Imagine you're a woman living alone and a strange man awakens you in the
middle of the night. The man orders you around your home in a search for
money, and as you go from room to room you can see that the intruder has
already ransacked your house. Once the search is complete, the man takes
you back to your bedroom, removes your pajama bottoms and prepares to rape
you. You tell the man that you know where to find more money. In his
greed, the man lets you lead him to a closet where you retrieve a handgun.
You turn the gun on the would-be rapist and fire.
Michigan resident Alberta Nicles doesn't have to imagine such a nightmare
because at the age of 81, she lived it.
Imagine you're a woman, alone in your Florida home, when you are suddenly
confronted by a man who has broken in through a sliding glass door. The
man is wearing a mask and gloves. In his hand he carries a knife. The
crook demands money and jewelry and you comply. He then begins to beat you
in the face. You struggle to defend yourself and eventually manage to get
your hands on the pistol you keep in the bedroom. You fire, ending the
ordeal.
Like Alberta, Sammie Foust, 49 at the time, doesn't have to imagine. She
lived it.
Imagine you're a young University of Virginia graduate student. As you
leave your apartment, a man grabs you from behind and a struggle ensues as
you try to break free. Finally, the two of you fall back into your
apartment and you seize the opportunity to escape his hold. You run to
your bedroom and grab your revolver. As you return to the living room, you
aim the weapon at the attacker and order him to leave. He does.
Like Alberta and Sammie, Brenda Jones doesn't have to imagine. She lived
it.
Now... imagine that each of those weapons had a trigger lock.
Imagine the tragedy of finding an 81-year-old woman, raped and possibly
murdered, with her only means of effective self-defense locked and useless
on a closet shelf. Imagine finding Sammie, battered and beaten, if not
worse, with a totally useless weapon within reach; useless because the
trigger was locked and there was no opportunity to unlock it. Imagine what
could have happened to Brenda if the attacker had seen a trigger lock on
her gun and realized it was no threat to him.
Trigger locks are promoted as a device designed to save lives. Gun control
organizations and anti-gun politicians and activists insist they are
"common sense" measures to reduce accidental gun deaths. Al Gore promises
to enact legislation requiring trigger locks if he is elected, and George
W. Bush is already distributing them free in Texas. Congress has jumped on
the bandwagon by introducing numerous bills calling for mandatory trigger
locks as well as other measures designed to “save lives”.
Locking Up Your Safety (the term used by Gun Owners of America) may reduce
accidental deaths, but what will the measure do to people like Alberta,
Sammie and Brenda.
Studies indicate that American women use guns to protect themselves from
sexual assault as many as 561 times a day. Or, put another way:
Approximately every 2 1/2 minutes a woman in the United States uses a gun to
protect herself from sexual assault. One can safely assume that in some
cases, potential victims had, or would have had, time to unlock a trigger
lock, if necessary. And gun control activists often state that if you are
in danger, just unlock your gun and protect yourself.
However, Alberta, Sammie and Brenda prove that a sudden, unexpected attack
prevents any likelihood that a victim will be able to use a locked gun for
protection. None of these women had time to unlock a trigger lock. One
can only speculate as to what would have happened to them, and thousands of
others like them, if their guns had trigger locks.
It is estimated that at least 17 million women in the United States own
firearms. Requiring trigger locks on those weapons will make these women
easier targets for rape, robbery, assault and murder. Criminals won't have
to fear entering a woman's home as long as he ensures his attack is sudden
and unexpected, allowing no time to unlock a gun. Seventeen million women
will lose their best means of effective self-defense.
Trigger locks may prevent accidental gun injury and death. But at what
cost? How many women will be assaulted or murdered because state and
federal laws required them to lock up their safety? How many of those 561
women each day will suffer sexual assault because their guns had trigger
locks? How many women will suffer criminal prosecution because they chose
not to lock up their safety, and ultimately used the gun in successful
self-defense? Are we willing to place women in a position of choosing
between vulnerability to predators or compliance with the law?
Perhaps you could ask Alberta or Sammie or Brenda which they would choose.
But, you already know the answer.
Contact Annie at annie@codyexpress.com
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