The NRA’s New Target? Women
Not long ago, cigarette ads attempted to make women feel empowered with their slogan “You’ve come a long way, baby” – and then the cigarettes began to kill us.
The NRA is now aiming to sell guns to women by making them feel empowered with guns…in their bras, in their underwear, in their specially designed purses, and there was even a first-ever fashion show for armed women
They don’t want us to know that a woman accidentally shot and killed herself with the gun in her bra holster. They don’t want us to know about the mom in Idaho whose 2-year-old shot and killed her with the gun in her specially designed holster-purse.
Just as the tobacco industry didn’t want women to know that cigarettes could kill her, the NRA doesn’t want women to know that statistics show that rather than making a woman safer, a gun is more often used against her, often resulting in death. Read ‘Having a Gun in the House Doesn’t Make a Woman Safer’ in The Atlantic »
We HAVE come a long way, and we’ve learned a few things. We know better now than to fall for this grotesque marketing scheme.
Guns in the Home Don’t Make a Woman Safer
The cost-benefit balance of having a gun in the home is especially negative for women, according to a 2011 review by David Hemenway, director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center. Far from making women safer, a gun in the home is “a particularly strong risk factor” for female homicides and the intimidation of women.
Another 2003 study, by Douglas Wiebe of the University of Pennsylvania, found that females living with a gun in the home were 2.7 times more likely to be murdered than females with no gun at home. Read about dangerous gun myths »
Domestic Violence and Guns
In January, a Missouri woman was shot with her own gun while trying to defend herself in a domestic dispute. Sadly, this is common. More times than not, instead of making a woman safer, a gun is more often used against her, often resulting in death. What would protect women are laws in every state that prevent convicted domestic abusers from buying and owning guns. Read ‘Having a Gun in the House Doesn’t Make a Woman Safer’ in the Atlantic »
In a domestic violence situation, a woman is five times more likely to be killed by her abuser if he owns a firearm. And yet, in many states, convicted domestic violence abusers can freely buy and own guns. Find out where your state stands on gun laws and domestic violence »