To protect themselves from unwanted advances, city women protected themselves with some sharp accessories
By Karen Abbott
smithsonian.com
April 24, 2014
On the afternoon of May 28, 1903, Leoti Blaker, a young Kansan touring New York City, boarded a Fifth Avenue stagecoach at 23rd Street and settled in for the ride. The coach was crowded, and when it jostled she noticed that the man next to her settled himself an inch closer to her. She made a silent assessment: elderly, elegantly dressed, “benevolent-looking.” The horse picked up speed and the stage jumped, tossing the passengers at one another again, and now the man was touching her, hip to hip, shoulder to shoulder. When he lifted his arm and draped it low across her back, Leoti had enough. In a move that would thrill [a] victim of modern-day subway harassment, she reached for her hatpin—nearly a foot long—and plunged it into the meat of the man’s arm. He let out a terrible scream and left the coach at the next stop.
“He was such a nice-looking old gentleman I was sorry to hurt him,” she told the New York World.
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A St. Louis schoolteacher drove her would-be attacker away by slashing his face with her hatpin. Such stories were notable not only for their frequency but also for their laudatory tone; for the first time, women who fought back against harassers were regarded as heroes rather than comic characters, as subjects rather than objects. Society was transitioning, slowly but surely, from expecting and advocating female dependence on men to recognizing their desire and ability to defend themselves.
Gun owners are a breed apart from the rest of humanity; at least according to those who have a fear, dislike, or hatred of guns and the people that own them. It is those same feelings that allows them to defame and vilify the collected population of gun owners across the country as nothing more than a bunch of ill-bred, anti-government, white, racists who have few, if any, qualms about killing any person, regardless of age, for whatever reason or whim they deem acceptable . . .
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Discrimination in this country is a serious topic, but one usually reserved for situations involving gender, race, religion, age, and sexuality.
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A person or group can espouse a discriminatory view and even use hate speech to promote it, but as long as they don’t cross a certain line then they are still protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution.
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As an example; in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack, one of the most resounding changes in the United States was an immediate distrust of the entire Muslim community...blind hatred of an entire race and religious subculture even led to crimes being committed against people who just looked remotely Muslim or Arabic.
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It is in this form of discrimination that one of the most direct parallels to discrimination against gun owners can be made. Just because a prevailing stereotype exists does not make it true. Now, of course, the people who try to champion these stereotypes as part of an agenda will never accept anything else as truth...
But here’s the thing about rights. They’re not actually supposed to be voted on. That’s why they’re called rights. ~Rachel Maddow August 2010
The Second Amendment forms a fourth branch of government (an armed citizenry) in case the government goes mad. ~Larry Nutter
This follows a notable incident in a Texas Jack in the Box, and another at a Chipotle restaurant, in which gun-rights supporters legally carried rifles and shotguns into the establishments to exercise their Second Amendment rights, but drew fire from gun control groups and social commentators.
For all further open carry walks with long guns, we are adopting the following unified protocol and
general policy to best ensure meeting our respective legislative mission to legalize open carry:
1) Always notify local law enforcement prior to the walk, especially the day of
2) Carry Flags and signs during your walk to increase awareness
3) Carry the long gun on a sling, not held
4) Do not go into corporate businesses without prior permission, preferably not at all
5) If asked to leave, do so quietly and do not make it a problem
6) Do not post pics publicly if you do get permission and are able to OC in a cooperate business
7) Do not go into businesses with TABC signs posted with a long gun (Ever)
8) If at all possible, keep to local small businesses that are 2A friendly
If anybody gets the idea to open carry at a business who has decided to take a neutral stance, please don't. It just makes all of us look bad and gives fuel to gun grabbers.
But here’s the thing about rights. They’re not actually supposed to be voted on. That’s why they’re called rights. ~Rachel Maddow August 2010
The Second Amendment forms a fourth branch of government (an armed citizenry) in case the government goes mad. ~Larry Nutter
Just takes a couple of idiots to ruin it for everyone.
"Seth is Grandmaster Zen Troll who trains his victims to troll themselves every time they think of him" Robert_S
"All that is required for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
"Those who support denying anyone the right to keep and bear arms for personal defense are fully complicit in every crime that might have been prevented had the victim been effectively armed." Seth
A place for Liberal gun owners and everyone else. We support the 2A and the rest of our constitution with the same fierceness.
I am an American. I am not a morbidly obese, camo-wearing, deranged, racist, homophobe with a mid-life crisis insecurity. I am not a gun owner to "compensate" for something. My sexual organ has nothing to do with my 2nd amendment right and my choice to carry a gun for my protection. I am sick of the hoplophobes with their prejudiced and bigoted preconceived notions of what a gun owner looks, behaves, and thinks like.
I choose to carry because I want to take accountability and responsibility for my own safety and protection. I am an American, and it's time to #EndGunShaming. ~Rummy
“Fed up with the constant gun owner stereotypes and preconceived notions that hoplophobe gun control lunatics hold,” one non-conservative gun owner has “decided to do something about it.
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“I was thinking of what would be a way to counter this and it came to me, why not use the same tactics of these politically correct ‘tumblr hashtag activists’?” he told Gun Rights Examiner via email. “Turn the tables on them and expose them for the prejudiced and bigoted racists they are? That's where #EndGunShaming came to be.
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“The message is good, we are all kinds and types,” I replied. “Be careful not to make it sound like you're deriding rednecks or the obese or camo-wearers, because they're part of ‘us’ too, even if that's what the antis latch on to for stereotyping.
