1 | | | There is a stout tradition in politics of posing as | | | | | 180,000 cases of this disease are diagnosed - a |
| | | something you’re not. Bill Clinton secured his | | | | | quantity, Mrs Metaksa notes, equal to the total |
| | | re-election by sounding like a Republican. | | | 50 | | number of rapes that get reported annually. |
| | | Republican Newt Gingrich tried to boost his ratings | | | | | Women get themselves checked for cervical cancer, |
| 5 | | afterwards by sounding like a Democrat. Now the | | | | | too: each year 5,000 women die of this disease, the |
| | | National Rifle Association - champion of macho | | | | | same number as are murdered. Only a reactionary |
| | | hunters - is doing the same thing. Fully 85% of the | | | | | anti-feminist could possibly object to the idea that |
| | | NRA’s 2.8m members are men. No matter: the NRA | | | 55 | | women should protect themselves by owning guns. |
| | | is going feminist. | | 6 | | | This linking of feminism and guns is a clever |
| | | | | | | | political move. So clever, in fact, that it may prevent |
| | | | | | | further undermining of the NRA’s goals. In 1993 Mr |
| | | | | | | Clinton signed the Brady Law, imposing a five-day |
| | | | | 60 | | waiting limit on people wishing to buy guns; in |
| | | | | | | 1994 he won a ban on 19 types of assault weapon; |
| | | | | | | in last year’s election, gun controllers defeated |
| | | | | | | several pro-gun candidates. All this comes after a |
| | | | | | | quarter of a century in which nobody dared take on |
| | | | | 65 | | the NRA, and not one piece of gun-control |
| | | | | | | legislation was passed at the federal level. Flushed |
| | | | | | | with these successes, gun controllers have begun to |
| | | | | | | hope that America may soon come round to the |
| | | | | | | European view, which is that the right to bear arms |
| | | | | 70 | | and the right to arm bears deserve roughly equal |
| | | | | | | sympathy. |
2 | 10 | | The women’s movement at the NRA is led by | | 7 | | | But now comes the feminist counter-punch. |
| | | Tanya Metaksa, the organisation’s chief lobbyist. | | | | | Whereas violent crime against men has declined in |
| | | Hoping to extend the NRA’s appeal, Mrs Metaksa | | | | |
the past five years, violence against women has in- |
| | | has launched a book. It is a how-to manual for | | | 75 | |
creased. Moreover, nine out of ten violent attacks |
| | | women seeking to be safe. Its message is that | | | | | on women are carried out by men. The NRA has |
| 15 | | women’s liberty and gun liberty are inextricably | | | | | organised women to lobby for laws that permit the |
| | | bound together. | | | | | carrying of concealed guns: unarmed women are |
3 | | | This proposition starts with the warnings | | | | | more vulnerable than unarmed men, the argument |
| | | plastered over the book’s cover. Three out of | | | 80 | | goes, so women have most to gain from concealed |
| | | four women will have a crime committed | | | | | weapons. In recent years, concealed-carry laws |
| 20 | | against them in their lifetime, it claims. The police | | | | | have duly passed in 31 states. |
| | | won’t help: there are no arrests in approximately | | 8 | | | The gun lobbyists hope that this advance will |
| | | 56% of all violent crimes. The courts won’t | | | | | change the wider gun debate. The more women |
| | | help: half of all convicted rapists spend less | | | 85 | | carry guns, the more the gun lobby will be |
| | | than one year in jail. Husbands and boyfriends | | | | | identified with the victims of crime rather than with |
| 25 | | won’t help: 60% of female murder victims were | | | | | the criminals. Until now, opinion polls have |
| | | killed by people they know. Thanks to the | | | | | suggested that women were keener than men on |
| | | progress of feminism thus far, women are | | | | | gun control. If women were to come around, the |
| | | assuming more responsiblity at work. Now | | | 90 | | NRA’s influence would expand considerably. |
| | | it is time for women to rise up and take care of | | 9 | | | Unfortunately for the gun lobby, women may |
| 30 | | their own safety. | | | | | not come around. So far, rather few have taken to |
4 | | | Mrs Metaksa’s book explains how to do this. | | | | | packing guns in their handbags: Florida’s records, |
| | | Fortify your home. Trim garden shrubs so that they | | | | | for example, show that women account for only |
| | | cannot obscure a man-sized figure. Forget glass | | | 95 | | 15% of concealed-carry licences. Unless this |
| | | doors: they are too easily smashed. Keep a cell | | | | | changes, the gun lobby’s feminist pose may not |
| 35 | | phone handy, in case he cuts your telephone lines. | | | | | convince anyone for long. People may start |
| | | As a pedestrian, walk against the traffic: that way | | | | | pointing out annoying facts: that guns kept at home |
| | | you will not be surprised by car-borne baddies who | | | | | are more likely to be used on a family member than |
| | | sneak up from behind. As a motorist, don’t sit in a | | | 100 | | on an unknown assailant; that countries which |
| | | parked car studying the map. Fasten your belt and | | | | | forbid guns suffer less violence than America. |
| 40 | | fire up the engine in no more than five seconds. | | 10 | | | Those foreign countries, highly critical of |
| | | Last, but certainly not least, think about keeping the | | | | | America’s gun laws, will not like Mrs Metaksa’s |
| | | kind of gun that fires bullets. | | | | | book. But she is already preparing her response. |
5 | | | These safety guidelines may sound a little strict. | | | 105 | | “The Japanese and Chinese and the UN are coming |
| | | But, empowered by the feminist age, women are | | | | | to deny Americans their rights under their own |
| 45 | | prepared to take great pains to increase their life | | | | | national sovereignty,” she growls. Perhaps there is |
| | |
expectancy. They go to great lengths to have them- | | | | | another book in this. |
| | |
selves checked for breast cancer; and each year | | 'The Economist', June 14, 1997 |