A Woman's Right to Choose Her Own Self-Defense :: 08/29/2019

On a daily basis, we hear politicians talk about a woman’s right to choose, but are they supporting a woman’s right to choose everything in her life? Do those politicians support her right to choose the best education for her children? Do they support her right to choose what manner of self-defense is best for her situation?

Listening to the Democratic candidates for President, it’s clear that they believe politicians should make the decision, not the individual woman herself.  They don’t explain why a woman is smart enough and emotionally prepared enough to make a decision to terminate her pregnancy, but she is not equipped to choose a firearm for her method of self-defense. 

This video below featuring Carrie Lightfoot, owner of The Well Armed Woman, addresses why it’s so important for a woman to have all self-defense choices at her disposal, even if that choice is to carry a firearm. To be clear, carrying a firearm is a very serious choice, and it’s a choice many women won’t make. But that’s ok. Women are not one monolithic group; each woman faces a unique set of life circumstances. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for all of us.

The video was produced by Lauren Golem, a law student at CU-Boulder and a member of the Emerging Leaders Advisory Council at the Steamboat Institute. To learn more about the video, check out her conversation with IWF Fellow Kelsey Harkness here. 

Many women choose a firearm because it is “the great equalizer.” Women who are victims of violence are statistically smaller in stature than their assailants. There might also be multiple assailants. In those cases, what are her chances to survive, or to keep from being raped? Many women also consider their children. How do they keep their children from being victims of violence while in their care?

It is those questions that lead many women to choose a firearm for home defense, and even choose to carry a concealed firearm away from home. In fact, women are responsible for the largest increase in concealed carry permits.

If a firearm isn’t for you, that’s your choice. But it’s not the proper role of government to make that decision for every woman.

https://www.iwf.org/blog/2810479/A-Woman%E2%80%99s-Right-to-Choose-Her-Own-Self-Defense