Since the NRA will never allow any restrictions on gun purchases, than perhaps women need to take
this situation into our own hands. Perhaps women should refuse to let the men in their lives own a gun. Since statistics show that women are more likely to be killed by their gun-loving husbands or boyfriends than a stranger, I believe women would be on solid grounds for making this demand. Oh yeah, that includes Mother's-in-Law too.
For the record, I was in the military and that's where I learned to fire an M16 and care for my weapon, and though I earned my sharpshooter badge, I never liked firing it beyond qualifications, and never wanted to own one personally. Since I worked in the Finance Office when I was stationed overseas and was a cashier on paydays, we had a team of us to go out to the field and other remote facilities on pay day to pay soldiers in cash, so I also had to qualify with the 9mm semi-automatic pistol and wear it when I went out on paydays. Later while stationed at Fort Ord, California, Soldier First, I was one of the five M60 machine gunners for my platoon, and the only woman gunner in my platoon, (lucky I guess, or more likely equal opportunity) and I was responsible for my M60's whereabouts at all times even though I rarely ever fired it, but I was responsible for checking it in and out, and transporting it to and from the range or the field when we participated in field training exercises. Though field training exercises were rare since I was a Finance Specialist, my M60 took the place of my M16 for inspections and during drills and on marches so maybe that is what cemented my disdain for weapons.
So while I never liked weapons/guns of any type, I respected them, and could and would use it to defend myself, my fellow soldiers, or my country if I had to. I just don't get the same thrill out of them that some men seem to, and thankfully, I never lived anywhere where I felt that I needed to have one to feel safe. My husband had a career in Law Enforcement and as such qualified for a concealed weapon permit here in California, even though retired, and likes to carry his. Since our children are grown and out of the house now, I think he's less cautious about locking his away in its safe, which bothers me. I know also that he rarely goes anywhere without his,(even though we live in a relatively safe community), and often when he returns, often he's distracted when he first returns, perhaps by something going on, or a game on TV or something, and then he gets busy and an hour later he's still got it strapped onto him, or he sat it on top of the china cabinet until he goes upstairs. I don't say anything to him about it as I would if our kids were living at home, but I believe with all my heart that men get a thrill out of having it strapped to them, something most women just can't relate to.
It has nothing to do with the 2nd Amendment, less to do with the thrill of hunting, even less to do with public safety and everything to do with the thrill of packing that piece of hardware that makes a man feel like a MAN. So the men of this nation should own it and stop making excuses as our nation wrestles with the realization that we are losing our children and grandparents to gun violence and we are powerless to do anything to protect them even in a church or a school because grown men need a thrill.
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