Author of Be Ready for Anything and Bloom Where You’re Planted online course
I’ve often written about the fact that gun control is every bit as much of a women’s issue as equal pay and maternity leave. Anyone who believes in destroying the 2nd Amendment doesn’t understand what an equalizer a firearm can be. A determined woman with a gun can fend off a number of larger male attackers, sometimes without even firing a shot.
I know this is true because I have had occasion to protect myself and my daughter with a gun in the past. But if some gun control advocates had their way, all guns would be banned. Every single one. This would take away the right of women all over the country to protect themselves.
I argue constantly that guns have a place in every woman’s home. Below, you can find 3 stories about women who defended themselves and others with guns in just the past week.
A Restaurant Worker in Wisconsin
Miranda Schaeffer told Fox & Friends that her gun may have been the deciding factor in saving the lives of herself and a co-worker last week.
She and her co-worker were physically attacked by a customer who wanted a refund at the George Webb restaurant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where they work last Friday night, July 6, 2018. Schaeffer recounted the incident:
“He didn’t look like he was playing any games with anybody. He wanted his money,” Schaefer said. “But he didn’t want to wait. Like literally maybe a minute. And as soon as [Kaehler] said you can’t come back here, that’s when he punched her. And I said ‘no, we’re not going to have no more of this.’ So I pulled out the firearm and that’s when I said ‘you’ve got to go.’”
Schaefer said the assailant would have kept assaulting her and her coworker, had she not pulled out her gun and told him to move along.
“He would have most definitely kept on coming,” Schaefer said. “He would have kept on hitting. He would have tried to fight both of us. The punch was originally for me because I told him no about the refund because I’m not allowed to you give the refund.”
“He didn’t want to wait. And since he didn’t want to wait that’s when he punched her,” she continued. “He was going to keep on going and keep on going. It was going to be bad. That punch itself was terrible.” (source)
Schaeffer’s coworker had urged her to bring the firearm to work due to a history of violent incidents at the location, as well as a lack of security.
An Ex-Wife in Alabama
A woman in Jefferson County, Alabama successfully defended herself against her estranged husband last week, as well.
Chief Deputy Randy Christian said deputies were dispatched about 10 a.m. to a home in the 2800 block of Seventh Street N.E. A woman told lawmen her estranged husband had broken into the house and tried to sexually assault her.
The woman was armed with a handgun and shot him in the leg to fend him off, Christian said. The suspect fled in vehicle but was stopped by deputies in the 1900 block of Old Springville Road. He was taken to the hospital with injuries that aren’t life-threatening.
Detectives questioned the suspect, who they identified as Eric Austin. After questioning, Austin was arrested and charged with attempted rape and second-degree domestic violence. (source)
The man was put under guard at the local hospital and will be sent to the Jefferson County Jail after he is released.
A Mom in Texas
When a Dallas, Texas mom went into the gas station for just a moment, a potential carjacker took that as an opportunity to try and steal her SUV…with her two young children inside, ages 2 and 4.
“It happened so fast…Not even five minutes, not even five minutes. It happened so fast!”
Booker said jumped back into the vehicle and ordered the man to stop the car. When he refused, she tried to push the gear into park as the car rolled through the parking lot. The suspect, Rickey Wright, still refused to stop, so Booker reached for her gun.
“When I see that he’s not trying to stop, he kept hitting the gas, I went toward my glove compartment and grabbed my gun and I fired at him from the side,” she said. (source)
She shot Wright in the face. He is in the hospital with serious injuries and has been charged with unlawful restraint and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
These women refused to be victims.
These brave women didn’t wait around to be victims. They took their personal security into their own hands. Each of them got a gun and learned how to use it. They didn’t hesitate when the time came and because of this, they and others remained unscathed.
Notice that none of the assailants threatened the women with a firearm. They tried to use their superior strength and size to intimidate their would-be victims. In each case, the gun served as an equalizer.
Biology defies the politically correct ideal that everyone is equal. If my daughters were to ever find themselves in a position where they had to fight to save their own lives, I would far rather they be armed with the handgun of their choice than any number of weekend self-defense classes. Nothing is going to empower them more than a firearm that they can use with comfort and accuracy. Nothing is going to be more likely to end a conflict before it erupts into violence than seeing that the person you thought was going to be your victim is willing to fight back with deadly force.
The idea that we all need to hand over our guns and then the world would be a safer place is nothing but a silly, rose-colored daydream with no basis in reality. If that offends you, then you need to sincerely think about the fact that under your guidelines, the smaller, weaker person will always be the victim.
