May/June 99
Behind the News

Women are Champions of Concealed Carry Reform
By Nancy Norell

"Imagine, if you will, that men were society’s prime rape targets. Imagine a society in which a small and mild-mannered man could not get off a bus at night and walk down a dark city street toward his home without fearing that he would encounter a large hulk with a knife who would demand the privilege of engaging in what used to be called buggery. Well, I’ll tell you what the result would be. Men would not ask for workshops and self-esteem counseling or wear rape-whistles around their necks. They would demand the right to protect themselves, politicians would promptly respond, and it would soon be legal to pack a mini-cannon in our belts."

The late Mike Royko, a columnist for The Chicago Sun Times wrote that. It marked Royko’s thoughtful conversion on the issue, a conversion in which women played a major role. In Royko’s case it was a nurse—a real, flesh and blood citizen of Chicago—and what happened to her that made him re-think his position. Royko was one of the early converts to concealed carry in the press, but he wasn’t the only one to start hearing a different voice—the voice of a woman—and finally make the connection. "Liberal" columnist Nat Hentoff, a champion of the First Amendment, is another. (His wife set him straight.)

Legislators, too, have begun to listen to women’s voices and hear them not as siren calls, but as reasonable and responsible pleas for autonomy.

Julianne Gottlieb, publisher of Women & Guns, spoke directly to the women in the audience at the Gun Rights Policy Conference last September when she said, "More of us are single mothers, or never married—we travel by ourselves. We must convince our legislators that this is a matter of choice for women. It is a matter of choosing safety. It is a matter of safety for your children and your family. Just as you have a right to carry a cell-phone to protect yourself, you should have the right to carry some [other] means of self-defense."

The right to protect oneself with a firearm is indeed an issue of choice, and an issue that is clearly a woman’s issue. Why do the politically correct "official" feminists recoil from women defending themselves and their families with firearms? Is it because, in spite of all the rhetoric about "empowerment" and not being victims, there is still a thrill in being, after all is said and done, just a trembling damsel?

A lot of real women are tired of being told that they are too mechanically and emotionally inept to use a firearm properly. That’s real sexist baloney, even if someone wearing Birkenstocks says it. Jackie Van Doren, Rose Woods and Adrienne Stanfords, three girls with a group called HELP For Survivors, assayed to speak for all of us in a letter to the Sun Times. Referring to Professor John Lott, Jr., author of More Guns, Less Crime, they said, "...he wants women to buy into his deadly mentality that strapping a gun to their hip would actually make them safer. Lott is not in touch with the average American woman. In overwhelming numbers, women reject the concept of concealed handguns."

Then they go on to assert that women are more likely to shoot themselves, their kids or family members than they are to defend themselves. Or go on a crime spree— "... states issuing concealed carry permits have experienced virtual crime waves committed by just the permit holders." It’s enough to make you wonder if we shouldn’t take all sharp objects—pens, perhaps?—from these frightened frauleins.

All women benefit from CCWs, even if they individually do not choose to arm themselves. Even criminals agree that they themselves are craven cowards. The number one fear of incarcerated felons, according to a seminal study by James Wright, Peter Rossi and Kathleen Daly, who surveyed them for the Justice Department 20 years ago, is an armed citizen. Rapists, in particular, are discouraged by the possibility that a victim may be able to fight back with vigor. In states with legal concealed carry, the chance is fairly high that a victim is going to be able to do more than blow a whistle or brandish a hatpin. And, as Lott and others have argued, that’s precisely what’s helping lower crime rates across the country, but particularly in locales with concealed carry.

Everyone who looks forward to obtaining a concealed carry license owes a debt of gratitude to legislators who are laboring to see this system made a legal reality in their states. And a number of those legislators are women.