“Liberty activists I know aren't exclusively 2A focused -- that's just the one keystone that allows us all to be different without having those who would persecute us being able to do so,”
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...it’s a step “forward” that this idea is originating from within a self-styled “liberal” group. If you think about it, what could be more egalitarian than the power-sharing arrangement the right to keep and bear arms affords “the people”?
And doesn’t that tell us just how “liberal” and “progressive” anyone who would undermine that, in favor of an all-powerful state, truly is?
But here’s the thing about rights. They’re not actually supposed to be voted on. That’s why they’re called rights. ~Rachel Maddow August 2010
The Second Amendment forms a fourth branch of government (an armed citizenry) in case the government goes mad. ~Larry Nutter
Same old story. Man gets no pussy, gets pissed off
Hours before that, authorities say, Rodger looked into a video camera and vowed that he would kill those with a good life, especially women who had shunned his advances.
Tero wrote:Same old story. Man gets no pussy, gets pissed off
Well, rather than arming blondes, we should require them to put out for any man who asks.
"Seth is Grandmaster Zen Troll who trains his victims to troll themselves every time they think of him" Robert_S
"All that is required for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
"Those who support denying anyone the right to keep and bear arms for personal defense are fully complicit in every crime that might have been prevented had the victim been effectively armed." Seth
1. Open carrying a long gun in a city isn’t very handy
Most long gun open carriers use a sling to schlep their rifle/shotgun, leaving their hands free for the things people need hands for when they’re out and about. Yes, well, have you tried carrying a rifle with a sling all day? Or even a few hours? They damn thing gets mighty cumbersome mighty quick. Talk about chafing!
2. Open carrying a long gun in a city isn’t tactically sound
it’s not easy bringing a long gun into action – unless you carry the firearm in the low- or high-ready position. Which tends to scare good guy non-combatants even more than normal.
A [non low- or high-ready] long gun’s especially clunky to bring to bear compared to a properly holstered handgun.
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Also, the armed civilian’s first and best response to a lethal threat is to escape or evade the attacker(s). Running with a long gun isn’t all that easy either. Add a daughter to the team and how are you going to grab her and bring your long gun to bear and fire while running for cover or concealment?
3. Open carrying a long gun in the city makes you the target
I’m not speaking here of the “shoot-me-first” conundrum that is open carry, generally. I’m talking about responding police officers.
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AFTER an attack, when your gun’s hot and the perp is not, you want to put your gun away. [NB: That's providing you're no longer in danger. If you are in danger, hang on to your gun, leave the scene, holster ASAP and call 911. You have no legal obligation to disarm or remain at a dangerous crime scene.] A long gun isn’t easy to holster, is it? A cop sees you at an urban crime holding a long gun? Say goodnight Dick.
And, of course, there’s the “he’s a spree killer!” prejudice against people carrying long guns in urban environments.
But here’s the thing about rights. They’re not actually supposed to be voted on. That’s why they’re called rights. ~Rachel Maddow August 2010
The Second Amendment forms a fourth branch of government (an armed citizenry) in case the government goes mad. ~Larry Nutter
...And, of course, there’s the “he’s a spree killer!” prejudice against people carrying long guns in urban environments...
And a very sound prejudice it is too...
Not really sound at all, faulty reasoning in fact because rifles are rarely used for spree killings.
Tell that to the parents at Sandy Hook...
Ooooh, the emotional attack!
Sandy Hook was one of those rare instances, therefore it doesn't counter the facts but supports them.
Do you think the families of the three young men who were stabbed to death a day ago feel all kinds of better because their loved one wasn't killed with a rifle?
But here’s the thing about rights. They’re not actually supposed to be voted on. That’s why they’re called rights. ~Rachel Maddow August 2010
The Second Amendment forms a fourth branch of government (an armed citizenry) in case the government goes mad. ~Larry Nutter
...And, of course, there’s the “he’s a spree killer!” prejudice against people carrying long guns in urban environments...
And a very sound prejudice it is too...
Not really sound at all, faulty reasoning in fact because rifles are rarely used for spree killings.
Tell that to the parents at Sandy Hook...
What I have to say to the parents of Sandy Hook is that they should sue the state and the school district for failing to provide adequate armed protection for their children. She should also sue the school district for not using proper bullet-resistant glass in the entryway, which would have kept the killer at bay for the few seconds necessary for armed staff to respond and take him out, or at least engage him in a gunfight at the front door while children escaped.
If the principal of the school was equipped with a shotgun in a quick-access gun safe in her office things might have gone much differently. As it was, she gave her life, along with another staff member, attacking the killer with their BARE HANDS.
That's what I'd tell them and every other parent of a murdered schoolchild.
"Seth is Grandmaster Zen Troll who trains his victims to troll themselves every time they think of him" Robert_S
"All that is required for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
"Those who support denying anyone the right to keep and bear arms for personal defense are fully complicit in every crime that might have been prevented had the victim been effectively armed." Seth
piscator wrote:But you're not really "technically" licensed to practice law in Connecticut, are you?
Don't need to be.
"Seth is Grandmaster Zen Troll who trains his victims to troll themselves every time they think of him" Robert_S
"All that is required for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
"Those who support denying anyone the right to keep and bear arms for personal defense are fully complicit in every crime that might have been prevented had the victim been effectively armed." Seth
