The Women’s Safety Page

One organization that does courses in weapons specifically for women is Aware

Guns

We have all seen the scenes on TV or at the movies where Mr. Baddy is shooting at Mr. Goody with a machine gun. Mr. Goody runs 10 feet, dives for cover behind a car then jumps out, takes one shot and kills Mr. Baddy outright. Mr. Goody receives nothing but a minor flesh wound.

The reality is much different. It doesn’t take a lot of skill to fire a gun and if you’re prepared to fire it repeatedly its not actually all that hard to hit the target, you may however hit a number of other people first. So if a criminal is shooting at you there’s a very high probability that you’re going to be either killed or seriously injured. The duel in the old westerns is a little closer to the truth, the one who has the gun out first is the one who will most likely win.

So you have to wonder in what circumstances would you use a gun. If someone pulls a gun on you, you would not be able to get your gun out before they pull the trigger. If they only have a knife then things get even trickier. Attackers using a knife will usually jump out on you or only become threatening and show the knife once they are close enough to use it. If they are close enough to use the knife, they will still be able to stab you before you can get the gun out. If they are not close enough to use the knife they may be able to get close enough as you are actually pulling the gun out, releasing the safety catch and taking aim. If they are further away and you do shoot them, then you may be charged with manslaughter as you will have to justify killing someone by proving that your life, was in real danger and he did intend to use the knife. If you pull the gun and tell him to put the knife down then you will then have to make a decision about when and if you actually pull the trigger. This is a decision you may have to make in an instant as he tries to take the gun from you. If there are more than one of them you stand little chance of shooting both or all of them before one can grab the gun.

If there is an intruder in your house, there is a very small window of opportunity between you being alerted to their presence with enough chance to get the gun and you having time to phone the police. If you hear someone breaking in and phone the police, then get your gun and go to confront the intruder, there is a chance that the police may see you through the window, think you are the intruder and shoot you. Any intruder is likely to be used to sneaking around, you are not. If you hear someone and try to sneak into a position where you can shoot them, they will probably hear you coming and hide, they will then jump out on you before you can use the gun. The best use of a gun in this scenario would be to shoot a few shots into the ceiling (providing you’re on the top floor). This will alert neighbors who will hopefully call the police and will alert the burglar to the fact that you have a gun in which case he will leave the house.

Sadly a gun in the house is more likely to be used on occupants of the house than intruders. This may be by accidents such as a child playing with the gun, or someone cleaning the gun and not realizing there is a bullet still in the barrel or by someone handling the gun when the safety catch has slipped off. Many get used in times of extreme strife, in domestic disputes or suicide. Other incidents have happened where a resident has been mistaken for an intruder. A partner has come home unexpectedly early from a night out or business trip and has sneaked around to avoid disturbing anyone, or a teenager has sneaked into the house having earlier sneaked out after having been grounded. The resident has then been shot by a member of their own family who then suffers the life long guilt of knowing that they have shot their loved one.

Have you ever taken a photograph and when its printed you see that peoples heads are missing or that someone appears to have a tree growing out of their head? The first problem is caused by not being able to hold the camera steady when the button is pressed. It is much harder to hold a gun steady as it takes more force to pull the trigger. Once the trigger has been pulled the gun will jolt back and upwards with the same force with which the bullet moves forwards. So whilst it is difficult to hold the gun steady enough to fire the first shot on target, it is much harder to steady the gun again in order to fire subsequent shots in quick succession. As for trees apparently growing from someone’s head or other such visions, this shows that you did not fully take into account the whole environment when you took the photo. Apply this mistake to a gun and it may mean that you did not notice an innocent parson standing some distance behind your attacker or a car coming down the road. If you fire the gun you could hit someone in a passing vehicle or nearby building. When you take a photograph you usually have some time to frame the shot, get people to stand where you want and position yourself where you want. You certainly are not terrified that you are about to be attacked, you can think about the shot coolly and calmly. Very few people who take lessons in using guns practice with any sort of moving target. Even highly skilled hunters and assassins try to wait until their target is still or moving in a straight line before firing. If a person is moving around and trying not to get shot, most of your bullets are going to miss, these bullets could easily hit someone else. When you fire a gun in self-defense you have to react in a split second under immense pressure. Even professional photographers often use a whole film to get a few good shots. What chance is there that when faced with an attack you could shoot only what you needed to and not shoot an innocent bystander.