Economist John Lott once observed that, statistically, a gun in the hands of a womanreduces the murder rate for women three to four times more than an additional man carrying a gun does for men.
Those who attended the “Armed and Fabulous” talk hosted by Townhall.com’s White House Correspondent Katie Pavlich at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last week might feel that the same multiplier comes into play when women step up to fight for the right to keep and bear firearms compared with their male counterparts, too.
The time when women firearm owners were rare are quickly fading into the rear-view mirror of history. As Salena Zito points out in a recent article, women are increasingly an important gun-owning demographic, The Pittsburgh-based reporter calls them “the next threat to the Democratic Party.”
They’re also in a rather unique social space, where they are at odds with a (gradually fading) ancient gender role in which women are not expected to physically protect themselves, and a much newer gender role particular to American politics in which women are expected to support gun control policies.
When you think about it, that sounds as though it is grounded in the ancient ‘women cannot protect themselves’ gender role that left-wing politics is supposed to disdain. (Left-wing patriarchy, perhaps?)
Because of that, the women hosted by Ms. Pavlich often have to face not just the usual disdain for their politics from the establishment media that their male gun rights activist counterparts do, but also an especial contempt because of their perceived betrayal of the expected political norms.
One of the ladies on the panel — Antonia Okafor — has to face twice as much, due to the color of her skin. Nevertheless, they persist.
And their voices are more important not just because of what they’re saying, but because of who they are, and the fact that they are laughing in the face of the establishment all the while.
They all came to firearms ownership through different paths.
Kim Corban survived a rape attack while she was a sophomore at the University of Northern Colorado; the felon (who’s now serving 24 years to life) broke into her apartment and assaulted her for two hours.
Famously, she challenged President Barack Obama’s plans to disarm the citizenry in pursuit of an imagined safety during a CNN town hall in 2016. (At the time, President Obama suggested that a gun would not have helped her fight off the attacker, saying that someone had to be “pretty well trained” to use a firearm against an attacker.)
Ashlee Lundvall came to the world of firearms through involvement in hunting.
In one sense, that stands to reason: she’s passionate about the environment, the outdoors, and conservation, and after moving to Wyoming, learned that no one helps advance those causes worldwide more than hunters. (“Hunters,” she remarked, “are the original farm-to-table people.”)
In another sense, though, it is surprising. Ashlee is the winner of the 2013 Ms. Wheelchair USA pageant, and has been partially paralyzed by an accident in 1999, and this fact is even more surprising when you learn that Ashlee became a hunter after the accident.
More recently, she has worked as a guide for introducing people with disabilities to hunting, founding the Wyoming Disabled Hunters organization. “It’s very empowering to see people get out and do things that they don’t think their disability would ever allow them to do.” The woman just doesn’t let anything stop her.
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Antonia Okafor was the Southwest Regional Director of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus while a graduate student at the University of Texas at Dallas, where she fought for the passage of the Lone Star State’s campus carry law.
Her new project is EmPOWERed, which seeks to unite women on college campuses who support owning and carrying firearms for self-defense purposes. She comes from a family of lifelong Democrats, but informed by events in her earlier life, found herself moving toward a libertarian philosophy (and, incidentally, embraced Rand Paul’s campaign for President.)
Sitting as she does at the intersection of a lot of different perspective, she takes the inevitable flak (“How can you advocate for the Second Amendment? You’re black? Isn’t that racist?”) with poise and dignity.
Kristi McMains is an attorney who was walking to her car in a parking garage one night when she was attacked by a knife-weilding kidnapper while in a parking garage. Kristi fought with all of her strength, but found that she was physically outmatched by her attacker.
“I fought like hell,” she said, “…and I still couldn’t get him off of me…. That’s why I grabbed my gun.”
Inspired by Kim Corban’s example — the two met at the 2016 NRA Convention in Louisville, where Corban was being honored — Kristi made a commercial endorsing Donald Trump’s run for President due to his support for gun rights, which was shared liberally via social media.
They are all very engaging. The firearms community is fortunate to have women like these willing to stand up and speak — not just in defense of the Second Amendment politically but also as people who work to get others involved in the hobby, in the lifestyle.
Their conversation (which includes introductory videos) is worth watching if you have the time. Which one do you think is most effective?
I don’t get it. Women (Men? We don’t need no stinkin’ men) can do anything a man can do (better), but they must have a man protect them from other men? Sounds a little chauvinistic, doesn’t it? Really puts the Demoncrat disdain for women right out there.
You have almost got it completely right. The only thing you missed is that a woman who is empowered by The State may carry a gun. (She is not to be accused of penis envy.) Any such woman – i.e., empowered by The State – is competent and justified in using a gun (purely to promote the interests of The State, but never in defense of her own life-or-limb.)
No other woman (nor any man not so empowered by The State) is competent or justified in using a gun for any reason whatsoever.
