Not sure if you all knew this, but when join the NRA you get to choose from several NRA magazine options upon membership. While there are many awesome options, my husband subscribes to American Rifleman and the shop subscribes to Shooting Illustrated, I selected America’s 1st Freedom (of course). Each month I get awesome ideas for this blog and educate myself about what happening to our rights. On the cover of the July issue is a picture of Stacy Washington, a reporter/writer who had the “audacity” to call out another writer for comparing the NRA to ISIS, and after reading the article, Stacy on the Outs (more background on the article is available in the article Media Double Standards Explained - both written by Washington herself), I was distressed at the fact that she lost her job because she told the truth. While that is very upsetting in and of itself that is not what I want to focus this blog post on, what I really want to talk about, what I started to think about as I read the article, is the following question: If Washington was a man would the left be as offended and had as much of a knee-jerk reaction as it did? Is there a problem with women who support the 2nd Amendment?
Sometimes I feel like the left believes being a woman and supporting second amendment rights are fundamentally juxtaposed. As if women defending their right to keep and bear firearms is somehow opposed to their existence as a woman. Is it because guns can take lives and women are supposed to be nurturers who value life (expect when it comes to infant murder - a.k.a. abortion - to the leftists)? Is it because shooting is considered a “man’s” sport? Or maybe it is because, as women, we are stereotyped to be victims NOT victors. There are so many things wrong with each of these reasons, none of them are acceptable, yet all of them seem to pop up in one way or another in the media.
Let’s start with the first option: guns take lives and women are supposed to be nurturers. There are so many ads out there that play on women’s commitment to their roles as mothers and protectors of children. Below are a few of those ads. What these ads are doing is asking women to toss aside common sense and buy into the fear-mongering constructed by left-wing extremist group think. Let’s apply some of that common sense. How easy is it for a child to access a toy, a book, or a ball? So easy that it seems silly to even ask the question. How easy is it for a child to access a semi-automatic rifle? In all honesty, it is very difficult. They are not found within arms reach at stores, there are not libraries that house them, there are not gyms that have open access to a gun room, the fact of the matter is that the good majority of responsible gun owners who also have children keep their guns safely stored away from the reach of tiny hands. To make it seem like children have free access to firearms is absolutely ridiculous and does nothing to advance the discussion about firearms safety in the home.
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 | On to the second possibility, that shooting is a “man’s” sport. Well that’s just silly, there are no signs posted at shooting ranges that say “Must Have Penis to Enter”. My husband has a quote he likes to refer to every now and then that says “God made Man, and Samuel Colt made them equal”, basically saying that size, height, and gender does not matter - every person is as capable of owning a gun as the next. Women in the shooting sports is very common. Gold medalist (many times over) Kim Rhode has proven that women are just as capable as men when it comes to shooting sports, and just as passionate too. Oh, you have never heard of Kim Rhode, she is the winningest female in Olympic shooting sports; boasting 3 gold, 2 silver, and 6 bronze medals. Not surprised you have never heard of this amazing woman, the mainstream media has ignored her many accomplishments because of her chosen sport. The fact of the matter is that women hunt and women shoot - and the best thing is, despite the left’s attempt to tell you otherwise, more and more women continue to join the ranks of the armed and fabulous! |
Finally, and perhaps the MOST offensive assumption is that women are weak victims, we are not supposed to be strong, we are not supposed to be victors. What are we living in the stone age? The idea that women are not equipped to protect themselves is what kept them as second class citizens for centuries. The right to possess firearms is one that gives women the backing to stand up and say “I am no victim, I have the strength, knowledge, and will to protect myself and my family! I am not weak, I am not afraid, I am not your next target!” There are many women out there (single women, single mothers, women whose spouses are away/deployed) who feel more confident in their ability to guard themselves and their families from potential foes because they are armed, know how to use, and are not afraid to use their firearm.
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Gun rights are not just for men and gun control WILL NOT protect women. The 2nd Amendment is not a gendered right, it applies to every gender, race, color, creed, religion, orientation, and political affiliation. It is an American right that should only be denied to those who have lost their eligibility through poor choices, extremist affiliation, and criminal activity. Women are just as capable, and have as much of a right to own guns and support gun rights as men. As a woman who owns guns and supports the 2nd Amendment I call on all the other women who stand with me to rise-up against leftist tyranny, deny their claims that we, as women, are supposed to support women’s reproductive rights and abortion but are supposed to rally against the freedom exercise our constitutional right to own a firearm, and speak-up and speak-out - as Stacy Washington did - about our rights.
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