We all have the natural right to protect ourselves and our loved ones. Why are some people so terrified of the idea of taking control of their own safety?
There is no way to guess how many times a firearm in the hands of a would-be victim deters a criminal and saves a life. The mere sight of a firearm doesn’t cause violence. It can prevent the violence that is brewing.
Yes, people really DO want to take all the guns.
Despite the assurances of the left that “no one is coming for your guns,” opponents of the 2nd Amendment have been a lot more vocal lately stating that this is not the truth. Last year, Lt. Governor (and would-be governor) of California Gavin Newsome flat out said on Facebook:
“It’s been 5 years since 20 first graders were shot dead at Sandy Hook…We have a message for the NRA – National Rifle Association of America: If you hurt people, we ARE coming for your guns.” (source)
A survey undertaken in March says that half of all Democrats want to ban ALL guns. Here are half a dozen articles with examples of people who want to take our guns.
And of course, these articles are a drop in the bucket. There are many, many more. Would all of these people prefer it if the restaurant workers above were killed by their assailant? If the two children were kidnapped and killed by the carjacker? If the woman was raped by her ex-husband?
Take control of your own safety.
Any person who feels marginalized or vulnerable to hate crimes should be there lining up at the shooting range with me and the three women mentioned above. If you are a gay person, a minority, a transgender person, or of a religion that is being persecuted, you, too, need to take the power into your own hands to defend yourself from the bullies of this world should they physically attack you. I urge you to get a gun and take some instruction to learn how to use it, store it, and carry it safely and responsibly. (Here are some tips on choosing a gun.)
If you agree with the following statements, then you cannot logically agree with the type of gun control that takes away everyone’s right to bear arms.
- I have the right to keep my family safe.
- I have the right to protect myself against someone bigger and stronger than me.
- I have the right to protect myself when traveling.
- I have the right to protect myself at work.
- I have the right to be safe in public places.
- I have the right not to be raped until the police arrive.
Most of us are on the same side. We want to be safe. I urge you to take that safety into your own hands like these women did, because as the saying goes, when you need help in seconds, the police are only minutes away.
Guns are the great equalizer Daisy, and we have to fight to keep it that way. I’m a 51 year old man who’s getting too old to fight with my fists but still too young to die! Widespread Chaos is held in check largely because good people have guns. It’s that simple!
I am not a sadist, per se, but have zero vested interest, in equality, between the sexes, which was never actually a conservative value.
The thing to think about, Beaumont, is the women you love. Your wife/girlfriend, your mother, your daughter. Wouldn’t you want to see them able to protect themselves against someone who might attack them?
Daisy, I recommend that, next time you run into a gun control advocate, you ask them “Why do you hate women?”.
I love watching these people try to reconcile all their conflicting “logic”.
Notice the charges against the Carjacker sound like he had a domestic dispute – No Carjacking – No Attempted Kidnapping – No Attempted Theft & this is in TEXAS! I wish she would have killed the punk. People need to be Prepared to Shoot, Stab, Club or Run-Over Any Threat to Your or Your Family & it is better to Live with any remorse over Killing another rather than your Family Grieving over Your Unnecessary Demise. Alas America is Full of P. ussies of every Size, Shape, Color & Gender.
the nra has a column in their various publications called “the armed citizen”. it’s been there for as long as i can remember. it uses the same format that you used here, that is, compiling local stories of people who used their guns for defensive purposes. many times it is a woman or a senior citizen defending themselves against a stronger or younger man or men.
i tried to explain to a friend lately, after the media, anti gun blitz following stoneman, that there are so many cases of people using guns to defend themselves. he was skeptical. his reasoning was that if this were true, it would be on the news because the media only cares about ratings and they wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to report on a good guy stopping a bad guy.
i could not convince this otherwise nice, reasonable and somewhat middle of the road, political guy.
so, pass this along. if empowered women with guns could be promoted in a #me too kind of way, it might change minds.
This is where I get people mad at me. “A safe society is one in which the criminal does not know who is armed”. With that said, I do not believe that “We the People” need governments permission to carry a weapon. What government gives, government can take away. BTW: criminals; that includes the government
Antigun legislation is victim disarmament legislation in disguise, for criminals by definition do not obey law. If criminals don’t obey law, how does antigun legislation affect them? In the positive, for it ensures the law abiding will be disarmed.
It’s refreshing to see something like this in the news. The MSM rarely allows such things to be published. Keep up the good work to maintain our 2nd Amendment rights.
