Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Ms., Armed “Freedom of choice” I can get behind.
National Review Online ^ | 9/24/02 | Elizabeth A. Fitton

Posted on 09/24/2002 6:54:26 AM PDT by FreedomWarrior

Elizabeth A. Fitton

September 24, 2002 9:00 a.m.

Ms., Armed “Freedom of choice” I can get behind.,

eing a National Review employee has its perks — intelligent daily discourse, relaxed work environment, good people, WFB parties, etc. But I never imagined NR would put a firearm in my hand. Through connections here, I recently had the opportunity to participate in a free rifle lesson in New York City sponsored by Women on Target.

Women on Target is a branch of the National Rifle Association that seeks to educate and train women on the use of guns, specifically for recreational purposes. They arrange events such target shooting and women-only hunting trips. Its main goal is to get more women involved in the shooting sports, but its motto "Refuse to Be a Victim" indicates that self-defense is another inevitable goal.

I was not raised around guns and had never even held one. I admit, too, I had reservations about the NRA. But I was determined to conquer my fear, and make my own decisions about the organization and its issues. I was among about 17 other women, most of us novices, and all of whom were average women, of various ages, attracted to idea of learning how to use a firearm.

Amy Heath, the event coordinator and an energetic spirit behind Women on Target in New York City was surprised at the turnout for the free lesson. "It was mainly word of mouth," she said. "I sent an e-mail to friends, and they sent it out to other friends." Everyone thinks that there is no interest in New York City in the shooting sports, but the success of these free clinics, Heath points out, belies that belief. "There is a waiting list for the next event."

We sat through an hour-long seminar with a NRA trainer who introduced us to the meaning of calibers and the origin of the phrase "lock, stock, and barrel." He explained in detail the safety precautions gun users should take and cleared up several myths about gun accidents, such as a gun going off by itself. As the lecture continued, fear was transforming to eagerness. We put on our goggles and ear protection and went off to shoot.

I was paired with a woman who looked a little too well primped for 8 A.M. on a Saturday, but her bull's eyes were incredible. My instructor — a trained marksman — was a woman. When I finally held the .22 rifle myself (you don't need a permit to fire a rifle at a shooting range; to fire a pistol, however, you need a permit, $300, and ample patience waiting for your application to get processed), I was shaky, but that first shot was something I won't forget. I started to get the hang of it, and, like a child, was anxious for my turn to come around again.

There was a part of me that felt like I had done something naughty. Maybe it was the basement where the shooting range is located. Maybe it was the indoctrination that guns are bad; they kill. And yet there I was, a straight-laced nerd wielding a weapon. It seemed like I was suddenly admitted to a dubious, underground secret society.

I got over it though. The "evil" mystique quickly faded. When I took hold of the gun, I did not suddenly harbor murderous thoughts. My demeanor did not change. I did not become enraged. If anything, I felt more responsible — more respectful of the power of a gun — than I had before, when I was afraid to go near one. I am trying to avoid the word "empowering," but it really felt that way.

For many women, knowing how to use a gun is consoling in an unsafe world. Between 15 and 20 million American women own a firearm. The growth of groups such as Women on Target and Second Amendment Sisters are further indicators that women and guns is an increasingly popular combination. Gun opponents insist the Second Amendment is outdated, that we don't live in the same society that we once did. They're right about the latter. More women live alone, and there are more single mothers than ever before. The police can't be everywhere at once as evidenced by the unsolved serial murders of women in Baton Rouge, La., where Governor Mike Foster has reminded women about their Second Amendment rights. And I should be able to walk to my car in the mall parking lot or a train station after sunset (or before) without being terrified.

I don't think that every man, woman, and child should carry a firearm. I think there should be background checks, and different communities have different standards. I do believe that trained, licensed women have a right to protect themselves by carrying a gun if they choose. Like driving a car, she should take lessons in handling and firing a gun, as well as self-defense instruction and the use of common sense. According to award-winning criminologist and ACLU member Gary Kleck, firearms are used defensively 2.5 million times a year, and in 48 percent of those incidents, the defenders are women. Women use firearms to prevent rape 204,000 times every single year and most of the time a shot is never even fired. Most attackers are not going to bother pursuing prey who pose a fatal challenge.

