Women and Our 2nd Amendment
When most people think of the Second Amendment and gun rights, the image conjured up usually involves burly men wearing camo as they hunt in the woods, or perhaps husbands tiptoeing downstairs in the middle of the night to protect their families from intruders. Certainly, these people are important parts of those protected by the Constitution and its indelible decree that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”. But what many people forget, tragically, are the many great things our Second Amendment provides for women. Women are refusing to be another victim, empowering themselves and make use of their 2nd Amendment rights.
We’ve all heard the stories. A working woman walking to her car at night is followed by a strange man, and saved from a terrible violation by brandishing the handgun in her purse. Once a young wife was on the phone with her husband, who listened in terror as she hid in their bedroom from a burglar who has broken in. Clutching a gun in her hands, she repeatedly warned the burglar to back off as he ignored her and encroached upon her. She is alive today only because she emptied her clip into the malevolent man.
So, instead of the unwritten rule of run, hide, and wait to be rescued, for YOUR sake – PROTECT yourself!
These are the stories that need to be told more often, and fortunately, of late they are. The National Rifle Association (NRA) has recently launched commercials featuring women talking about the safety afforded them by the fact that they own guns and carry them for protection. It’s a good thing. Countless women are saved every day from rape, robbery, and other horrible crimes merely by being armed. Usually, just showing their gun is enough to make a criminal back off and reconsider his intentions. If not, women can and should be trained in the use of their weapons, in that terrible scenario that they must defend themselves or their families.
Women carrying guns, and being respected for it, is a natural extension of the admirable appreciation for female rights that has grown in modern American society. This is a time when women can hold jobs, serve in the military, and generally do something other than stay at home caring for children if they so wish. An essential component of this liberated mindset is that they be able and prepared to protect themselves, and show that they are not the frightened, defenseless flowers once portrayed in popular media. The NRA’s new campaign is a brilliant step in the right direction, and is to be encouraged.
