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.
Bullcrap. Check out www.pinkpistols.com
Stats show ccw citizens shoot fewer rounds at a threat, hit their threats more often with less rounds, and accidentally hit far fewer innocent bystanders than police officers.
Thanks, but I will leave the pervert sites for you to view.
Mossberg 500A shotgun in 12 or 20 gauge. They run less than $300 or so usually.
Probably. He had been drinking that night. Homos don’t do anything ‘just a little’. Self-control isn’t exactly a gay virtue.
Ruger LC-R if she likes revolvers.
Pictures, pictures, pictures.
Sorry... I don't believe that Matthew needed to be killed. If you are a conservative, then you are a poor excuse for one. I don't believe ANYONE should be killed because he is gay.
How true.
I still remember an interview with Charles Heston where he described during the LA riots, bunches of liberal friends calling him up asking to borrow guns from him. He told them just go out to a gun store and get one. “Well, there’s this waiting period” they’d say. He said “Well you voted for people who said that was a good idea.”
I don’t believe he loaned any of them any of his firearms. Weren’t trained to handle them anyway. Much less take care of them properly.
Just pick up a Saiga. Not cheap ($800-$2000 depending on options), but if you need more than one 12 gauge round they are one of the best options out there. Not an attractive weapon, but it is going to work when you need it.
They probably would have sued him if they hurt themselves with the guns they borrowed.
No...... a small L libertarian is a strict constitutionalist.... something a conservative is not.. and something a nut job like ron paul is not.... small L libertarians are more constitutionally focused than ANY conservative.... that is why conservatives attack them relentlessly...conservatives and liberals want to control you with laws... the only difference is which side of the spectrum these laws come from..
You said it...the libertarian is a strict constitutionalist. Both want to control you with laws...I'm a LIBERTARIAN REPUBLICAN (a Republician registered), but I believe in the constitution.
Probably.
Matthew Shepard shouldn't have been killed. If he had a gun he might be alive today.
They forgot “people who moved from an anti-2ndA state to a friendlier one and bought a passel of ordnance and really, really love shooting.” Just sayin’.
That said, noone should kill GAYS, unless your life (or your family's life) are threatened.
I've had similar ideas, but the wrist of a shotgun buttstock is a weak spot to begin with. Notice how the "Speedfeed" buttstocks have the magazine components and loading port well clear of the handgrip area.
One gun for all-around castle defense, for a relative newbie to shooting?
No question: pump shotgun, 12 or even 20 guage.
Cheap, gets the job done as well or better than any pistol.
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