As we reconvened for closing remarks at the end of our lessons, all the women were smiling, joking, and just more comfortable and relaxed. We hardly became expert marksmen, knowing we still had much more training ahead of us. Many of us walked away somewhat transformed; we had tried something new, and came away a little stronger, a little smarter, and a little more independent. Not bad for a Saturday morning.

Annie Oakley, America's legendary female sharpshooter, exemplified with class that girdles and guns are not mutually exclusive. She, however, always insisted that women, even gunslingers, comport themselves like ladies. Unfortunately, that's not always realistic. In an unsafe world, women should have the power to defend themselves; groups like Women on Target, who seek to teach women to wield that power responsibly, should be encouraged rather than demonized.


TOPICS: Editorial
KEYWORDS: 2ndamendment; armed; banglist
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-29 next last

1 posted on 09/24/2002 6:54:27 AM PDT by FreedomWarrior
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: FreedomWarrior
Great post. See we NY women are not all that bad ;-)
2 posted on 09/24/2002 6:58:01 AM PDT by areafiftyone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: *bang_list

CLICK HERE for a large assortment of powerful, pro-RKBA docs in PDF format.


3 posted on 09/24/2002 6:59:05 AM PDT by Joe Brower
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Vic3O3
Ping for my well armed wife!

Semper Fi
4 posted on 09/24/2002 7:00:12 AM PDT by dd5339
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: FreedomWarrior
I don't think that every man, woman, and child should carry a firearm. I think there should be background checks, and different communities have different standards. I do believe that trained, licensed women have a right to protect themselves by carrying a gun if they choose.

OK article, but clearly she doesn't believe that the 2nd Amendment means what is says.

5 posted on 09/24/2002 7:05:24 AM PDT by Sloth
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FreedomWarrior
I don't think that every man, woman, and child should carry a firearm. I think there should be background checks, and different communities have different standards. I do believe that trained, licensed women have a right to protect themselves by carrying a gun if they choose. Like driving a car, she should take lessons in handling and firing a gun, as well as self-defense instruction and the use of common sense. According to award-winning criminologist and ACLU member Gary Kleck, firearms are used defensively 2.5 million times a year, and in 48 percent of those incidents, the defenders are women. Women use firearms to prevent rape 204,000 times every single year and most of the time a shot is never even fired. Most attackers are not going to bother pursuing prey who pose a fatal challenge.

She still has a way to go in her understanding of what the Right to Keep and Bear arms means but she has started down the road. For NYC women who wish to learn what it is like to fire a handgun. Take a trip to CT on Metro North and go to a public range where they rent handguns. Give me a freepmail and I will be happy to inform you of where such a range is located.

Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown

6 posted on 09/24/2002 7:07:19 AM PDT by harpseal
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FreedomWarrior; dd5339
I wonder whiy it seems that every time an article like this appears, it has to be written by a woman who is (prior to actualy shooting a .22) utterly unfamiliar and afraid of firearms? Seems the media want the American people to think ALL women are terrified of guns...

Thank God for the Second Amendment rights groups!
7 posted on 09/24/2002 7:12:26 AM PDT by Vic3O3
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: *bang_list
Bump for Female GUNS!
8 posted on 09/24/2002 7:18:29 AM PDT by vannrox
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: harpseal
'Still has a ways to go ...' Ahh, but the onion is now being peeled instead of buried under obfuscatory bullsh!t from the gun grabber, socialist dimocrats.
9 posted on 09/24/2002 7:19:38 AM PDT by MHGinTN
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: FreedomWarrior
to fire a pistol, however, you need a permit, $300, and ample patience waiting for your application to get processed

You have GOT to be feculating me.

