The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Women’s Empowerment

Posted on | September 23, 2013 | 37 Comments

“Trying not to over-think it, I raised the gun, located the target, and pulled the trigger of the .22. The gun barked, kicking in my hands. I hadn’t hit the black square in the center, but I wasn’t far from it. Roe kept coaching me, I kept firing, and 45 minutes later, when we switched to the 9-mm, which recoiled so markedly that I swore in surprise, I wasn’t half bad at it. In fact, I discovered, I liked it. . . .
“Equalizer. The word stuck in my mind. A handgun makes the short woman tall, the anxious woman less afraid. Right now, guns are a lightning rod topic, reviled and defended with equal passion. You can’t fire a gun without stepping into a war, without getting into the politics of it. Of course, that doesn’t change the fact that firing a gun made me feel powerful, if only for an afternoon.”
— Susannah Breslin, “A Girl And A .22,” Forbes

Category: Feminism

Comments

37 Responses to “Women’s Empowerment”

  1. MrEvilMatt
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 8:03 pm

    Women’s Empowerment: “Trying not to over-think it, I raised the gun, located the target, and pulled the trigge… http://t.co/HYNYc6kiSj

  2. CHideout
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 8:03 pm

    Women’s Empowerment: “Trying not to over-think it, I raised the gun, located the target, and pulled the trigge… http://t.co/xBFBO5yMKJ

  3. jwbrown1969
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 8:03 pm

    Women’s Empowerment: “Trying not to over-think it, I raised the gun, located the target, and pulled the trigge… http://t.co/pTs4oOckck

  4. Lockestep1776
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 8:03 pm

    Women’s Empowerment: “Trying not to over-think it, I raised the gun, located the target, and pulled the trigge… http://t.co/nthPIkBj02

  5. BobBelvedere
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 8:05 pm

    RT @smitty_one_each: TOM Women’s Empowerment http://t.co/YgxFWS6zqh #TCOT

  6. Finrod Felagund
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 8:07 pm

    As the old saying goes: “God created man, Sam Colt made them equal.”

  7. joethefatman
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 8:12 pm

    I read that this morning and was incredibly surprised that it was actually a positive story concerning guns. I hope she becomes a lifelong shooter after doing it and, apparently, enjoying herself.

  8. joethefatman
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 8:16 pm

    Dori : Guns don’t kill people

    Sledge Hammer: Yeah, Bullets do.

  9. rmnixondeceased
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 8:27 pm

    And the Barrett family of Murfreesboro, TN made them even more equal!

  10. Julie Pascal
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 9:05 pm

    Right away in the comments over there was the inevitable “self-defense often doesn’t work” post. It’s true enough, but…

    I don’t want a guarantee. What I want is a *chance*.

    Without a gun a five foot tall middle aged woman like myself will only prevail against a geriatric criminal or someone in a wheelchair. Maybe a blind man. Oh… and the handicapped and aged want a *chance* too. (And Iowa is right about issuing permits to the blind because there *are* situations where you really don’t have to see your attacker to appreciate at least having a chance for self-defense.)

  11. Fareedi al Laayla al Qakhaul
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 9:17 pm

    The Tyrant fears not the Gun, but the Spirit of the free Citizen who wields it!

  12. Quartermaster
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 9:22 pm

    Yea verily, thou speakest truth!

  13. Quartermaster
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 9:23 pm

    There can be no guarantees. Not even if a chance. But you will never have a chance if you are disarmed.

  14. richard mcenroe
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 9:34 pm

    I don’t know, I’ve also felt a certain distance in my relationships with the Barretts…

  15. thatMrGguy
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 9:44 pm

    Women’s Empowerment http://t.co/3x2vSPmqRC

  16. Mike G.
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 9:46 pm

    Exactly so.

  17. Fareedi al Laayla al Qakhaul
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 9:54 pm

    Yes, Virginia, you can bring heat on Santa Claus at 1800+ metres!

  18. rmnixondeceased
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 10:25 pm

    Especially with this …

  19. rmnixondeceased
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 10:29 pm

    This might show up better …

  20. Fareedi al Laayla al Qakhaul
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 10:42 pm

    Reckon if I can see that I’m within effective range…

  21. Finrod Felagund
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 10:47 pm

    “There is no certainty, only opportunity.” — V from _V For Vendetta_

  22. rmnixondeceased
    September 23rd, 2013 @ 10:50 pm

    I’ve witnessed its use in Iraq at over a mile …

  23. richard mcenroe
    September 24th, 2013 @ 12:07 am

    Isn’t she Jimmy Breslin’s kid? Doesn’t she live in NYC? Shame, I was gonna recommend the perfect gun for her but she can’t buy it there.

  24. Joy Mowry Schwartz
    September 24th, 2013 @ 1:12 am

    Joy Mowry Schwartz liked this on Facebook.

  25. Wombat_socho
    September 24th, 2013 @ 3:29 am

    Whatever her other faults (and I can’t think of any), Susannah Breslin is an honest, hard-working, old-school reporter. God grant her long and profitable tenure at Forbes.

  26. Wombat_socho
    September 24th, 2013 @ 3:32 am

    1) No.

    2) She doesn’t live in NYC, but Chicago, where things are almost as bad from the RKBA perspective (but getting better,)

  27. joethefatman
    September 24th, 2013 @ 7:23 am

    Amen

  28. rmnixondeceased
    September 24th, 2013 @ 10:32 am

    Heh.

  29. richard mcenroe
    September 24th, 2013 @ 11:46 am

    Huh. Wonder where I got that. Probably Post-Breslin Stress Disorder from being an ex-NYer and Daily News reader.

    If Chicago loosens up enough, since she likes .22’s, maybe she can score one of these… http://tinyurl.com/kzjxqs9

  30. Roxeanne de Luca
    September 24th, 2013 @ 11:53 am

    You mean that conservatism and women’s empowerment go hand-in-hand? That pro-woman policies are also conservative?

    I wish there were a term for that, something about conservatism and women, but maybe how we are feminine, too…..

  31. Quartermaster
    September 24th, 2013 @ 12:27 pm

    Gunny Hathcock killed a man at 2000 meters with a Ma Deuce. So a mile is certainly within reasonable possibility.

  32. Quartermaster
    September 24th, 2013 @ 12:30 pm

    #warforwomen

  33. Rosalie
    September 24th, 2013 @ 1:15 pm

    Chicago? No wonder she wants a gun.

  34. Steve Skubinna
    September 24th, 2013 @ 5:59 pm

    Hathcock’s record stood until CPL Rob Furlong with the Princess Pats’ beat in in Afghanistan with a McMillan.

    And his stood for about six months until a British sniper beat it with a .338 Lapua.

  35. Steve Skubinna
    September 24th, 2013 @ 6:02 pm

    There’s no specific term for it because conservatives don’t break down people into officially sanctioned groups, from which they derive identity, legitimacy and rights.

    Sorry, but you’re just another person with the same rights and responsibilities as me. Although certainly a whole lot cuter.

  36. Quartermaster
    September 24th, 2013 @ 7:39 pm

    All true, but wasn’t thinking of records, simply the capability of the cartridge itself.

  37. Fareedi al Laayla al Qakhaul
    September 25th, 2013 @ 12:32 am

    I found this pic over at Breitbart…

    I think it fits nicely here!