Looking at legislation in state capitols, it’s clear, that while firearms rights are under attack in many arenas, progress is being made as more and more states consider and adopt laws that allow peaceable citizens to carry firearms legally for self defense. A number of these proposals, in Kansas and Ohio for example, are being spearheaded by women under the unassailable right of self-defense. The right to make sensible use of firearms in pursuit of this right is particularly important to women, especially as more of us sally forth in a dangerous world, where human predators seek what they assume is smaller and weaker prey.

In Kansas, Rep. L. Candy Ruff (D-40) is the sponsor of legislation that would set up a concealed carry system for that state. Although the bill faces a hostile governor, likely to veto the measure, Ruff is enthusiastic and determined.

Speaking to W&G from the floor of the Kansas legislature, she explained why she believes concealed carry is important, especially to women.

"I’ve always sympathized with firearms rights issues, but I never got involved until we had hearings on the concealed-carry issue. First, I talked it over with my husband—a retired MP, and a civilian police lieutenant. He said, ‘Honey the last person the cops on the beat are worried about are the law-abiding citizens. If they have to go through all those hoops to be a permit holder, don’t worry about them.’"

The pivotal experience for Ruff, however, was the testimony of a woman who had been brutally raped. Ruff said, "She was about five feet tall, attractively dressed and groomed. When she described what happened to her, you could have heard a pin drop. I was afraid I was going to start crying, I was so moved by her testimony. When she said, ‘I know in my heart what I had the ability to do. And I know if I’d had a concealed weapon on me that day, I could have avoided this attack.’ She looked each and every one of us in the eye and said, ‘How can you deny me the right to protect myself?’"

From that moment, Ruff became an advocate of legal concealed carry. "She lit my fire, and I thought, ‘My God, she’s right’."

After Ruff began to work for concealed carry, women from all over Kansas began to call her up. "I talked to women from all stations in society, who told me that their whole sense of security had been shattered—that they were never going to be victims again."

Ruff emphasized, "Women will NOT be victims again. How can anyone deny us that right?"

Ruff has encountered the usual resistance and arguments, her "favorite" being, "I hear these mamsy-pamsy types saying, ‘Oh, you’re just a woman—you’d probably just shoot yourself in the foot!’ Give me a break!"

Does support for self-defense break down on party lines? Ruff says no. "This is SO beyond Republican and Democrat!"

GOP state legislator Joy Padgett, who is the prime mover for legalizing concealed-carry in Ohio, spoke to W&G from her car, quickly assuring us she was not driving.

Padgett’s approach to the issue contrasted to that of Ruff. Padgett was more analytical and less emotional, and whether this is a political or personal difference is really moot. She told W&G that when she was campaigning in 1990, she was approached by a gentleman who asked if she would support concealed carry. Her immediate response was, "Oh, my God, no! I don’t think so! It doesn’t sound like a good idea to me."

Padgett lost that race, which gave her the time to read the material the concealed carry supporter gave her.

"He encouraged me to read about Florida, the statistics, and see what concealed carry really is. After that, I knew concealed carry was something I could really support."

When Padgett won her race in 1992, she worked in concert with a Senate Democrat. The concealed carry bill was voted out of the Senate 26-6. Padgett remembered, "I had already counted over 60 votes in the House when the governor stepped in, opposing the bill. That stalled the legislative process and the bill died in committee. I introduced the bill the next year, but because of the governor’s opposition, it never went anywhere."

This time, Padgett is more optimistic about the chance concealed carry has to become law. With 47 co-sponsors, and a governor who views the issue with more tolerance, people in Ohio may be able to carry concealed firearms legally. Padgett sees legalized concealed carry as a universal right, affecting not just women, but everyone.

"I see it as a citizen’s issue. I’m getting a lot of support from senior citizens, both men and women. Also, a lot of support is coming from people with handicaps, who are often victimized."

Padgett decided to work for concealed carry using a logical, factual approach. "I thought about this for a long time. We were going to use an emotional approach, with victims, but the bill’s opponents were going to bring in Jim and Sarah Brady— ‘Well,’ I’m thinking to myself, ‘I can do without Jim and Sarah Brady.’ I set up my own sponsor testimony saying we should only use facts and statistics. I’m trying to use a logical approach."