You see, only a Legitimate State – such as, for example, the Islamic State – has the Devine power (bestowed by Gaia herself) to keep or bear arms.
That is why the POTG endure so much persecution. We are the last remaining group that the State has made it acceptable to be bigoted against. So they flock in droves full of blind hatred. Luckily for us, blind mobs are usually not the sharpest knives in the drawer…
Physically most women are less able to fend off an attack by a man. Was able to do so when much younger, fitter due growing up with brothers close in age. A lot of moxie and perceived will to defend one self and experience gained by wrestling with my brother. Have carried handgun for years and can of Mace for longer. You would have to rip either from my cold, well manicured, dead hands. Very pleased to see more women taking responsibility for their own safety. The more women who tool up, the more men with evil intentions are going to have re-think women as the weaker gender. Guns can be great equalizer for both genders.
Um, yeah… Antonia Okafor? Would.
Oh hell yeah. And I say that with great respect.
You mean you WOULD if she SAID you COULD. Otherwise, you’d probably end up at room temperature.
God bless these ladies! As has often been said, 2A rights cross all gender and race lines. But they lay out the case the best.
Arm up and carry on, gals everywhere!
I got the impression that the CPAC crowd wasn’t that enthusiastic for the 2nd amendment speakers.
I hope I am wrong.
Good for them! Gun ownership is a wonderful thing, especially for women.
“Economist John Lott once observed that, statistically, a gun in the hands of a woman reduces the murder rate for women three to four times more than an additional man carrying a gun does for men.”
I hope he observed it using a clearer sentence than that mess…
“I hope he observed it using a clearer sentence than that mess…”
Always enjoy reading things from the 1700s, in the original English. Not uncommon to encounter a paragraph constructed by a single sentence. The art of writing.
And Lott said this in the age of flintlock pistols. Today the mathematics would probably work out to 45 to 60 times more. Really though, the biggest barrier to self-defense is in mental preparedness and attitude. Training and using a weapon for this purpose is both necessary and vital. Practice might not make perfect, but it may well make the difference between life and death or serious injury. The real question is whether your life is worth more that of a scumbag multiple felon, and what you are prepared to do to protect it. All power to any woman, no matter how photogenic or otherwise, who takes this important step into adulthood.
NB Edit function not working.
“The real question is whether your life is worth more that of a scumbag multiple felon….”
Keeping in mind that a scumbag felon just might have more experience gunfighting than you do. They might not be any more accurate, or have less firepower, but they have already crossed the line regarding taking a life. Without knowing which scumbag is experienced, the lawful gun owner probably should have put themselves in a position that taking a life is not a consideration when faced with a deadly assault. And that does take some getting used to .
Slow night for me – only two buying customers… but, they were both women! Things are a changin’ my friends – and I feel pretty good about it.
I would have to say that better than 50% of first time buyers I have waited on in the last 3 months were women. Maybe as high as 65%. It still pisses off to hear their boyfriend giving them the “You don’t want that stupid little .380, you want a .40 or .45 at least” bullshit. I had an older female customer who could only rack the slide on a Ruger SR 22 comfortably. Her husband kept giving her shit about it being a .22 on top of telling her a j frame was useless because it only held 5 shots so no revolvers for her. She asked me for my honest opinion and I said to her “Ma’am, if you feel that is the only gun you are comfortable with, that is the one you should get. I certainly wouldn’t want to get hit with 10 CCI mini mag hollow points coming out of that thing at well over 1000 fps.” Her husband snickered the whole time until I asked him if he was volunteering to take the test himself. She left the store happily with her new SR22.
But probably would have been better served by the “J” frame. New users can intuit how a revolver works so much more easily than semi autos. The generally more potent rounds, and lighter ammo being easily available help too.
If only people could see past the “magazine capacity” mental block.
“If only people could see past the “magazine capacity” mental block.”
Can’t count on encountering only one assailant. Why, I remember reading somewhere that the average assault on people is usually 10-17 bad guys, almost simultaneously. Gotta have at least 30 rounds in your pistol. And now they make a .46, so that old time .45 is pretty useless.
The Women’s Defense League of NH has been leading the way for years.
I bought my sister a gun last year, an M&P Shield in 9mm Luger. She has her CCW permit but is still reluctant to carry it as often as I had hoped. There’s a certain ‘fear factor’ to overcome which takes some time and perhaps a close shave with an actual crime as the women in the article experienced. Survive an attack and you’ll be a born-again concealed carrier. If you are so lucky as to survive.
Please continue to work with your sister. Her fear factor can get her killed, standing and thinking when she should be running away.
My son saw pictures of women with guns and it blew his mind. He couldn’t fathom why a woman would want/need/use or even hold a gun.
Took a little teaching moment right there. No idea how he even got that idea in his head.
It is good to see women standing up for common sense and the 2A. Bravo.
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