2nd Amendment Activism_
Leads Student to MTV
By DAVID REYNOLDS
Daily News-Record
With furniture draped in ribbons and curtains drawn shut, Lennie Bowe’s Harrisonburg apartment is calm and serene. Plaid pillows give the place a cozy, private feel.
A slender young woman, with long hair, who passes out at the sight of needles and sniffles when the autumn leaves fall, Bowe lets her guard down in her new place.
And why not?
She’s packing a Kahr K9, 9mm semi-automatic pistol with 7 hollow point rounds stacked in the clip and one in the pipe.
Bowe is serious about self defense. Her outspoken views on women and guns caught attention from an unlikely place.
MTV’s series "True Life" has been filming the James Madison University transfer student in Harrisonburg this fall.
"Instead of passing right through, it will get lodged," she says delicately pressing afinger against the base of her throat. "Or it’ll just blow a big hole out the back."
Bullets that would maim or kill an attacker help ensure Bowe will never be a victim again.
Locked And Loaded
Bowe isn’t afraid to tell women to protect themselves.
But when asked to go on the show, which was filming an episode about young people and guns, she hesitated. "My first thought was MTV’s so liberal, they had to be anti-gun."
But MTV producers convinced her they’d show both sides.
"We’re trying to explain the issue through the eyes and voices of our young people," said Marshall Eisen, producer of the reality show that has run since 1998.
"Some are anti-gun and some are very much pro-gun, but all have a voice in our culture," Eisen said of the views expressed on True Life’s upcoming episode on guns.
Camera crews followed Bowe and three others around to show how different people, younger than 25, view guns.
A hunter, a prisoner, and a reformed gangster round out the disparate cast.
The episode will air sometime in January, Eisen said.
Camera crews captured Bowe in class, lounging on the quad, applying for a concealed weapons permit and revisiting old demons.
Never Again
Bowe shot her first .22-caliber rifle when she was 8, but at 17 her views on firearms changed from recreation to self-defense.
During her senior year, a convicted rapist attacked her in her home. Her shoulders buckle in and her knees curl to her chest as her mother, Jane Lucy, talks about thestalker.
"We no longer know where he is," Lucy says. "He’s dropped off the [sex offender] Web site."
The intruder grabbed Bowe from behind, smothering her face and muffling her cries for help.
He fled when her mother rushed into the room. Bowe’s face was covered with blood, from her braces scratching against his hand.
He was charged with assault, posted bail, and the torment continued.
"I sat in my house scared to death everyday," Bowe said.
For five months until trial, Lennie stayed home from school, and barricaded the door, petrified the man, who lived nearby, would return.
She and her mother hung out in diners all night. Other times they’d drove around afraid to go home.
"I missed my senior prom," Lennie said. "I missed graduation; I didn’t get to walk, my diploma was mailed to me."
Fighting Back
The man walked away with a 5-year suspended sentence. She and her mother moved away, but the trauma stayed with her.
"I didn’t expect it to happen in my own house," she said. "It takes your sense of security away."
A counselor told her to get rid of her gun. Instead, she went after an old hobby with renewed intensity, determined to never wait for police or anyone else to protect her.
She studied the politics of gun ownership and the mechanics of firearms.
"She learns exactly how to use the equipment," said Rob Collins, a friend. "She doesn’t just have a gun to brandish it around."
Bowe agrees her hobby serves a purpose. If an intruder comes into her home again, she says she won’t be reaching for the phone.
Eisen said, for Bowe, owning a gun is a valuable asset.
"That gun really can give her the emotional security she needs to get by on a day-to-day basis," he said.
Speaking Out
After arming herself, Bowe found activism gave her a way back to normalcy.
She joined the Second Amendment Sisters, a nationwide organization founded in response to the Million Mom March, which called for stricter gun control legislation.
The Second Amendment Sisters advocate self-defense as a basic human right. "Gun control is a false promise," according to its Web site.
Bowe is considering turning her talent for speaking out into a career as a lobbyist.
But while she encourages other young women to protect themselves, she considers carrying a gun a personal choice.
One no one should make if they’re not prepared to shoot first. That’s a decision Bowe made years ago.
"I’m never going to get attacked again," she said. "I would pull the trigger without blinking an eye."
