Was Bellesiles a co-author? Really, it is so easy for them to ignore the millions of women who have avoided attack and rape by merely brandishing a firearm or wounding an assailant.
I personally know 2 local women who avoided attack by merely brandishing.
Sadly, I've met several women at ranges and training who have gotten firearms after the fact. They won't be victims again.
They also assume that if there were no handguns, that abusive husbands and boyfriends wouldn't just bash their heads in with a hammer.
Really, it is so easy for them to ignore the millions of women who have avoided attack and rape by merely brandishing a firearm or wounding an assailant. Why not? The American press completely ignores this factor too.
The violence policy center completely disgusts me. This piece is meant to appear like a learned study, but it operates from a purposefully false premise...that only when a woman KILLS HER ASSAILANT is her use of a handgun an effective deterent.
My Mom has carried a .25 Mauser in her purse for more than 50 years now (She's 79). Never fired in anger, well, except for that black snake that scared the cra.., er, daylights out of her on the camp toilet back in 1959.
The black snake escaped unharmed, but was surely deterred from ever bothering my Mom ever again.
..and yes, we've tried to convince her to upgrade many times through the years, but she's really attached to her little Mauser and wouldn't think of trading it in. My Dad has quit carrying his double action Army Colt .45 revolver under his jacket and changed to a 9mm in a Colt Commander stainless frame as a concession to his advanced years.