From: bb063@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Christopher J. Crobaugh)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
Subject: the AP on Women (from LA mtg)
Date: 3 Oct 1992 21:48:24 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc4.ins.cwru.edu


Found this on the NRA bbs....it's an Associated Press articvle
on women's issues discussed at the Gun RightsPolicy Conference
in Los Angeles on Sep 26th.....good read.
     Gun Lobby Urged to Use Women as Advocates

        LOS ANGELES (AP)  As female gun owners increase in number,
     women should take a more active role in advocating the right to
     bear arms, speakers at a convention for gun advocates said.
        ``It is a misconception that women are anti-gun,'' Tanya
     Metaksa, a member of the board of the National Rifle Association,
     told the 1992 Gun Rights Police Conference.
        ``I am a mother and a grandmother and nurturing is important to
     me, but so is the instinct for self-preservation and protecting my
     kids,'' she said.
        The number of women gun owners doubled to 15 million  nearly a
     quarter of the nation's total  during the past 10 years, according
     to NRA records. About 65 million American's own guns.
        The conference, which drew industry representatives, enthusiasts
     and lobbyists, concluded Sunday.
        Sonny Jones, executive editor of the magazine Women and Guns,
     urged the gun industry to use more women as leaders and speakers
     for the cause.
        She said that although much progress has been made, women are
     still subjected to derogatory remarks and ridicule in gun clubs and
     at shooting ranges.
        But Ms. Jones also noted that the news media has readily latched
     on to the notion that many women are becoming avid gun users.
        ``It's a curiosity and fascination people have for the unusual,
     the juxtaposition of women with the most powerful symbol of
     masculinity,'' she said.
        The conference featured forums on the firearms industry,
     legislation affecting gun control and law enforcement policy. The
     gathering was sponsored by about 20 groups, including the Second
     Amendment Foundation.
        Several speakers argued that citizens must be allowed to own
     weapons, invoking images of armed mobs of looters descending on
     innocent people during the spring riots in Los Angeles and after
     Hurricane Andrew in Florida.
        The Rev. Anthony Winfield, a chaplain at Elmhurst Hospital in
     Queens, N.Y., said there is a ``definite pro self-defense slant''
     in the Bible.
        ``I try to turn people to Christ, but I'm also a realist, too,''
     Winfield said. ``Criminals are always going to have access to guns
     and the law-abiding are going to be the victims, unless they are
     allowed to bear arms.''

[downloaded from GUN-TALK, a service of the National Rifle Association
 Institute for Legislative Action, Washington, DC 22036]
 {PB

-- 
bb063@Cleveland.Freenet.Edu  Chris Crobaugh - (216) 327-6655 (V)
"Those who would sacrifice essential liberties for a little 
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." B. Franklin
Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns