“‘I know everything about you,’ said the caller in a high-pitched voice. ‘I’ve been watching you. Your every step. I’m coming for you Emily.’ Also, ‘I’m a crazy mother f–er. This is not a game. This is not for some f–ing scary f–ing movie. This is real business.’ Finally the caller ended with, ‘Don’t you think of going to the police.'” So, Washington Times gun rights gal Emily Miller received a death threat. Not that it’s all about me, but so have I. Several. The main difference between Ms. Miller and myself (other than the obvious): I have a RI weapons permit. And a City of Providence concealed carry permit. Ms. Miller can’t carry in D.C. That’s left her a bit “on edge” . . .
Listening to the message, my hands were shaking so hard, I couldn’t dial the phone. With my heart pounding, I ran to my car and drove to the nearest police station. It was dark out, but I looked in my rearview mirror as I drove, hoping just to get in the parking lot before something happened.
I played the message to the desk officer, but she was nonplussed. “Did you break up with a boyfriend recently?” she asked. No. “Is there an ex-husband?” No. “What about a girl who thinks you dated her boyfriend?” No, I said there’s nothing like that in my life. I refused to be brushed off as a girl in a love triangle.
“You should know that this might be a threat of violence,” I said pointedly. “I’ve been writing a series of articles in the newspaper about getting a gun in D.C., and some people aren’t happy about it.” That was enough to get her to call a detective to the front desk to take me seriously.
So if you’re a single woman in the nation’s capital who doesn’t write for a national newspaper/website, you’re SOL. Actually, you’re SOL even if you do. The po-po told Ms. Miller it was OK to buy pepper spray on the DL: ““Look, if you use it for self-defense, we won’t charge you.”
Somehow in the convoluted logic of public safety laws in the District, I am supposed to be comforted that if I attempt to defend myself with pepper spray against an armed homicidal maniac on the street, I probably won’t go to jail for it. I don’t blame the police for this stupidity, but rather the liberal city council that passes these inane ordinances in the name of public safety.
Ms. Miller concludes by railing against waiting periods for permission to keep a gun at home.
This is what makes the waiting periods so dangerous. People get guns because they [the people] aren’t safe. When you arbitrarily make them wait, while not disarming the bad guys, you’re just setting people up to be victims.
Methinks Ms. Miller needs to think a bit more globally and focus on the right to purchase and carry a firearm in DC. Meanwhile, if I were her, I’d be tempted to carry anyway. A real career builder, should things go south. At least in theory.
[Note to Ms. Miller: knees bent, butt out]
And here I thought antis were all for peace, non-violence, and “compromise.” Whoops, couldn’t keep a straight face through that sentence.
Next you’ll tell me that leftists actually practice the tolerance they preach.
Who says it’s a lefty or a gun control advocate. My bet is the ones making threats are the purists among you. You know Robert capitulates to the enemy on certain issues. Some of you guys don’t like that. I don’t know about Emily. Maybe some misogynist gun nut who doesn’t like a “girl” getting all the attention.
Capitulates to what enemy about what? Are you calling me a misogynist? Yourself? Dude start making sense.
“Maybe some misogynist gun nut who doesn’t like a “girl” getting all the attention”
MikeB,
What about the several threats that RF has received? Would you say they might have been done by “misandrists” which is someone who hates males? In modern society there are far more misandrists than there are misogynists. It is actually socially acceptable to be an open misandrist though not a misogynist.
I suspect that you are just a simple brainwashed PC pro-feminist progressive who is ignorant and in denial of history and facts.
During the 20th Century more innocent civilians were murdered by their own governments than by foreign invasions and wars. Most of those deaths were by left of center governments such as occurred in the Soviet Union, China, Cambodia (Kymer Rouge), etc. While not as far left with their economic policies, the Nazi Fascists were in the same league with their big nanny-police state government, and the close coop of big business and big government. A small government that cannot threaten the people is the way to go.
Governments like criminals prefer unarmed victims…
I’m sure the DC police will exhaust all efforts to protect Emily. It would help if she was a member of the Federal Government though, or someone with connections.
I wish her the best but really it might be time to consider moving to VA.
Exactly my thought.
A lot of affluent DC residents dismiss Northern Virginia as the “burbs” without bothering to every go there except maybe to shop at the Pentagon City Mall, DCs new downtown. If they bothered to look around they would find out that Northern Virginia has become an urban area in its own right with more than twice the size of DC in population. We don’t need the district. We have more and better restaurants and shops, and if we want a little culture then the Kennedy Center is readily accessable. It takes me less time to get there than most DC residents who might be interested in that kind of thing. Northern Virginia is the urban center of the region not DC.
I live in NoVa and I concur with you 100%.
I concur.
I live in NOVA too. Went into DC for the first time in over two months this past weekend. DC is kinda meh to me now, I can take it or leave it. Usually I leave it. Would rather spend my time points west, north (not MD) or south of DC.
If every death threat ended with, y’know, a murder death kill, there’d be nobody left alive. Any jag0ff with testes the size of raisins can turn his widdle pu$$y self into a superterrorist with nothing more than a stamp or a telephone. It must be very empowering for the little emasculated pixies.
I’ve been threatened — most lawyers have — and my response was to burst out laughing, mostly because the putz who threatened me had way more to fear from me than I had to fear from him.
In the words of that old song, “You’re nobody til somebody threatens you.” It proves that you’re making a difference.
Yeah but Emily is a rather slight young woman who cannot carry on the street. I can understand her concerns.