People that want to take away “All the Guns” never had to face death or danger face to face. They talk about gun removal from the safety of their homes, their armchair, or I believe sitting on the John. I feel that any gun is a tool which must be treated as a tool and respected at all times. A weapon must be treated with respect, therefore, people must be trained to handle any gun with respect. And that is where the problem lies – – – TRAINING.
If you drive a car you must be trained to drive that car, ask any teenager that wants to learn to drive. All parents know that it is in the training and experience on the road that makes a driver; but, not necessarily a good driver. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there that really need to go back and retrain some more. We have all seen them. So it is with handling with guns. Everyone knows to operate a gun; you just point and pull the trigger. Right? Wrong! There is more to it than that and yet most people that have a gun have this type of mind set. They were never trained on handling a gun.
What is needed to be done is to get everyone qualified to handle and operate a gun properly. Everyone must understand the ramifications of using a gun; the consequences can and will be dire. Meaning (and I believe) everyone should be certified, just like a driver’s license, every 4 -5 years on the type of weapons that they own. If they only have a hand gun then they are trained on that and become certified on that weapon. If they have both hand guns and rifles then they must be certified for those. If they have special weapons or unique weapons then they must be certified on those as well.
The bottom line is this; if you go out in the woods, you go out armed, just in case. The same thing must apply to the concrete jungle; if you go outside your home, you must go out armed, just in case. You can’t delay, you can’t call time out while you find a phone and call for help, expecting the Calvary to come in the nick of time.
Just like 9/11, flight 93, the passagers fought to regain control of their plane knowing that they may all die anyway. So it is if you are armed with self protection. You must consider that you may find yourself in a situation in which being armed is the difference of living or dying. Therefore, you must ask yourself this question: is it in my best interest to be armed or take a chance of being held hostage to another that wishes me and mine harm? Speaking for myself – I don’t leave home with out protection.
If the government can certify or decertify your exercise of a right, it isn’t a right. Training is a good thing, and I urgently recommend it, but predicating the exercise of any right on a “good thing” is a bad thing. We can’t demand that people pass a course on parenting before they have children. We can’t demand that people show they can write three logical sentences in a row before they publish a newsletter or blog. We can’t demand that people have history or political science training before they vote (often for con artists). Hell, we can’t even demand they demonstrate that they can read or write before they cast a ballot — the Supreme Court has said so.
Now, what I would go for along these lines is mandatory firearms training in public schools. Your final grade may affect whether you get a diploma, but in no way would it determine your right to purchase a firearm regardless. Schools are happy to “teach” their students how to participate in other adult rights (like having them write letters to their representatives, or letting them walk out of school to participate in “preferred” protest activities), yet ask them to do the same for the right to keep and bear arms, and they act like you asked them to pick up dog poop without a glove.
Someone handed.me a pamphlet in the 1970’s. I trashed it, but the words are burned into my long term memory. ” We don’t want the whole loaf of bread right now, we just want a slice now and another slice later.” AND ” We will use licencing fees, registration fees and taxes, to make gun ownership so expensive, that gun owners turn in their guns rather than face fines and/or jail time.” And finally, ” we will ban first ont type of firearm, then another, until all that is left are a few hunting rifles and shotguns , then we will complete the confiscation, and they will be unable to stop us at that point.” As I have observed the anti-gun forces for the past 40 years, when they say, ” No one is trying to take your guns ” it is crystal clear that they are lying.
While I oppose further restrictions on gun ownership and possession, one of the key features the anti-gun people would like to have us believe is that gun control would reduce deaths. And of course, my objection to this article when looked at from that perspective is that it is three benefits from a gun in a week is statistically invalid. There are 90 gun deaths a day in this country. Three self-defenses in a week is a drop in the bloody bucket. Thirty of those ninety deaths are murder, the rest an assortment of causes from suicide to accident. And this is where the nutcases go crazy. Instead of enacting socially useful legislation to stop what is largely gang-banger violence, they propose eliminating guns to stop the all violence, as though that would be possible. Since most of the guns in those cases are illegal to begin with, I doubt very much that it would be possible in several lifetimes to rid this country of firearms, though they could conceivably put some gun companies out of business and make a lot of money for people selling illegal guns, just as our CongressIdiots have done first with Prohibition and now with unenforceable but highly lucrative drug laws. And since Prohibition and the drug nuttiness resulted in MORE use of those prohibited substances than existed before the laws were enacted, it’s conceivable that such laws regarding guns could have the same impact: more profits for the most evil of people, more gun violence than ever, and in addition we’d have the bonus of honest citizens being refused access to guns for their own self-defense in the face of this problem.
