Worse, I realized that if the car broke down and I had my daughter with me, she would be equally as vulnerable to being raped, mugged or other unthinkable things. That thought was incredibly disturbing to me. But that feeling left me with quite a memory. So if there are severe problems in your community, depending on how you feel about them, guns can be an excellent choice. They don't require upper body strength or special fighting agility, and you can learn to safely operate one in a relatively short period of time.
Many women find that they have a real aptitude for target shooting.
One woman I know, a national silhouette shooting champion, regularly beats the pants off of every man on the shooting range. It's one activity where men and women are truly equal. Whether or not you decide you should have a gun in your home is a very personal decision, and you should think carefully about it. When the Rodney King riots erupted in Los Angeles, a lot of people suddenly decided to buy a gun for self-protection. They were unable to immediately do so because of California's waiting period.