With the recent attention on firearms restrictions and gun control, a friend of mine reached out to share her thoughts with me. Her personal story and her words are powerful. And she is not alone in her experiences or in her choices. But when she mentioned that her story is not one that is usually covered in the media, I decided I needed to be the one who could let her voice be heard.
Here’s what she had to say:
Thought I might share a little story with you that I don’t tell everyone. Years ago when I was in college night classes…I purchased and began carrying a gun after [taking firearms training] sponsored by the local [police department]. It may seem odd now, but at the time many girls [at our school] carried guns everywhere, including in classrooms. How much things have changed.
Fast forward a few years to my full-time job after college. I worked for a CEO and had a glass office next to his. I never thought about how easy it would be for someone to watch me through those windows on the late nights I often worked. Then the phone calls started, and before I knew what was happening, I was in a full-on stalking situation.
The police were very cooperative, and an officer followed me to work daily for a time. A co-worker followed me home. I canceled plans for grad school, knowing I wouldn’t be safe. I tried to act ‘normal,’ but every second of the day and night, I knew I was in danger. Necessary tasks like buying groceries went from casual cautiousness to legitimate fear for myself and [for] those total strangers around me.
This guy was serious and very verbal about his plans, and he knew details about where I went, what I did, and where I lived. There was no knight in shining armor coming to save me, no boyfriend, no husband. Just me. Just me trying to live…while keeping my job and my sanity together.
I carried my gun with me all the time, everywhere I went. I made peace with the idea that I might have to use it to save my life at some point. I read lots of books and took advice from law enforcement. My gun gave me a fighting chance. I didn’t completely feel like a sitting duck, knowing that I could even the odds should this guy attempt to fulfill his threats. Carrying a gun meant that I could choose not to live as a victim in a waiting game with a mad man holding all the cards.
The fact is that extreme gun control threatens the rights of the innocent. Innocents like me. When I see a celebrity or politician with bodyguards argue gun control like it is a personal issue, it makes me sick. Would those people have been willing to shop next to someone like me during that time…someone who was a moving target? How much would they risk to help someone like me? I think I know the answer.
How dare someone disarm the innocent.
Stories like mine won’t make the news like the gun accidents that occur, but I’m sure there are many women like me who have walked similar paths.
I believe my friend is right. And while her story may not ever make the news, her story, unfortunately, is the same one that is being lived out by countless others. And for a government, a delegate, a candidate, or anyone else to want to take away our right to self-defense and protection is complete madness…especially when these people praise gun control while security watches over them with the very same guns they condemn.
For my friend, for the responsible gun owners, for the victims, for my family, and for myself, I will continue to stand for our right to keep and bear arms. The voice of the innocent will not be silenced. And we will certainly not be disarmed.
