college kids - who have been buying weapons. They are part of a national trend: Domestic handgun production and imports more than doubled over four years to about 4.6 million in 2009, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
The surge has been propelled by shifting politics and demographics that have made it easier and more acceptable than at any time in 75 years for Americans to buy and carry handguns. Post-9/11 fears seem to be a factor, as are the pro-gun politicking of the National Rifle Association and the marketing, particularly to women, by handgun manufacturers. Events like the Dec. 8 fatal shootings on the Virginia Tech University campus reinforce a feeling that the world is an unsafe place, even as violent U.S. crime rates fall.
Two years ago, an ex-boyfriend broke into Natanel's house when she wasn't home. The police advised a restraining order. Instead, she bought pepper spray and programmed the local police number on her cellphone's speed dial.
"I was constantly terrified for my safety," she says.
Ultimately, she got the pistol.
Natanel found it was no trouble to purchase the Walther, a brand favored by movie superspy James Bond, or to locate experts to train her. Her circumstances won her a concealed-carry permit in a state with tough gun-control laws.
"I'd never considered a gun," Natanel says. "...I didn't think anyone should have them."
'Clear societal change'
Twenty years ago, 76 percent of women felt that way about handguns, and 68 percent of all people in the country were wary enough of firearms of any kind to tell Gallup pollsters that they backed laws more strictly limiting their sale. Then what Gallup calls "a clear societal change" began.
In October, a Gallup poll found record-low support for a handgun ban - at 26 percent among all responders and 31 percent among women.
The poll, which has tracked gun attitudes since 1959, documented a record-low 43 percent who favor making it more difficult to acquire guns and record-high numbers of women and Democrats saying there is a firearm at their home. Forty-seven percent said someone in the household owns at least one gun, the highest reading in 18 years.
Skeptics object
Americans who have acquired handguns for protection are living with "serious delusions," says Caroline Brewer, a spokeswoman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. She contends that few are trained rigorously enough to deploy their weapons in the shock and heat of an attack, that they'll shoot innocent bystanders, and that more times than not their firearms will be turned against them.
I gotta go with their 2A rights SHALL NOT be infringed, but couldn’t we make their CCW permits pink with maybe lace edging?
There ‘game’, as you say, is not that. They want to protect themselves against bcoming a Matthew Shepard victim. If Matthew Shepard had agun, do you think would be dead by morons?
There ‘game’, as you say, is not that. They want to protect themselves against bcoming a Matthew Shepard victim. If Matthew Shepard had agun, do you think would be dead by morons?
Mrs. BS Roberts is on the verge of purchasing a S&W Bodyguard .380 semi auto. I have a Ruger LC-9 but she eschews 9mm after firing several models.
Anyone have any experience with the .380 Bodyguard or any valid reasons why this wouldn't be a good choice as a carry piece for a diminutive female?
She looked at the Walther PPK & PK380 but passed on it due to the weight and size.
It is always in the future as with the increased ownership, the predictions are never realized.
I used to rig a single shot 20 or 410 for women with small children int he home. Place a strip of velcro to the buttstock to which a strip of ammo can be slapped with the matcfhing velcro strip. This allows the weapon to be stored separate from the ammo but the ammo brought to the weapon quickly and loading and reloading done quickly. I tested the process and found that an unloaded pump or semi-auto shotgun is slower to first shot than the system I devised. The follow up shots with pump and smei-auto are faster, but that first round ‘down range’ is the key to home defense and the difference in time to second shot accuracy is not as different as one might think.
I’m not concerned. The liberals I’ve known are anti gun because they are truly scared of guns.
I’d like to check out a SIG P232 in stainless. My ex’s P232
was a great piece but a bit light with its composite frame. I prefer a heavier more stable frame.
Took a friend (H.S. teacher) shooting yesterday. Her first time ever. Had a blast with a Ruger Mk II, was a little intimidated by the .357 mag, and wouldn’t touch the .45. All in all it was a great time.
Another one converted to the good side...
But in your case I would reccommend a .45 or .40 in semi-auto handgun, with single action/double action striker fired rather than hammer. I keep a Taurus .45 OS DSS loaded with one in the spout and twelve int he mage and an extra mag int he nightstand. The double DA/SA mechanism allows the striker to be ‘decocked’ with a live round int he chamber and first shot by trigger pull only. I have attached a laser to it, also, for off hand shots if needed.
“I’d never considered a gun,” Natanel says. “...I didn’t think anyone should have them.”
Of course liberals don’t. Until something is threatening THEM!
other than that it is a fine light duty carry piece
That, my FRiend, has been the topic of discussion here and elsewhere many times. Can some of you please help out with links and whatnot? I'm sure there will be no shortage of resources.
nice
I have often thought of building a buttstock for a break action single shot that has a built in “pez dispenser” like shell dispenser. Break the barrel and grab a shell and slide it into the barrel. The “pez dispenser” could even be made to utilize detachable box magazines.
Shep pretty much got most of what he deserved. He was a pervert druggie that received his reward.
She likes to go fishing in an area that has recently had bear activity.
It is made out of titanium and has muzzle brake holes.
It has a soft hand grip and even as a 40 cal, it hardly kicks at all.
You could probably use a 38 for home defense. I wanted something that would work for bears.
It is small and light.
At the range, I have hit a target as far away as 100 yards.
I have let my grand kids shoot it, and they like it.
Check out a CZ 75. Nice hefty steel weapon, simple, strudy and reliable.
The great thing about the break action shotguns is that they can be disassembled and carried in a back pack so easily, and there are many different rounds for shotguns now. A 20 gage sabot round will drop a kodiak bear!
Best bang for the buck for home defense is always gonna be a 12 ga pump gun.
Cheap, reliable, “can’t miss”. A real “room clearer”.
Less worry about over penetration too.
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