My wife has her CCW license and I started teaching my daughter to shoot when she was 8 years old.
Posted on 06/13/2009 2:03:16 PM PDT by Red in Blue PA
LAKE WORTH, Fla. -- Some businesswomen who work in a Florida area hit hard with crime are arming themselves and taking matters into their own hands.
Lake Worth business owner Mayra Ramirez has been practicing at the Palm Beach Shooting Range in Lake Worth for months.
"I was always against guns but from watching the news and seeing so many things happen, I figured it was time to get one," Ramirez said.
Ramirez is arming herself because she's fed up with the crime around her business. A week ago a man was shot just steps away from her storefront.
"At the beginning, firing a gun was terrifying," she said. "When I first started I couldn't stop shaking. But after your first few times, you look forward to coming in."
A few doors down from Ramirez's store, coffeehouse owner Marilin Garcia is also arming herself for the first time.
"You can protect yourself just being alert and in case you see danger, it's there for you to use," Garcia said.
Gun shop sales show tens of thousands of Florida women are now carrying a pistol.
"They are looking to protect themselves and keep the criminal at bay," said Jerry McClellan, an employee of the Pam Beach Shooting Range. "They come in here, take a lesson and we start them out with something fun. Then we move them up to something they will carry for self defense."
Ramirez's gun of choice is a .38 special.
It's called the Pink Lady, and by the looks of the bullet hole in the target, you can see she's on the mark.
"Don't mess with females," Ramirez says
Personally, I think guns are overrated, and for a bunch of reasons. I will usually prefer a knife, and I think that it would be the best choice for the majority of women as well. So much so, that women and girls should integrate a “knife culture” into their lives, so that when out in public, to have their knife is as important as wearing shoes.
To start with, most women who carry guns do so in their purse. This means opening purse, remove gun, put round in chamber if automatic, and take off safe and aim. This takes a relatively long time. For a knife, it means opening purse, remove knife from sheath or extend blade, pull knife from purse ready for immediate use. Much, much faster.
Practically speaking, guns are optimal at 10-15 feet. At distances greater than that, or, importantly, less than that, the degree of difficulty increases. A person with a knife can probably close the distance to another person with a holstered gun faster than they can get off a good shot.
A knife’s range is immediate, again important for women because “male attacks” are often very close, bear hug type. And a poke or gash with a knife, will get the attention of even a very drunk attacker, where a gun might not.
Guns create a false sense of security and dominance. Many people fall into the trap of thinking that having a gun, or even drawing a gun, puts them in charge of a situation. The truth is that a gun only gives the options of shoot or do not shoot. Any gray area between the two and you have a problem. This is why police love their Tasers.
A gun generally needs to be brandished for use, but a knife can stay hidden up until the very moment it is used. It does not need to be reloaded, and can’t misfire or jam.
There are many, many circumstances where a gun is good. But for personal protection, especially for women, I would strongly recommend becoming close, personal friends with a knife.
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I find your argument to be kind of silly. Of course, one could carry a knife and a gun. Getting back to the sillyness of your argument...if I had to attack a woman (or man) and I had a choice of letting them have a knife or a firearm, I would much rather face a knife, ESPECIALLY if I had a gun of my own, or even a golf club. Think about it.
My wife has her CCW license and I started teaching my daughter to shoot when she was 8 years old.
NOT to be messed with. ;-)
That’s cute, Red. I actually have that suit on the right—camo with a pink sash and piping. When I wear it you can’t see me.
Please don't take this personally, but that is incredibly bad advice.
L
But that is an atypical confrontation for most women. Most such attacks are from either unarmed males, or those that have not brandished their weapon. Tactically, they try to close the gap quickly and intimidate or use physical force.
This was regarded as an original reason for the development of the “iron hand” extremely short range techniques of the Wing Chun martial arts style. The idea was that women would use their fingers and hands like knives when attacked by a man, and quite literally poke holes in his abdomen, from just inches away.
And if the attacker already has a gun, and it is pointed at you, your having a gun is less likely to matter, unless the attacker allows you to keep the gun, allowing you to shoot them in the back.
I think a woman with a gun is kind of hot. This should be supported with enthusiasm.
Just what the gun threads needs....a woman with a gun who is a tease;-)
Still, not all guns are carried in a purse by women. Guns are very effective at contact distances, though that is not optimum. Knives are most effective if used in stealth mode, which brings us to the most common and effective use of a gun: *deterrence*. Most of the time, probably 95%, criminals confronted with a person armed with a gun run away without a shot ever being fired. Most crooks do not wish to risk being shot. I do not believe knives have as much deterrent factor, and you have to give up one of the greatest advantages of a small edged weapon, surprise.
Having said that, I have never met a firearms instructor who did not carry a good folding knife on them virtually all the time. If you are to instruct on the defensive uses of guns, you *must* study the offensive uses of knives.
This inevitably leads to a great respect for edged weapons and their versatility.
bttt
I practiced today for a few hours; it was the first time in over a year that there weren’t almost as many women as men at the pistol range, probably due to the weather.
After I took the class for CCW last year, every single one of my girlfriends who weren’t already shooters approached me to ask how hard it was to learn, to train, and to get a permit. At least 2 have gone on to get their own permits, and 2 more are taking/have taken hunter safety.
*Biting my knuckles*
Say whatever you want. It makes very little sense.
Her problem is if she tries to conceal she’s gonna look like a transsexual. :)
I have a woman friend who travels locally for work.
Her boss insisted she get a CCW and pack. She did and does.
Great boss.
I would make the argument that if an attacker sees either, he is much more likely to go for the knife, whereas he will *probably* run from the gun. Most robbers are looking for an easy target and want to live to see another day. Much skill is needed to properly use a knife in a defensive situation, not to mention some strength, agility and quickness. This is why knives are NOT called “the great equalizer” like guns are.
A gun in the hand of a 100 pound female against a 300 pound attacked is exponentially better than a knife in the same hand. You would agree to this, no?
Forgot to mention, in John Lott’s book “More Guns, Less Crime”, he cites statistics which show that guns are much more likely to make a difference when held in the hand of a woman than that of a man.
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