Put guns in the hands of gals

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Most of the posted comments are favorable:

http://www.baltimoreexaminer.com/local/crime/121808kanecolumn.html


Put guns in the hands of gals
By Gregory Kane
Examiner Columnist | 12/17/08 10:17 PM


A few years ago I did a story about a joint education program that involved a partnership between Johns Hopkins Hospital and Dunbar High School.

Neither that program nor that partnership is pertinent to this column. The woman who walked up to me after she learned that I was doing a newspaper story is.

"Please," she pleaded, "don't put my name or my picture in the story. My ex-boyfriend doesn't know where I am, and I don't want him to find me."

I didn't say it at the time, but I sure as heck thought it: Honey, I said to myself as the woman walked away, your ex-boyfriend needs an attitude adjustment. The kind given in the workshop sponsored by those famous and esteemed Americans Mssrs. Smith and Wesson.

I believed it then, and I believe it even more now: Women need to be armed with handguns. And even if that's not true of every woman, it certainly is true of those who find themselves menaced by whack-job boyfriends or husbands or whack-job ex-boyfriends or ex-husbands.

In fact, I once proposed that Congress pass a national, MANDATORY must-carry permit for Americans, but with one stipulation: Only women would be allowed to carry handguns. Men couldn't, on the grounds that our record with firearms has been, oh, what's the word I'm looking for?

Spotty?

I was joking, of course. A little.

What is definitely not a joke is what happened to Veronica Williams outside a district court on North Avenue last month. A man stabbed her repeatedly before a police officer tried to use a Taser to subdue the assailant. When that failed, the cop shot him.

Veronica Williams eventually died from her stab wounds. Police have identified her husband as the killer. Marty Burns, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore State's Attorney's office, said Cleaven Williams was indicted earlier this week for murdering his wife.

Burns also said that Cleaven Williams had to appear in court this week on first and second-degree assault charges stemming from a warrant issued in 2003. That warrant wasn't served until after Cleaven Williams was arrested for allegedly murdering his wife on Nov. 24.

That was the day Veronica Williams went to district court seeking a protective order against Cleaven Williams. I hate to criticize the dearly departed, but that was Veronica Williams' biggest mistake. She should have gone to her nearest gun shop and bought a .25-caliber or .32-caliber pistol a woman could easily handle and then put Mr. Cleaven Williams on notice: This handgun is my protective order.

Maybe Veronica Williams didn't have it in her to commit the type of violence defending herself with a handgun would have required, so she relied on the state to protect her. Those of us who advocate a right-to-carry for law-abiding citizens and a liberal interpretation of our Second Amendment rights know one thing above all else: The state can't protect us. Sometimes we have to do it ourselves.

That especially applies to women who find themselves menaced by obsessive, controlling, jealous, violent men. Such men desperately need therapy, but if they can't or won't get it, then women in danger from them are left to their own devices. One of those devices is self-defense, not a protective order.

When one of these whack jobs gets it in his head that he absolutely, positively MUST harm the woman he claims to love, I don't think the penalty for violating a protective order will be much of a deterrent. If he's willing to face the penalty for murder, then he's not going to sweat the penalty for violating a protective order.

Some will argue that a woman carrying a handgun won't be much of a deterrent either. Maybe it won't. But if the woman's aim is true, the handgun would sure as heck be a stopper. That's the truth we need to face about out-of-control men who want to murder their wives, girlfriends, ex-wives or ex-girlfriends: They need to be stopped.

The state can't stop them. Armed women can.

Gregory Kane is a columnist who has been writing about Baltimore and Maryland for more than 15 years. Look for his columns in the editorial section every Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at gregkane@mac.com.






[align=right]13 Comments [/align]

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Only one problem with all women carrying, I have a very psycho ex that I wouldn't trust with a slinky or jar of Silly Putty. Geez.

But I do agree that women should take responsibility for their own safety and that the government should provide for people to be self sufficient and self reliant.

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I've talked to many women who hold a helpless attitude that they need to be awaken from. For instance, there was a rash of rapes around a college campus area and a girl I talked to said she didn't know what she would do so she got a whistle from the police that she could blow on to alert someone if she was in trouble. Most of the other stories are the same. They know there is a danger out there yet they don't seem willing to formulate a common-sense response to it. Naturally, I told her to get a shotgun for her home and at the very least a can of pepperspray to carry around. She and most of these girls don't even want to consider carrying pepperspray. This was at a time where even I didn't own any guns then but even I was carrying pepperspray and a small knife and had usable tools in my home such as a baseball bat.

I think a big part of the problem is that women (and men) don't want to do a reality check that will give them the conclusion they don't want to face: that they actually have to take care of themselves without depending on the government or anybody else to do it. One girl I know did a reality check but too late. She had thought at the time that "you shouldn't be paranoid" and "can't live in fear." That changed when one night at about 8-9 pm, seven men walked into her apartment which was unlocked because her brother also "didn't live in fear." Several of them had handguns and demanded money. She was asleep at the time so they confronted the brother who had to hand over thousands of dollars in cash and small valuables. One of the men went to the bedroom, got on top of her, and said "I reallyoughtto rape you and kill you" but didn't do it and all of them left, got away, and the police never found them. Obviously, something now clicked in her brain because the very next day she bought a shotgun. The sad thing is that most of them don't do this reality check until it is permenately too late as in they don't survive the encounter.

I do have to say though that if seven men are breaking in, forget the shotgun and instead pick up a rifle such as an AK-47.

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I have a female friend who once took a self-defense class and quit because she said, "I didn't want to be that kind of person."

I asked her what she was talking about, and she said that the instructor and the other female students freaked her out because of their attitude that they have to worry about crime and that they looked like they were all afraid of something. Telling her to carry a gun is an excercise in futility, obviously. And this is a women who lives in DC! Not only that, she's from a western state and is quite accustomed to having firearms in the house, but having a gun somehow makes you a hard-faced paranoid. When I asked her how she would respnd to a real threat, she said she would probably just give up and accept her fate. Huh?

Now, she's a good friend, so I won't call her any names. And she's not stupid, either. She just refuses to face reality. But I made no bones about the fact that her attitude is contemtible and deserving of scorn. Any adult who refuses to defend herself is a pathetic creature. There's a reason why we always look up to those with courage.

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No offense intended, but she sounds like a friend of mine who just loves being the victim - of everything.

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I had a friend who thought a women raped and killed was morally superior to a women who defended herself with a firearm . never resist just allow yourself to be killed or worse. worst part was he is a lawyer .

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Sounds like lawyer talk. Maybe a morally superior lawyer is one who gets killed instead of defending criminals... And ex-wives.

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I'm at a loss as to why such mentality exist like the examples protector aned Tomahawk have given. Do these people not put any value in their own lives?

I just can't think like that. My life may not be anything to brag about but it's mine and I'm inno hurry to give it up any time soon. When I find myself in a situation (I did once) where someone threatens to take it away from me, I get really pissed.

I am not a pleasant person to be around when I'm really pissed. :X

Am i wrong for being a proponant of natural rule, "Survival of the fittest, let the rest parish".

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Sounds right to me. I was also presented with the same situation, fight or flight. A couple of times actually due to business in a late evening in a bad place where I should have known better but my job as an HVAC service Tech gave me no choice.

Needless to say I am still here, and a bit tougher for having dealt with it all. I no longer take any crap from anyone and am much better at diplomacy before force. But don't get me wrong, I will NOT back down if it's something I know I am prepared for. And I will definitely NOT back down when the safety of my family and friends are involved.

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Task Force 16 wrote:

I'm at a loss as to why such mentality exist like the examples protector aned Tomahawk have given. Do these people not put any value in their own lives?

Click to expand...

I have always thought that one of the characteristics of such people, and of socialist-type thinkers in general is self-hatred. White liberals think of themselves as racists deserving of punishment, environmentalists think of humans as a scourge on the planet, leftists tend to blame all problems on their own country, or on the western world and its culture, and so on.

In a way, this is indeed sucidal. Lots of stuff has been written on how the affluent west is killing itself in self-remorse and guilt.

I think that in the individuals mentioned above the same mentality is going on. They view their own lives as somehow wrong and not worth defending. I find this contemptable, because they often want to project this on you and me and on children and make us all feel guilty for being willing to defend ourselves, for having courage and a concept of self-worth. They even pass laws that reflect this insanse, suicidal nonsense forcing us to act like cowards.

It's called gun control.

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Do you have a background in psychology, or are you just an astute observer of people? You make a lot of sense, Tomahawk. I agree with your views on people projecting their own self-hatred onto others. It is basic psychology.

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opusd2 wrote:

Do you have a background in psychology, or are you just an astute observer of people? You make a lot of sense, Tomahawk. I agree with your views on people projecting their own self-hatred onto others. It is basic psychology.

Click to expand...

Pfffttt Tomahawk just watches a lot of Dr. Phil and Oprah.
:shock:

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Hey, I liked Dr. Phil. But only in his role in the movie "Scary Movie 4".

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No degree. I'm what you call a "toilet seat philosopher" because of where I do all my thinking and get all my epiphanies. Sometimes I dabble in "hot shower psychology" as well, but only when bathing becomes important.

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Tomahawk wrote:

Task Force 16 wrote:

I'm at a loss as to why such mentality exist like the examples protector aned Tomahawk have given. Do these people not put any value in their own lives?

Click to expand...

I have always thought that one of the characteristics of such people, and of socialist-type thinkers in general is self-hatred. White liberals think of themselves as racists deserving of punishment, environmentalists think of humans as a scourge on the planet, leftists tend to blame all problems on their own country, or on the western world and its culture, and so on.

In a way, this is indeed sucidal. Lots of stuff has been written on how the affluent west is killing itself in self-remorse and guilt.

I think that in the individuals mentioned above the same mentality is going on. They view their own lives as somehow wrong and not worth defending. I find this contemptable, because they often want to project this on you and me and on children and make us all feel guilty for being willing to defend ourselves, for having courage and a concept of self-worth. They even pass laws that reflect this insanse, suicidal nonsense forcing us to act like cowards.

It's called gun control.

Click to expand...

If these peoples lives are so miserable why don't they dothemselves and the rest of usa favor and delete themselves. I've had enough of their projection.

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If you look closely you will see they ARE deleting themselves, and taking us with them by voting for those who will take control of their lives and remove any trace of self-regulation and therefore guilt and self-blame from their actions. Our grand Poobah "O'blame-ah" will take care of those poor innocent souls, and as we've already seen - the rest of us too.

We are so afraid of this politician-wannabe in the league of Hillary C. who has YET to do any major politificating (word intentionally made up us as only a bitter gun clinging religious man would say) but whose very presence has created a fracas in the form of an ammunition and firearm buying frenzy which makes it nearly impossible to either find or afford the ammunition one wants for everyday stuff. Now this increased demand in the market is allowing for the fear mongers to consider how they can put more restrictions and financial attachments to those products we are buying the most.

I am guilty of it too, having started a couple of years ago buying slowly, but am kicking myself for not getting a particular piece when it was more available. Having gone to a couple of sporting good stores yesterday, I saw a pre-Y2K situation with regards to common ammunition being bought out or elevated in prices, and most worthwhile firearms being sold out. At least it was scarce to see an EVIL black gun out there.

My point to make, having said more than needed to, is that those of us who take responsiblity for our own needs and actions will be pulled into the flushing swirl of those who expect others to take care of them. That is unless we vigilintly work harder than ever to make it known we are not riding the status quo turd down the drain. Not without a huge fight.