QuarterBoreGunner
Member
Hopefully this thread won't fall apart like the one that preceded it.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25792&highlight=pink+pistols
But here are two diverging responses from the public to the article:
http://www.sfbg.com/37/38/x_talkback.html
From San Francisco Bay Guardian, June 18, 2003
Why guns work
In his otherwise excellent article, David A. Kulczyk poses the question: "Should queers be shooting people in the streets, fearing they could be bashers?" ["Armed Gays Don't Get Bashed," 6/4/03]. I do hope he's joking.
The Pink Pistols doesn't advocate shooting anyone, no matter how homophobic, just because they "could" be bashers. We believe that the best use of firearms is the deterrent effect they have. In cities where gun control has virtually eliminated the access of law-abiding citizens to weapons for self-defense, instances of murder, rape, muggings, queer-bashing, and other violent crimes are on the rise. In contrast, cities without these restrictive laws tend to have fewer such crimes.
While estimates may vary, it is believed that up to two million crimes of interpersonal violence, from mugging to murder, from robbery to rape, are prevented each year in the United States simply by the victim being armed. In most of these cases, merely displaying a gun is enough to cause the perpetrators to cease and desist.
It is not necessary for all queers to pack heat, just enough to make those who would do us violence change their minds.
Jen Grace
Boston, Mass.
Guns aren't the answer
I was saddened and disturbed by David A. Kulczyk's article on the Pink Pistols. It is disheartening to me to think that one would feel so threatened in any location, especially the liberal haven of San Francisco, that s/he would feel it necessary to arm her/himself with a gun. Firearms don't solve anything. They just continue the horrific cycle of violence ensconcing our society.
As a queer woman, I have dealt with my share of violence. I have been verbally debased and physically assaulted on the basis of my gender and sexual orientation. In the past, I have been scared into staying home rather than braving the threat of the streets alone. After my second assault, I began to carry pepper spray, and sometimes a knife. Thankfully, I never had to use either of them.
Rather than making me feel safer and more able to repel potential attackers, these two items of self-defense made me feel even more threatened and unsafe. That I was carrying them all the time meant that I felt threatened all the time!
If you are afraid of attack, learn to talk and fight. Carry a whistle. Take some Krav Maga. Learn self-defense, but learn from within yourself, not from a firearm. Firearms are tools of the cycle of violence we are so desperately fighting against.
Harvey
San Francisco
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Interesting views on both sides, unfortunately, fairly typical of the opposing view- "Firearms are tools of the cycle of violence we are so desperately fighting against. ", though I do agree with the writer in the need to utilize various types of self-defense and tools. Firearms, in the hand of a trained competent individual just seems to be the most effective tool for self-defense. I don't see why the writer doesn't perceive this as a logical progression, that is, communication to defuse a situation, a whistle, pepper-spray, martial arts, knife and finally a firearm. Seems like a fairly straight forward escalation of force to me.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25792&highlight=pink+pistols
But here are two diverging responses from the public to the article:
http://www.sfbg.com/37/38/x_talkback.html
From San Francisco Bay Guardian, June 18, 2003
Why guns work
In his otherwise excellent article, David A. Kulczyk poses the question: "Should queers be shooting people in the streets, fearing they could be bashers?" ["Armed Gays Don't Get Bashed," 6/4/03]. I do hope he's joking.
The Pink Pistols doesn't advocate shooting anyone, no matter how homophobic, just because they "could" be bashers. We believe that the best use of firearms is the deterrent effect they have. In cities where gun control has virtually eliminated the access of law-abiding citizens to weapons for self-defense, instances of murder, rape, muggings, queer-bashing, and other violent crimes are on the rise. In contrast, cities without these restrictive laws tend to have fewer such crimes.
While estimates may vary, it is believed that up to two million crimes of interpersonal violence, from mugging to murder, from robbery to rape, are prevented each year in the United States simply by the victim being armed. In most of these cases, merely displaying a gun is enough to cause the perpetrators to cease and desist.
It is not necessary for all queers to pack heat, just enough to make those who would do us violence change their minds.
Jen Grace
Boston, Mass.
Guns aren't the answer
I was saddened and disturbed by David A. Kulczyk's article on the Pink Pistols. It is disheartening to me to think that one would feel so threatened in any location, especially the liberal haven of San Francisco, that s/he would feel it necessary to arm her/himself with a gun. Firearms don't solve anything. They just continue the horrific cycle of violence ensconcing our society.
As a queer woman, I have dealt with my share of violence. I have been verbally debased and physically assaulted on the basis of my gender and sexual orientation. In the past, I have been scared into staying home rather than braving the threat of the streets alone. After my second assault, I began to carry pepper spray, and sometimes a knife. Thankfully, I never had to use either of them.
Rather than making me feel safer and more able to repel potential attackers, these two items of self-defense made me feel even more threatened and unsafe. That I was carrying them all the time meant that I felt threatened all the time!
If you are afraid of attack, learn to talk and fight. Carry a whistle. Take some Krav Maga. Learn self-defense, but learn from within yourself, not from a firearm. Firearms are tools of the cycle of violence we are so desperately fighting against.
Harvey
San Francisco
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Interesting views on both sides, unfortunately, fairly typical of the opposing view- "Firearms are tools of the cycle of violence we are so desperately fighting against. ", though I do agree with the writer in the need to utilize various types of self-defense and tools. Firearms, in the hand of a trained competent individual just seems to be the most effective tool for self-defense. I don't see why the writer doesn't perceive this as a logical progression, that is, communication to defuse a situation, a whistle, pepper-spray, martial arts, knife and finally a firearm. Seems like a fairly straight forward escalation of force to me.
