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**movie zombie** · 08-02-2014, 6:55 PM

great thread idea, BonnieB!

**jeremiah12** · 08-02-2014, 8:19 PM

I am a huge fan of women becoming gun owners and CCW holders.

One of the times in my young life that I had to shoot a gun in a defensive situation, was to protect my mother, 4 siblings, and myself from my POS step-father who had a court order to stay away from all of us. He was out on bail facing charges for child abuse and child sexual abuse. In his rage in kicking in the door, he neglected to remember he taught me how to shoot that lever gun and had taken me deer hunting a few times. This then 11 year old was tired of his garbage and now he was threatening my mom and siblings.

I wish my mom had learned to handle firearms. My 2nd stepfather, an army vet, was proficient and tried to teach her, as well as I. She shot a few .22s but said she felt safe with us around. I told her what would happen if we were not there.

Before she met my 2nd step-dad, we had a repeat. This time it was drug dealing gang bangers when mom was at work and I was home alone with my siblings. We were living in a bad area and they thought they could just break in. Soon after, my 1st stepfather's life insurance decided to pay out after the investigation was over and his social security survivors benefits kicked in and covered even his step-children. So we were able to move to a better, safer neighborhood.

I think that for some women, they do not want to think about the possibility of being in such a situation. Learning to use a firearm and practicing regularly reminds them that the possibility exists that they can be attacked by a predator.

My wife grew up around guns and went shooting with her dad. For whatever reason, she was uncomfortable with them around our house. I have always had my rifle. I will never part with it as it has saved my life more than once. When our son was born, she had me promise not to introduce him to guns and to keep guns out of the house, except for my rifle. I was not into shooting so it was not a problem.

A few years ago, I realized I screwed up. Since he was 18, I started teaching him about shooting. I got my NV CCW and have applied for my UT permit. I am hoping to apply for my CA permit soon. My wife is not happy. She has gone to the range with us twice, just to watch. We almost got her to shoot our .22s. She still gets upset that I have my Glock loaded in a quick access safe near the bed. I also carry any time we go to NV. I am so discrete, she does not even know where I am carrying.

What scares me the most, she insists on going for a daily 5 mile run through some of busiest streets of Stockton. If I was physically able to, I would go with her. My back and knee are so messed up I can barely walk 3 miles, and that is at a slow pace. She did join a gym, but that got boring. Every day she complains about the men that leer at her or make rude remarks. I know one day she will not return and I will get the call. I have talked to her about this. She says it will not happen to me. I watch where I am going. Um, she is plugged into her iPod!!. She really needs to carry when running through central Stockton.

I wish she would run at the school we teach at. We have a track. I know it is boring. I walk my 2 to 3 miles after school every day because if something happens, my room is facing the track and I can at least make it there. Also there are lots of students around to help me if my knee or back decides to give out.

I know this is long, but if it helps even one women realize she needs to take responsibility for her own personal safety, it is worth the read. As an overeducated biologist that studied a lot of behavioral biology, the intense bond between mother and child and the very strong instinct for mothers to protect their children would make one think that at least all the moms would want one of the most effective tool available for self-defense. It is a great equalizer.

**movie zombie** · 08-03-2014, 7:58 AM

the Ladies Forum has always been a place where women can express their opinions w/o guys taking it over.
seems that some have forgotten that.
stop trying to turn this into a political debate when that was never the OP's intent: that is what OT is for.
and don't presume to tell women with guns who they should be supporting or not.

**PM720** · 08-03-2014, 9:35 AM

I wish someone could get Lara Spencer to the range for a View segment. Watching that segment I don't think she is particularly Anto just more ignorant of the facts. I suggested it on Julie Golobs FB page because I think she would be perfect but it really doesn't matter as long as someone did it. I bet she could be converted rather easily.

Scott

**Steyrlp10** · 08-03-2014, 10:59 AM

Thank you for starting this thread & bringing more awareness to other women that they have an opportunity to take responsibility for their own safety & the safety of their families.

Whenever I'm at the Home & Garden Show at the booth, I'm asked many times about having firearms in the house. Like anything else, you have to commit to the idea of safety (everyone in the house being on board) & not taking a wishy-washy stand on defense.

I understand that for some women who have not had the training/exposure, this is a very scary topic. During an all-female basic pistol course last year, this topic came up too. Once they finished with the class, they were more comfortable with the idea of having a gun(s) in the house for protection & understood that more training would help.

