Women Can Shoot
Any man who has ever said that a woman can’t shoot a gun is either a fool or has been living in a cave for the better part of the 20th century. Because, history shows that not only can women shoot but some of them can shoot better than most men.
Names of famous female sharpshooters like Florence Hughes, Lillian Smith, Anney Oakley and Sarah Edmunds may come to mind and, of course, the exploits of female Russian snipers during World War II also come to mind, particularly Lyudmila Pavlichenko who is credited with an astonishing 309 kills, better than her male counterpart, Vasili Zaitsev and is still today regarded as the best female sniper in history.
If you look at history you will realise that not only can women shoot but they can be as deadly, even deadlier, than the highest trained rifleman and, if you look at the state of affairs in a Country like South Africa, with its high violent crime rate, it becomes painfully apparent that not only should women stand up for themselves but, with firearms, have the means to do so.
Sexual violence in South Africa is a particular problem. Crimes committed against women and girls are on the increase and every day you read another gruesome story of female victims suffering the scourge of rape and battery. In fact, it doesn’t look like the gangsters will suffer a shortage of guns any-time soon. Recently, a corrupt police officer was arrested for selling guns purportedly "destroyed" by the SAPS to Western Cape gangsters.
The officer was arrested with a R100 000 in his possession. Isn’t it about high time that our mothers, sisters and daughters find a way to defend themselves against these cowards? We believe that it’s not only important but an absolute responsibility. Because a woman’s responsibility lies not only with protecting herself but also to protect her husband and her children. Owning a well maintained and efficient firearm will give a woman a chance of, instead of becoming a victim, become a victor.
Yes, gun violence is a problem in our country. But, it’s not the guns committing the crimes, it’s the people who squeeze the triggers who should be held responsible. Gun control doesn’t remedy a crime problem, it compounds it. By taking the citizen’s right away to defend themselves, a government pretty much endorses the criminal to rob and murder. Criminals want gun control. If fact, they are big supporters of it. They want the people to lose their guns because less guns means less resistance.
After all, it’s not as if the criminal can’t get a gun. The one exploitable weakness most criminals have is cowardice. They would rather attack a person who’s unarmed and defenceless than attacking an armed individual. An effective solution would be to arm the individual. A woman with a gun has a better chance of surviving sexual violence than a woman without one and, if women start shooting back, the rapist will think twice.