10 posted on 09/24/2002 7:25:57 AM PDT by fourdeuce82d
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Vic3O3
utterly unfamiliar and afraid of firearms?

I think this is someting we may not appreciate- the degree to which some peopel are TERRRIFIED of guns/violence.

At the outdoor range I frequent I saw a nebbishy little guy walk up to the line with a couple of 10-12 year old kids- he asked the RO if there was somewhwere else he could shoot- he found the silhouette targets I and a couple of folks were shooting at "sinister."

I cannot even begin to empathize with this guy's mindset. but i suspect it's not that uncommon. bizarre.

11 posted on 09/24/2002 7:30:21 AM PDT by fourdeuce82d
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: FreedomWarrior
If she continues, she may get to the point where she believes untrained, unlicensed women also have a right to protect themselves by carrying a firearm. That'd be a neat follow up article.
12 posted on 09/24/2002 7:30:28 AM PDT by packrat01
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sloth
Still . . . it's a step in the right direction. It helps to switch people from the mentality that "a gun is an evil, dangerous object" to the mentality that "a gun, like any other tool, needs to be used properly and treated with respect because it is not a toy".

If the woman who wrote this article ever becomes one of those women who drives away a rapist at gunpoint, she will become very reluctant to endorse any gun-grabbing law and more likely to adopt a constitutional attitude toward our inviolable right to arm ourselves.

13 posted on 09/24/2002 7:48:56 AM PDT by wideawake
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: fourdeuce82d
I wish it weren't true.

One of the reasons why I'm moving.

14 posted on 09/24/2002 7:50:59 AM PDT by wideawake
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: fourdeuce82d
You have GOT to be feculating me.

In NYC, you need an expensive and hard-to-get license to OWN a pistol (which may NOT legally be kept loaded in the home, and may only be loaded at the firing range).

In NYC, getting a "carry" license is almost impossible for regular unconnected people. The publisher of the anti-gun NY Times reportedly has one, however

15 posted on 09/24/2002 7:58:02 AM PDT by SauronOfMordor
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: FreedomWarrior
Presumably NR sent a novice who had never held a weapon before to try this out because they figured that other such women would identify with her.

As for her comments about local conditions and permits, that doesn't bother me either. The other side well knows that the camel gets into the tent nose first. First one step, and then the next. . . .

The main purpose of the operation, presumably, is to bring more women into the second-amendment community, over a period of time. In the future, these women may hesitate to vote for a rabid anti-gun politician because they will see through his lies.
16 posted on 09/24/2002 8:42:55 AM PDT by Cicero
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: harpseal
For those in the Detroit area, MCRGO Women Aware runs a semimonthly New Shooters' Night at a local range.

I donate my time as an instructor to this worthy cause.

17 posted on 09/24/2002 9:09:56 AM PDT by Chemist_Geek
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: areafiftyone
"I was paired with a woman who looked a little too well primped for 8 A.M. on a Saturday, but her bull's eyes were incredible."

"Bull's eyes" - is that some sort of code or slang expression for... oh, I dunno?
<grin>

18 posted on 09/24/2002 9:50:27 AM PDT by Redbob
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Vic3O3
I wonder whiy it seems that every time an article like this appears, it has to be written by a woman who is (prior to actualy shooting a .22) utterly unfamiliar and afraid of firearms? Seems the media want the American people to think ALL women are terrified of guns...

In this case I don't think so. It is to get women who are afraid of gun ownership to identify with this lady and be more willing to take a shot at gun ownership.

19 posted on 09/24/2002 9:52:26 AM PDT by Carry_Okie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: fourdeuce82d
"he found the silhouette targets I and a couple of folks were shooting at "sinister."

From what I understand, shooting at targets like that in the Peoples' Republic of Taxachusetts will get you slammer time!
Which tells me there's one entire state full of, as you described the fellow, "nebbishy little guys".

20 posted on 09/24/2002 9:59:27 AM PDT by Redbob
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-29 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson