Elle Magazine publishes pro-gun piece
Women’s magazine, Elle, has published, what I think is, a pretty fair, pro-gun article by Amand Fortini. In the article, Fortini talks about how she, as someone who is deathly afraid of guns, came to buy one. As with anything else, it’s possible to learn from the experiences of others, so I encourage you to read the article and then come back so we can talk about a few things…
Ready? Good. Off we go.
First, in a few instances, Fortini talks about women who carry a gun in their purse. Please. Don’t. Do. This. I know it’s the cliche and every woman you’ve ever seen on TV with a gun carries it in her purse, but find another way to carry it. Why? You women out there who’ve ever had your purse snatched, how long did it take? A hot second, right? With your gun in the purse, not only does this guy have your money, credit cards and phone, now he has your gun too. How long until that gun shows up at a crime scene? There are better ways to carry it and plenty of female shooters on the internet who can show you how.
Second, even after buying her gun, Fortini keeps it on her shelf, unloaded. She’s still afraid of it and even admits that it won’t do much good in that condition should she need it. Now, whether or not you keep your weapons loaded in your home is up to you, so I’m not going to say, “She should have it loaded!” because I know there are people out there in different circumstances who would not keep their weapons loaded. Maybe they have young kids and don’t want to risk it. That’s fine. Everyone must balance the risks for themselves.
I will, however, say two things on this. First, she’s not doing very well balancing those risks. She bought a gun for protection and then made sure it can’t help protect her. It’s like buying a pitbull to guard your house and then knocking all its teeth out and putting a muzzle on it. She’s still afraid of the weapon, and I get that, but there are better ways of making the trade-off. She could get a small pistol safe that opens to her fingerprints and put a loaded weapon in that. It’s not going to go off in there. The second thing I’ll say on this is that the problem she needs to overcome is the fear. My father once told me something. He said, “Never carry a weapon you’re going to be afraid to use.” Loaded or unloaded, that weapon isn’t going to help her if she’s more afraid of it than she is the danger she bought it to protect her from. Some time at the range, practicing, will do her much more good than putting it on the shelf to rust.
It’s my firm belief that if you’re a woman, or gay, or part of a community where there are people out there who want to kill you for the crime of being alive, you should learn to use a gun. Now, I know there are people who don’t like them. I get that. Really, I do. That’s a personal choice, and I respect that. I’m not saying you should OWN a gun. I’m saying you should know how to use one. In most places in the U.S., you can buy a gun in a day. But learning to use one safely and effecively takes much more time, and if you ever decide you really need one, you might not have that time. I think Fortini taking the class was probably the smartest thing she could have done. Even if she decides to sell the gun she has and never pick one up ever again, she knows how to use one should the need ever arise, and that is incredibly valuable.
TJ
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