I believe that it's a start in the right direction

**six10** · 08-06-2014, 12:31 PM

A great thread idea indeed, Bonnie

Whoopi Goldberg's NRA membership is both surprising and extremely refreshing.

I don't keep up with 'popular culture' much but would *assume* both Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham are gun owners? (Did a quickie Google search but nothing definitive came up.)

**titan2** · 08-06-2014, 1:23 PM

Originally posted by BonnieB

(Folks, this thread is in The Women's Forum. For those of you OT fans who'd like to pile on, please don't bother. We don't like it and we push back. But constructive comments are always welcome.)

I'm creating a thread, as a placeholder right now, to give credit to celebrity women who have come out as gun owners and ccw holders. Why should we give them credit? Because they are influential women who can be role models and empower other women. Because they are often wealthy, and can therefore influence politicians and help get the right ones elected. Because they are public figures whose example other women will follow when they otherwise might not.

Miranda Lambert in July Rolling Stone Magazine, took her whole staff for CCW Classes and carries her own S&W LadySmith. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/ne...issue-20140603
Angelina Jolie "Brad and I are not against having a gun in the house, and we do have one. And yes, I'd be able to use it if I had to ... If anybody comes into my home and tries to hurt my kids, I've no problem shooting them." And husband Brad Pitt added: "America is a country founded on guns. It's in our DNA. It's very strange but I feel better having a gun. I really do. I don't feel safe, I don't feel the house is completely safe, if I don't have one hidden somewhere. That's my thinking, right or wrong." http://www.handgunsmag.com/concealed...nsed-to-carry/
The View TV show hosts, Sherri Shepherd, Jenny McCarthy and Juliet Huddy came out strongly for women being able to protect themselves and their children, by knowing how to shoot, accurately and safely, and not relying on the man of the house to do it for her. What if he's simply not home when the SHTF? Here's the link. Please note that this commercial appears to be anti-guns. But the women of the VIEW disagreed strongly and passionately with the message 3 to 1. All three had had stalkers try to enter their houses when children were inside. One woman said 'never, with kids in the house', but the others explained safety, training, practice and locking guns away from kids, and you could see her reconsidering, right on camera. (If anyone knows the name of the woman in purple who said "no", please let me know.) It all goes pretty fast, but listen to what they have to say. The commercial is graphic but so realistic to me. (And thanks to Gem1950, for supplying the link in another thread.) http://abc.go.com/shows/the-view/vid...VDKA0_8j9003qu (
Alexis Stewart Former radio personality and Martha Stewart's daughter, Alexis Stewart exercises her Second Amendment right to carry a gun. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1557203.html
Whoopi Goldberg Whoopi Goldberg disclosed during a taping of "The View" that she is a member of the National Rifle Association. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1557203.html
Jennifer Lawrence, Star of The Hunger Games, is an archer, is pro-hunting and was planning to shop for a house, a dog and a shotgun.http://www.nraila.org/news-issues/ar...ides-peta.aspx
Journalist Katie Pavlich "I happen to believe that a piece of paper and a false assurance police will show up on time aren't good enough. Women must be able to go on the offensive with equal force to protect themselves." http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepa...a-gun-n1871484
Diane Feinstein, politician, has had a valid California carry license. ( I was avoiding adding her here, to avoid controversy, but someone insisted).
S.E. Cupp, a well known political commentator, writer and television host. Cupp is currently a regular on CNN and is a co-host of the popular television show Crossfire.
Cupp regularly uses her position to speak out in favor of gun rights and gun ownership.
I'm hoping and praying that Oprah Winfrey steps up on this, since she is the most influential woman in America, and her support would empower millions of women to learn to shoot and to carry.

I'd bet my diamond ring that many more women who are Country Music stars, own and carry. I'll bet a good home cooked dinner that Dolly Parton does, she's just the type.

More info as I have it. I'll be editing this thread as new names come in. If anyone knows of other prominent women who own guns or carry, please let me know and I'll post it here in the thread's 'header'. If you have a woman to add, please include a link for verification.

You can add Dolly Parton.....Dolly still owns guns to this day.
‘They’re in the house but I don’t carry them, they’re just for protection: if anyone walked in on me I would probably shoot them.’

Here's the link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/even...ly-Parton.html

You can also add: Dr. Susan Gratia-Hupp - (Survivor of the 1991 Kileen, TX Lubys Shooting Massacre)

Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sEYGcXSmpQ

You can also add: Nancy Reagan - (Former First Lady)

Here's the link: http://www.datalounge.com/cgi-bin/io...hread,12245078

**71MUSTY** · 08-06-2014, 1:31 PM

It is important for women to know other women shoot and indeed CCW.