Cultures vary. But everywhere you go, people are nuts. Our society includes numerous freedoms other countries lack. And other countries have blessings we are denied (like France, where they enjoy naked people and lots of sex – mostly forbidden in our culture because it’s too pleasurable for us Puritans). Guns are one of our cultural icons, for better or worse. If the liberal nutcases really want to impact violence in this country, they need to provide better health care for the mentally ill (that, of course, presumes that the mental health field actually has some idea about what they’re doing, of which I am very dubious) and they need to offer social services and birth control and abortion to all who want it, since those are resources which have been clearly shown to dramatically reduce crime and violence and they can therefore produce a much improved society. But the same right wing that wants to keep their guns insists that everyone who gets pregnant must bear her kids. I suspect that this would change fast if men could get pregnant. These unwanted kids are not properly cared for due to the lack of resources available to struggling mothers. So they often become violent citizens due to their horribly socio-economic experiences. Like I said, people are nuts. Cause and effect are often well know. And just as often ignored. From both the Right & the Left.
“three benefits from a gun in a week is statistically invalid. There are 90 gun deaths a day in this country. Three self-defenses in a week is a drop in the bloody bucket.”
But this is an innumerate argument. Daisy is not saying these were the only self-defenses that happened that week — she is saying that in one week, three women actually made the news for a with-gun self-defense.
Guns account for roughly 30,000 deaths in the US every year, about 2/3 of them suicides. Guns also account for anywhere from 500,000 (the low, government-sourced number) to 4 million self-defense incidents per year. That’s *at least* more than an order of magnitude (to several orders of magnitude) more benefit than burden.
Grabbers who argue that “gun control would reduce deaths” are spotlighting the cost of guns while purposely ignoring the benefits. It’s like claiming you can “solve the problem” of deaths due to medical malpractice (98,000-440,000 annually, at least three times more than all gun deaths) by closing all hospitals. Well, yeah, you can, by definition. But now what do you do about the millions who will now die from lack of care?
WHY is this not on Drudge Report??? Do you know what it would do to Democrats that want you and I DISARMED so they can ROB US blind??? Rape your family and kill you after you watch???
They want to be like lords and kings over you. That is their GOAL!
Not a woman, but a good guy with a gun:
Update: The Lassen County Sheriff’s Office identified the suspect in the Monday, July 9 alleged car pursuit and shooting as Zachary Linboyd Estepp, 25, of Herlong, according to the most recent statement Wednesday, July 11.
The statement alleged Estepp had “an extensive criminal history with criminal convictions out of multiple central valley counties.”
Through the course of the investigation, deputies connected Estepp to a theft at Big 5 Sporting Goods in Susanville earlier that Monday.
The official cause of Estepp’s death is being determined by the Washoe County Medical Examiner’s report, as well as toxicology results.
_____
An evening pursuit and confrontation eventually left one person dead and another injured Monday, July 9.
According to a statement from the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office, the local CHP Communications Center started receiving reports of a reckless driver in a white pickup truck with U-Haul decals driving northbound on Highway 395 near the Honey Lake Rest Stop at about 7 p.m.
A CHP officer located the now deceased driver, whose identity has yet to be released, traveling at about 105 miles per hour, the statement continued, before the CHP officer lost sight of the pickup truck. However, a passing motorist informed CHP the reckless driver had turned onto Hicks Road and then traveled southbound on Ponderosa Drive.
At the intersection of Hicks Road and Ponderosa Drive, the statement noted, the suspect lost control of the vehicle and collided with a vehicle traveling southbound on Hicks Road, causing injuries to the vehicle’s occupant. The suspect fled the scene of the collision on foot and additional Susanville area CHP officers and Lassen County Sheriff deputies responded to the area.
CHP officers were then summoned by residents of a dwelling located south west of the collision on Hicks Road where the officers observed a pickup truck in the back yard of the residence.
According to the statement, officers were informed the homeowner had fired a single round from a handgun at the occupant of the truck.
The driver was believed to be the suspect who had fled the scene of the vehicle collision, the statement alleged.
CHP officers checked the occupant of the vehicle and finding no signs of life, the driver was declared deceased by a Lassen County Deputy Coroner.
CHP officers and sheriff’s deputies secured the scene and detectives from the sheriff’s office were called out to lead the possible homicide investigation, while CHP investigated the vehicle collision.
Based on the evidence collected at the scene and witness statements, the statement continued, it appeared the following events occurred after the collision:
“The suspect fled the crash scene through an area with trees, bushes and tall grass. The suspect reached a residence on Hicks Road where he armed himself with a beer bottle. The suspect entered the attached garage of the residence through an open roll-up garage door,” the statement alleged.
