Over the weekend I had an interesting exchange on Twitter with a gun control advocate who volunteers for Moms Demand Action. It got me thinking, very in-depth, about how anti-gunners are quick to label gun owners, especially female gun owners, like myself.
Here's how the conversation went:
#GunSense works. Laws matter. #OrangeWaveInNovember https://t.co/iq2iqO4ErZ
— Sarah Mitchell (@SarahLKMitchell) July 6, 2018
Except when criminals get their hands on guns. #ThingsThatMakeYouGoHmm
— Beth Baumann (@eb454) July 6, 2018
Evidence > Fear + Ignorancehttps://t.co/8DXbaC8JMB
— Sarah Mitchell (@SarahLKMitchell) July 6, 2018
Firearm > Rape whistle
— Beth Baumann (@eb454) July 6, 2018
Anti-gunners would rather us be unarmed and take the chances of becoming the victim of a crime. After all, what better way to defend yourself than with a whistle? Surely someone will hear your cries (or at least you can hope)! It didn't work for me but maybe you'll have better luck than I did.
That you were raped is horrifying; that you think a gun would have prevented it shows the twisted rhetoric of finding yet another way to blame women for their rape. You are not at fault, and not having a gun probably saved your life.https://t.co/uUkYyZYRUD
— Sarah Mitchell (@SarahLKMitchell) July 6, 2018
Translation: You don't agree with gun control therefore you're confused and haven't come to your senses. Don't worry. It'll happen in time. Here! Drink some of the anti-gun Kool-Aid by reading these articles.
A gun would have made me more safe when I was raped in college. But please, tell me how I’m safer being unarmed.
— Beth Baumann (@eb454) July 6, 2018
Also, sharing someone’s OpEd about why they think guns are dangerous for women doesn’t make it fact.
— Beth Baumann (@eb454) July 6, 2018
Aren’t lefties supposed to be all about empowering women? Or is that only selective empowerment?
The Left claims to be in favor of empowering women, of building them up, yet they would rather us be unarmed, and defenseless. You know why? Because empowered women don't vote for Liberals. They vote for Conservatives. Leaving women defenseless creates a perpetual cycle of need and reliance on others, specifically the government, to protect them.
Remember: Liberals are all about choice, as long as it's about abortion, not self-defense.
Empowered women don't manipulate other women to live in fear. I gave you two articles, with citations. Those are just a drop in the bucket. Gun sense isn't "right" or "left": it's based in FACTS and EVIDENCE and supported by police, veterans, teachers, students, and gun owners.
— Sarah Mitchell (@SarahLKMitchell) July 7, 2018
Apparently wanting to have a say in what happens to me and my family causes me to manipulate other women? No. It's not manipulation. It's called being realistic. The reality is we live in a dangerous world where people want to hurt one another. We live in a world where not everyone is good. There are people out there who want to cause others harm. Instead of hoping and praying (again) that I'm not the victim of a violent crime, I choose to be proactive. I choose to carry a firearm to defend myself.
The difference between pro-gun and anti-gun women is this: pro-gun women want every woman to have every option on the table when it comes to self-defense. Anti-gun women want women to be helpless, defenseless even. They're so gung-ho on firearms that they would rather see a woman get raped than to have her use a gun for self-defense.
But remember, women like me are anti-woman (except we can't be labeled that because we're females ourselves).
I’m empowered to make my own decisions on how to defend myself and my family. I choose to do that with a firearm. Just because I don’t agree with your conclusions doesn’t mean that I’m weak or trying to manipulate other women. It means I won’t ever be a victim again.
— Beth Baumann (@eb454) July 7, 2018
Instead of viewing pro-gun women as women who "haven't come to their senses" or as someone who is "uneducated" or "uninformed" it would mean a hell of a lot more to us if women on the other side would respect our decisions, even if they disagree with us. It would mean more to survivors, like myself, if they took the time to listen to what we've been through and why we choose to arm ourselves instead of dismissing us.
At the end of the day, the only person who can protect myself is me. Not my husband. Not the police. And not the government. I take that responsibility seriously. And so should you.
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