When I first suggested to my wife that she apply for CCW she thought I was nuts. But

Every time we went to the range she saw more and more women shooters.

Then we ran into one of her workout buddies at the range also working on her CCW.

Now she wonders why I didn't have her do it years ago.

**beb** · 08-06-2014, 2:54 PM

I love this!! Great idea Bonnie!!

**BonnieB** · 08-06-2014, 3:02 PM

Thanks, Titan, for the additional names. Keep 'em coming folks ! And please support your names with links.

**Jules** · 08-06-2014, 7:00 PM

So which is it, Bonnie? Out other women without their knowledge and praise their bravery for coming out as carrying, or criticize those of us that choose to out ourselves? Because you just piled on me for mentioning (in a forum where only one person knows who I am, and he knows I carry anyway) that I have a permit and I carry.

Originally posted by BonnieB

No one should ever out themselves as having a carry license. Ever. The point of carrying concealed is that no one knows you have a gun on you.

That said, I'd be thrilled to open carry, if I was allowed to.

Since the carry process in California is dictated by the County Sheriffs, it varies wildly, from impossible to no-big-thing. I think the DOJ background check is universal and it pays to check it yourself before applying to the Sheriff. Any number of Calgunners have been denied due to teenaged screw ups and old domestic complaints.

I actually know people who have purposefully moved, to live in a county with a sympathetic Sheriff. Generally speaking, the more rural the county, the easier it gets.

People get excited by the background checks, but I just shrugged. I have a California drivers license, they have a thumbprint. I buy ammo in Sacramento City, they have thumbprints. I worked in the banking business, FBI got one full set of prints plus background check. I was a military wife, another set of prints. I had a nuclear security clearance, another set of prints. By the fourth or fifth set, who cares? They KNOW who I am. (And in the back of my mind, I was daring the Sheriff to deny someone with a nuclear security clearance.)

At the end of the day, it all depends on how bad you want it. If you want it bad enough, you jump through any and all hoops they require, just to get the certificate. (Come to think about it, it's just like college...)

But if you start the process, don't flash it around. You might be denied and then you'll be embarrassed. Or you might succeed, and your girlfriends might out you in a restaurant. That actually happened to one of our Women's Forum pals. The consequences of being outed range from being ejected from a place of business to having your permit lifted because you weren't "concealed" enough.

So, don't worry about 'invasive'. Worry about whether you can actually bring yourself to blow the arm off another human being. And then maybe face his mother in the supermarket. If you don't think you can really shoot down another human being and live with that your whole life, you shouldn't carry.

No one knows if I have a gun at any given moment, but I have chosen to make my experiences in getting a permit known to other interested women, one of whom started that thread in which you encouraged us to hide.

**BonnieB** · 08-07-2014, 3:31 AM

I don't believe I'm 'outing' any women who carry, in this thread. They have 'outed' themselves in the press quite nicely, as shown in the links.

**Pally** · 08-07-2014, 6:18 PM

Originally posted by BonnieB

I don't believe I'm 'outing' any women who carry, in this thread. They have 'outed' themselves in the press quite nicely, as shown in the links.

Your statement is true, however Jules also "outed" herself in this forum and she did receive criticism from you.

I originally created the post, not to "draw" anyone out from hiding, or to make any disclosures, but to openly discuss CCW in the Ladies Forum with other ladies. I do not personally know any Calgunner, therefore I did not consider my post to be threatening to anyone's privacy or personal safety.

I only desired to get first hand information on how women felt about the CCW issues (acquiring a CCW permit) and specifically how it relates to one's privacy, which is a major concern in our society.

Respectfully,
Pally

**kaligaran** · 08-09-2014, 5:59 PM

I do like this thread idea. Thanks for making it Bonnie.

Originally posted by Pally

I only desired to get first hand information on how women felt about the CCW issues (acquiring a CCW permit) and specifically how it relates to one's privacy, which is a major concern in our society.

Respectfully,
Pally

It sounds like that is a topic for another thread.

FWIW, I don't hide the fact I have a CCW. In fact, I documented the process I went through to get it very clearly in the LTC forum to help others in my county.

I'm not worried about getting 'outed' in public. If anyone asks that knows I have one on me, I would alwasy say 'no'.

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