“The suspect then entered the living space of the house through a door from the garage and confronted the residents. The suspect held the beer bottle over his head and threatened to kill the family if they did not turn over their car keys. An adult female resident retrieved a set of keys and a handgun from another room. She gave the keys to the suspect, and the handgun to the adult male resident. The adult male resident told the suspect to stop and put his hands up, as well as other verbal commands,” the statement continued.
“The suspect did not comply, and fled the residence through the garage door. The adult male resident followed the suspect out of the residence and saw the suspect in the resident’s pickup truck. The suspect was trying to steal the resident’s vehicle. The suspect accelerated and drove toward the adult male resident. The adult male resident shot one round from a handgun at the suspect. The vehicle came to a stop after traveling a short distance. Officers arrived on scene a short time later,” the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office statement read.
The identity of the deceased suspect will not be released until positive identification is made. Washoe County Medical Examiner is performing a post-mortem examination.
The incident is still under investigation. Upon conclusion of the investigation, the case will be forwarded to the Lassen County District Attorney.
Amen, Daisy.
And jumpoffa–well thought, well spoken.
This 65 year old took a gun class from the local sheriff department and received a pistol for my birthday. My views are obvious.
I am a woman who has been around guns most of my life. I’m a good shot, I’ve had a lot of training, and I’ve had a concealed carry permit since the 90s. Carrying a weapon gives me confidence that I can overcome the odds if I’m put in a situation where my life or the lives of my loved ones are in danger. I would not hesitate to use my gun to protect myself and others and I know how to use it. No one has the right to take that away from me, and they won’t without a fight.
Funny how having so many guns to defend yourself also makes your death by gun per capita the highest of all countries not at war?
Just compare canadian cities close to your worst centres.. Detroit, Chicago, Buffalo.. and compare with Ontario.
Or just take for example Australia who banned guns in the 90s following to many shootings.. They went from being comparable to USA for gun violence to being as quiet as Canada not even 30 years later.
Its crazy how you people can still find arguments to keep your guns even tho all the evidence is against you.
On a different note, don’t give up your guns, your Government aint trustworthy..
But thats a whole different problem.
Have a good life
“Death by gun” is an artificial, meaningless number. Yes, it is. Here’s why:
https://www.gunfacts.info/blog/gun-deaths-meaningless-metric/
Your talking points about Australia are similarly flawed. It’s not enough to parrot someone’s claim about “how well gun control worked” in Australia, it’s necessary to study what, in fact, did happen in Australia. And the bottom line is: nothing.
https://www.gunfacts.info/blog/auditing-australia/
John, how about stats for other types of violence in those countries who ban guns?
Knife violence, rape, robberies, assaults?
Kennesaw, GA requires gun ownership and they aren’t the gun violence capital of the US.
Poor London….can’t even get a decent kitchen knife or pair of sharp scissors.
As the old saying goes “God made man and Samuel Colt made all men equal” a firearm is necessary for your safety anymore. Like the restaurant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin there is a whole class of people out there that feel they can assault anyone they want any time they want. The police are not there to protect you just to arrest some after the crime in a few cases. I do not see the USA getting any safer anytime soon there is a bunch of “entitled” people demanding there “rights” and some else’s money be given to them. And do not forget the “Urban youth” culture that will attack in packs too.
Ultra Skeptic, you have made more sense than anyone I’ve heard in a long time. I’m a democrat who believes there are tough issues to be worked through. Democrats and Republicans need to quit bowing down to the extremes wings of their respective parties and put loyalty to country first. I don’t know if it is due to the part of the country I live in but I personally do not know of a single democrat who does not own at least one gun.
that was very well stated.
Excellent article and examples of people that had to put their right to self defense into action. If all guns are banned they will be banned for everyone. I have served in a place or two where that was the case and the only guns were in the hands of police, military, militia or just thugs (sometimes govt supported.) Trust me when I say we do not want to go down that road. Whereas today women have the right to self defense, many do not want it or feel that they don’t have the ability. We need to increase the education and training in the right of self defense for everyone, but especially women as they more often than men become the targets of predators. A means of self defense without training is a recipe for disaster. Training is paramount. With training comes confidence and also the knowledge of how to see some of these things before they get to us. We all need to get this message out there to those that are important to us. If we are prepared, we may not come out totally unscathed, but hopefully we will be able to avoid a greater tragedy.
Bravo to you ladies!
Did you really mean the last item as you stated it? (“•I have the right not to be raped until the police arrive.”)
Gosh, I need to reword that!
they caught it first…we suspect that you meaning was different …but I saw that phrase, and had to pause and laugh…thanks for a well written piece