@Ralph
I’ve recieved death threats as well, but I can and do carry virtually all of the time (in the crapper, but not in the shower). Emily is an advocate for us, without much in the way to defend herself. That is truly sad. I would suggest a taser, or a knife, or perhaps an ill-tempered dog, because pepper spray wouldn’t stop many attackers. Then again, few things beat a good firearm ready to go. Isn’t that what TTAG is all about?
Come on, we all know if she gets a dog the cops will shoot it. PETA would probably persecute a dog owner that wanted a gun. Has there ever been a time when catch-22 wasn’t epidemic?
> “perhaps an ill-tempered dog”
Better yet, “ill-tempered sea bass with laser beams strapped to their heads!”
(FYI, that’s from the Austin Powers movie… Evil Enterprises couldn’t afford sharks with laser beams, so they had to settle for putting lasers on “ill-tempered sea bass”)
wow scary stuff for sure, i sure hope that she takes steps to actively protect herself, but out of her home and within. i live in pg county outside of DC and i would be right in the same boat as her if someone threatened me. scary.
+1 on Ralph’s opinion, Emily. Guys like this are cowards. No worries, in all likelihood. You never know though, keep your guard up but don’t give him the fear he craves. I wish you the best.
It only takes one of these f**ktards to be serious to go from being alive to dead. Sure, probably 99% of threats are nothing more than hooey, but that 1% could very well kill you. I don’t see her situation being the same as Ralph, as he clearly gets threatened all the time.
Too bad SCOTUS ruled that the PD has no obligation to protect citizens.
The trouble with laughing off death threats is that every so often one of these weinies actually follows through. Laugh, but carry a gun just in case. Fvck the D.C. laws, that’s what attorneys are for.
Easy to say as someone who probably doesn’t live in DC and have to take the same legal risks to carry. I live in NJ and would have similar fears with carrying. If you get identified with your firearm one time you may find yourself without any rights to own at all. It’s real easy to just tell someone else to blow off the law without consideration for the consequences.
Attorneys cost money. Governments have pretty much unlimited funds and they will gladly spend other taxpayer’s cash to prosecute you. As someone who lives in a gun free zone…I mean State, I can pay dearly for something as trivial as having a stock that folds / collapses, let alone for carrying a concealed weapon. Prosecutors, judges, even if Republican, believe that ordinary citizens have no need for guns and everyone will be safer without them. So imagine if you get a left-leaning judge…you’re toast. I mean, sure, I can buy a PMAG that holds 30 rds, 15 more than I’m allowed, but is it worth the risk of losing my gun rights permanently? In states like NJ, NY, IL the general public is probably against guns, so arguing that your 2A rights are being trampled will probably get you nowhere, fast.
And this is one of the points I’m making a lot. I am an American, regardless of my state od residence. My rights are gauranteed under the constitution no matter what my zip code is.
The sooner these civil rights violaters are tarred and feathered the better.
I hear you and I agree, but if I’m not mistaken even the Supreme Court ruled that some “reasonable” restrictions of the 2A are ok, each state is free to implement their own (don’t get me started on The Supremes and their disregard for the Constitution). If you live in a blue state you’ll go against prosecutors, judges and juries who see guns as evil. They may “allow” you to have a gun at home, but don’t even think about carrying it outside.
Crime is not a concern of government. The previous is a bold statement, but is borne out by the extreme events in Mexico and other places in the world. An ideal situation for the government in fact is MORE violent crime,as every incident gives the government more reason to grow its power and more opportunities for the criminals to extort the citizens. The funds from such extortion then flow back to the government, and the cycle continues.Everybody wins except the guy & gal on the ground.
This is bullshit, this young woman shouldnt have to fear for her life and should have the right to protect herself with a gun if necessary.
She’s free to come hang out in NoVA.
Technically, she doesn’t even have the right to carry around pepperspray in DC, but cops there tend to look the other way if females are carrying it concealed.
Ya I was wondering if they have the same attitude about men having pepper spray, or would they have even suggested it. There’s also an inherent problem when the police are telling you to blow off a law. At the end of the day the word of one cop does not prevent you from being charged with something later.
I’ve had a couple of threats made against me, and I’m 6′-3″ and weigh 295. And I still got a little aprehensive about doing business as usual. I can understand a petite young lady being much more concerned. Tough way to learn about situational awareness. May the angels watch over her. And she might not be able to carry a firearm, or legally even pepper spray, but a 6 cell Maglite makes a nice defensive weapon, and I know of no jurisdiction in the USA where it is illegal to carry a flashlight.
That’s a good call. A SureFire LED Defender flashlight or Olight M30 with a crenulated strike bezel are also good choices for nighttime. It’s hard to kill somebody if they just scorched you retinas.
I read this on her facebook post the other day, scary stuff.
She has been writing about her whole gun purchase process in DC along with CCW, and other gun related incidents in our nations capital.
1) Move.
1a) Carry anyway.
Note to Ms. Miller: move.
I have a sinking feeling this may turn out to be a publicity stunt.
Thank you for posting this. I’m writing a multi-part series on the laws against mace in this city in order to illuminate how residents are forced to be defenseless victims. My short-term goal is to get the mace registration law off the books. My long-term goal is to get DC to recognize our Second Amendment right to bear arms so that enough residents will carry guns to deter the criminals from attacking us on the streets. I really appreciate everyone’s support. The whole gun series is at this link: http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/guns/
Emily,
If you’re interested, I’d be happy to offer my assistance.