Every person with a concealed carry permit also owes great thanks to those who pioneered the drive for legal concealed carry. And again, many of these are women.

Marion Hammer, immediate past president of the National Rifle Association and NRA executive council member, is the midwife of modern concealed carry in Florida, a system that is the pattern for concealed carry all over the nation. She told W&G how it all came to be in Florida.

"In 1892, the Florida legislature enacted a racially motivated law requiring a license or permit to carry firearms either concealed or openly. As time went by, approval for these licenses varied widely from county to county. In some, no matter the color of your skin or your sex, sheriffs would issue a permit if you needed to carry for self protection. In other jurisdictions, permits were issued only to those who were politically powerful or a member of the wealthy elite."

Hammer observed that societal changes made the need for fair, consistent issuance of concealed carry permits especially important to women.

"More women were working outside their homes. They were going back and forth to work, mornings frequently before dawn and evenings frequently after dark. They became very vulnerable to crime and criminals and began to look for a way to protect themselves, but they couldn’t get licenses."

It was then that Hammer spearheaded Florida’s concealed carry reform.

"It took seven years to pass that legislation and get it signed into law. The sixth year we passed it but the governor vetoed it. Election rolled around; we got a new governor; and when we passed concealed carry in 1987, the new governor signed it."

Hammer told W&G that gun haters who fear peaceable armed citizens oppose anyone being able to carry. But she emphasized, "The reality is, concealed carry is far more important to women because we don’t have the strength or stature to fight off male perpetrators. The unfortunate reality is that women, as well as the elderly, are preyed on by strong males—gangs or older hardened criminals."

She concluded, "Firearms are an equalizer. They give women a fighting chance."

Sue King, NRA Board member, and all-around firearms rights activist, is another champion of concealed carry, who helped move the issue in Texas a few years back. She told W&G, "I determined that I was going to carry whether it was legal or not, and since I prefer to be a law-abiding citizen whenever possible, it seemed like a good idea for me to get in there and get a concealed carry law passed."

King gave much of the credit for Texas’ concealed carry law to others— the Texas State Rifle and Pistol Association, NRA and Suzanna Gratia Hupp, whose parents were killed in the Luby’s massacre. Everyone W&G talked to admiringly referred to Hupp, who is now a Texas state representative. Hupp has been a hard worker for legalized concealed carry, and her testimony has convinced many lawmakers of the wisdom of allowing peaceable people the means for self defense. Hupp is presently the prime mover behind a bill in the Texas legislature to prevent frivolous lawsuits against firearms manufacturers and dealers.

"I really did very little except jump up and down and scream and shout if they put something in the bill I didn’t want," said King.

King saw concealed carry as very much a woman’s issue. "Being the weaker sex and the preferred prey of predators, we are the highest profile target. One of the things I tried to do any time I did interviews or speeches was to characterize concealed carry as a woman’s issue. In my mind, it really, truly is. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a feminist issue."

King pointed out that, in spite of the fact that the right to self protection can be seen as a women’s issue, not all women recognize this. Some women are determined foes. During her fight to see concealed carry become a reality in Texas, the governor, Ann Richards, opposed this right, thus joining ranks with Sarah Brady, and California Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. In Texas, it was George W. Bush, who succeeded Richards, who finally signed the bill into law.

"Now I don’t have any objection to a man carrying, if they want," King laughed. "But in Texas, we turned it into a woman’s issue, and it sold very well."

It seems clear that although the right to concealed carry is in many ways a woman’s issue, everyone benefits when thugs think twice about attacking. We all most certainly have the right to go about our business freely, secure in the fact that we can defend themselves against a bigger, stronger, more vicious assailant.

But women are still smart enough to let men have the last word if it makes our point: "If every woman in every big, high-crime community in America had a gun in her purse or strapped to her thigh, we would have a safer, more courteous society," wrote Mike Royko.