The Evening News
Salem, Mass.
Thursday, May 25, 2000
Million Mom March
Hardly Womenkind's Finest Hour
By Barbara Anderson
Now is the time for all good men to come
to the aid of their country, before some foolish women make the country and everyone in it
a potential victim of the bad guys.
I've read Men are from Mars and Women are
from Venus and I think that's a great generalization. Viva la difference. Men are brave
and willing to fight for what they believe in. Women are caring, loving, and intuitive.
I'm O.K., you're O.K.
But just as guy-like warrior behavior
should not be encouraged to lead us into constant warfare, female naivete and wishful
thinking cannot be allowed to encourage surrender to bullies. No matter how many moms
march, their willingness to be used by (mostly male) anti-gun politicians has to remain
their problem, not the nation's.
If these politicians cared about safety,
they would see that the existing laws addressing violence were enforced; they would
support the National Rifle Association's gun safety programs. Instead, they use an
emotional female reaction to guns to solicit votes and add to their power base.
They pander to the kind of women who pray
a rapist won't also kill them, take out useless restraining orders against batterers, or
hope the police respond to 911 in time to save their children from assault. However, other
women are prepared to defend themselves or live with men who take on that responsibility.
It's all about choices.
Thousands, millions or even billions of
women can choose to be potential victims, but those who choose self-defense shouldn't be
disarmed. Nor should there be a waiting period between the time they feel threatened and
the time they get a gun.
One of the leaders of the pro-gun lobby
is Suzanna Hupp, a survivor of a 1991 shooting in a Texas restaurant. Complying with the
law, she had left her gun in her car, and watched helplessly as both her parents, along
with 21 others, died. However, there are many stories about women who successfully use
guns to save their families.
A rabid bobcat recently attacked a family
in Vermont, coming part way through the front door. As the parents held the door, the
teenage daughter ran for a handgun and gave it to her father, who shot the deadly beast.
If it had been Massachusetts, she would still be trying to unlock the cabinet and find the
bullets when her parents began frothing at the mouth.
The issue of personal protection is only
part of the debate. The call for national gun control has inspired hundreds of thousands
like me to join the NRA in, literally, self defense. In fact, though the Million Mom March
did not attract anywhere near a million moms, the NRA now has a membership of 3.6 million.
I'm sure that the foolishness on the Mall
-- the screeching singers, the illogical speakers activated more men and women who know
why the Second Amendment to our Constitution gives us the right to bear arms, and that
universal registration is the first step toward confiscation.
Eventually, though, if the hand that
rocks the cradle isn't connected to a mind that understands the Constitution, the occupant
of the cradle won't understand it either.
It gets harder and harder to debate the
Bill of Rights with people who apparently can't read for comprehension, or who haven't
studied our history or the history of the countries that established gun control:
The Soviet Union, in 1929; from then
until 1953 about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.
Turkey in 1911; from 1915 to 1917, 1.5
million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, rounded up and exterminated.
Germany in 1938; 1939 to 1945, 13
million Jews and others, unable to defend themselves, rounded up and exterminated.
China in 1935; from 1948 to 1952, 20
million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, rounded up and exterminated.
Guatemala in 1964; from 1964 to 1981,
100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, rounded up and exterminated.
Uganda in 1970; from 1971 to 1979,
300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, rounded up and exterminated.
Cambodia in 1956; from 1975 to 1977,
one million 'educated' people, unable to defend themselves, rounded up and exterminated.
Defenseless people rounded up and
exterminated in the 20th Century in countries with gun control: 56 million.
What makes the marching moms believe that
it can't happen here? How do they breathe with their heads in the sand? I was embarrassed
for all those fellow-women with their behinds sticking up in the air.
At first I was also embarrassed for Susan
Howard, the actress who represented the pro-gun Second Amendment Sisters on talking-head
TV during the march. Instead of the logical arguments I hear from men, she state her
pro-gun position emotionally and generally incoherently.
Chip, however, thought she did a good
job. "She is reaching out to women in the only language they understand", he
explained.
Of course he didn't mean me, or I hope
you.