Leads Student to MTV
By DAVID REYNOLDS
Daily News-Record
With furniture draped in ribbons and curtains drawn shut, Lennie Bowe’s Harrisonburg apartment is calm and serene. Plaid pillows give the place a cozy, private feel.
A slender young woman, with long hair, who passes out at the sight of needles and sniffles when the autumn leaves fall, Bowe lets her guard down in her new place.
And why not?
She’s packing a Kahr K9, 9mm semi-automatic pistol with 7 hollow point rounds stacked in the clip and one in the pipe.
Bowe is serious about self defense. Her outspoken views on women and guns caught attention from an unlikely place.
MTV’s series "True Life" has been filming the James Madison University transfer student in Harrisonburg this fall.
"Instead of passing right through, it will get lodged," she says delicately pressing afinger against the base of her throat. "Or it’ll just blow a big hole out the back."
Bullets that would maim or kill an attacker help ensure Bowe will never be a victim again.
Locked And Loaded
Bowe isn’t afraid to tell women to protect themselves.
But when asked to go on the show, which was filming an episode about young people and guns, she hesitated. "My first thought was MTV’s so liberal, they had to be anti-gun."
But MTV producers convinced her they’d show both sides.
"We’re trying to explain the issue through the eyes and voices of our young people," said Marshall Eisen, producer of the reality show that has run since 1998.
"Some are anti-gun and some are very much pro-gun, but all have a voice in our culture," Eisen said of the views expressed on True Life’s upcoming episode on guns.
Camera crews followed Bowe and three others around to show how different people, younger than 25, view guns.
A hunter, a prisoner, and a reformed gangster round out the disparate cast.
The episode will air sometime in January, Eisen said.
Camera crews captured Bowe in class, lounging on the quad, applying for a concealed weapons permit and revisiting old demons.
Never Again
Bowe shot her first .22-caliber rifle when she was 8, but at 17 her views on firearms changed from recreation to self-defense.
During her senior year, a convicted rapist attacked her in her home. Her shoulders buckle in and her knees curl to her chest as her mother, Jane Lucy, talks about thestalker.
"We no longer know where he is," Lucy says. "He’s dropped off the [sex offender] Web site."
The intruder grabbed Bowe from behind, smothering her face and muffling her cries for help.
He fled when her mother rushed into the room. Bowe’s face was covered with blood, from her braces scratching against his hand.
He was charged with assault, posted bail, and the torment continued.
"I sat in my house scared to death everyday," Bowe said.
For five months until trial, Lennie stayed home from school, and barricaded the door, petrified the man, who lived nearby, would return.
She and her mother hung out in diners all night. Other times they’d drove around afraid to go home.
"I missed my senior prom," Lennie said. "I missed graduation; I didn’t get to walk, my diploma was mailed to me."
Fighting Back
The man walked away with a 5-year suspended sentence. She and her mother moved away, but the trauma stayed with her.
"I didn’t expect it to happen in my own house," she said. "It takes your sense of security away."
A counselor told her to get rid of her gun. Instead, she went after an old hobby with renewed intensity, determined to never wait for police or anyone else to protect her.
She studied the politics of gun ownership and the mechanics of firearms.
"She learns exactly how to use the equipment," said Rob Collins, a friend. "She doesn’t just have a gun to brandish it around."
Bowe agrees her hobby serves a purpose. If an intruder comes into her home again, she says she won’t be reaching for the phone.
Eisen said, for Bowe, owning a gun is a valuable asset.
"That gun really can give her the emotional security she needs to get by on a day-to-day basis," he said.
Speaking Out
After arming herself, Bowe found activism gave her a way back to normalcy.
She joined the Second Amendment Sisters, a nationwide organization founded in response to the Million Mom March, which called for stricter gun control legislation.
The Second Amendment Sisters advocate self-defense as a basic human right. "Gun control is a false promise," according to its Web site.
Bowe is considering turning her talent for speaking out into a career as a lobbyist.
But while she encourages other young women to protect themselves, she considers carrying a gun a personal choice.
One no one should make if they’re not prepared to shoot first. That’s a decision Bowe made years ago.
"I’m never going to get attacked again," she said. "I would pull the trigger without blinking an eye."
