Moms (courtesy dailymail.co.uk)

When I talk to women who support gun control, I pose a simple thought experiment. You’re sitting in a room. There’s a gun on the table in front of you. A large man comes into the room with a knife to rape and/or kill you. Do you pick up the gun? I get a range of interesting responses . . .

Some dodge the question. “We’re not talking about that!” Some change the subject. “I want to stop people from turning to a life of crime.” Some say they’d run — and then refuse to address a scenario where they couldn’t escape. “There’s always a way out.” Some say they’d use the gun, but wouldn’t fire it. Some say no, they wouldn’t pick up the gun.

I don’t argue. I simply re-ask the question introducing a new variable. You’re sitting in a room with your children. There’s a gun on the table in front of you. A large man comes into the room with a knife to rape and/or kill you and/or your children. Do you pick up the gun?

I don’t really care how they answer. The point’s made, whether they like it or not, whether they admit it or not. Guns save life.

There are very few women on planet Earth who wouldn’t pick up that gun and perforate a perp intent on harming their children. That’s no small statement. There are plenty of women (and men) who wouldn’t opt for immediately available armed self-defense unless children were present. More to the point, there are plenty of women (and men) who couldn’t act in their own self-defense unless children are present.

TTAG writer Jon Wayne Taylor is a proficient martial artist. He reports from the dojo what I’ve seen on the streets: there are people who simply give up during a violent encounter. Chef don’t judge. That’s the way some people are wired. In the face of [what they perceive to be] insurmountable odds, they become passive. It’s not a conscious decision. It’s a subconscious reaction.

You could also call it instinct.

While we tend to focus on the impact of conscious thought on our lives, humans are creatures of instinct. Most of these instincts are completely hidden — like the software code underpinning this word processor. These hidden stimulus -> response patters allow us to tap into higher brain functions.

Some instincts are stronger than others. As anyone who lives in bear country will tell you, the maternal instinct is one of the strongest. It can make a fearful woman fierce, in the blink of an eye.

From an evolutionary point-of-view, a mother’s desire to protect her children at all costs makes perfect sense. It takes nine months to create a child, and a lot of years and resources to get that child to the point of self-sufficiency (especially when compared to other animals). We are programmed to protect our progeny.

And why not? Children are how the species survives. And how we, as genetically unique individuals (save twins), achieve a kind of immortality.

Losing a child is a big deal. Perhaps the biggest. Which is why even the most passive woman can become hyper-aggressive — you might even say irrationally aggressive — when a child is confronted with injury, rape or death. That’s why virtually all women will pick up that gun and shoot the bad guy if her child (or perhaps someone else’s child) is in danger.

Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America — a wholly owned subsidiary of the male-dominated Everytown for Gun Safety — taps into these maternal instincts. Born from the Sandy Hook slaughter of 20 children, Moms convinces women that they need to protect their (and others’) children before they can be raped, injured or killed. By restricting or banning civilian firearms ownership.

You and I know that Moms Demand Action is on a fool’s errand. Society can no more disarm criminals than it can eliminate cockroaches. But we can appreciate the maternal instinct that lies beneath this deeply misguided mission; a cause so wrong-headed that its followers fall into the kind of unintentional irony on display at the top of this post.

Meanwhile, women are arming themselves. As they should. A gun is the great equalizer: the most effect tool for personal self-defense ever invented. Men who understand that fact, men who aren’t abusive or suffer from misogeny, are entirely supportive of women who carry — or at least have access to — a firearm. In fact, they encourage it.

Again, this is a function of evolution. The People of the Gun want our women (sorry for the possessive pronoun but there it is) to protect our/their children, so that our/their genetic line can continue. We view armed women as natural, and their ability to defend themselves by force of arms their natural right. Which it is.

That said, I don’t want to take the “magic” out of motherhood. There is something profoundly moving and, in the case of women who didn’t bring us into this world, sexy about an armed women. For those of us with a strong moral compass, an armed women is a strong woman, worthy of respect and admiration. A woman who appreciates the beautiful fragility of life. A woman who stands ready, willing and able to protect it.

In short, armed women help make the world the place it should be. Happy Mother’s Day.

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73 COMMENTS

  1. “There are very few women on planet Earth who wouldn’t pick up that gun and perforate a perp intent on harming their children.”

    I’m gonna disagree on that, and here’s why:

    Some women are married to the very concept of Progressivism and-or Pacifism so completely, they will willingly take the assault, and here’s the sick part – The will actually feel good, if not outright *righteous* about it.

    That’s the mental illness that makes up the Progressive mentality.

    We, on the other hand, live in reality…

    • While that group is vocal, I suspect they are a small portion of the West, and an even smaller portion of women worldwide. I believe the “few women” caveat is sufficient.

      And to be honest, much like atheists in the proverbial foxhole, I suspect many of those who claim they would suffer before using arms – and really believe this in their heart of hearts – will elect differently when the time comes.

      • I would also point out, that there is a vocal contingency that spout the Pacifist manifesto, but there are also those that say the same party line but never have any intention of acting upon it. Very few people know exactly how they are going to act in a violent situation until they are in it, which is why the military tries to simulate violence over and over to build up a muscle memory to violent interaction. In short, a woman who has never had to be in a violent situation can easily spout the party line about “never being violent” or “there is always a way out” but in reality when push comes to shove and there is a violent perp breaking down their door they will fight tooth and nail to protect their loved ones. The instinct of a mother to protect their children and their own lives is strongly built into our DNA and it might be easy to dismiss it while sitting on a couch drinking mimosas but when you are “in the shit” so to speak, all that ideology and pacifism isn’t going to do much. Most people do what they have to.

        • “In short, a woman who has never had to be in a violent situation can easily spout the party line about “never being violent” . . .”

          Good point. Most people, and this is especially true of women, have never experienced the kind of imminent danger a violent situation can impose upon them. Hell, most women have never had anyone get really, really angry at them much less have to confront anything even resembling hard, physical violence. This is particularly visible in the ways public education tries to deal with bulling. Schools are largely populated with and managed by woman who fit the above description. They simply don’t have a clue about how to teach a kid to handle a violent bully because they, themselves, don’t have a clue. The fundamental problem is that most women—and a similar comment can be said about a great many men in modern society—lack the kind of self-empowerment necessary to allow them to confront violence.

    • AS Katy states, that group who would not protect children would be a distinct minority. The vast majority of women would use that firearm to defend her children, regardless of whatever she chooses to say now. She’s CHOOSING her words just then, but when the time arrives for action, all of the previous soul searching and comfortable lies will become irrelevant.
      Let’s also not forget or gloss over the fact that a large amount of those opinions were bought and paid for by powerful media forces with a lot of influence (like bloomberg), and they wil SAY whatever butters their bread at that moment. But the paycheck means nothing when the chips are down. What good is ALL of bloomie’s money if you won’t live to spend it? They may not think about that just now, but they will when the merde hits the ventilator…..

    • And, after their children are raped and killed in front of their eyes, while a loaded gun sits right beside them, they will instantly wave their own children’s bloody shirts when the media arrives, using their 15 minutes of fame to demand more and more completely ineffective gun control. At this moment it would be UBC, which does not prevent a gun from firing when the trigger is depressed. IOW, it cannot accomplish anything against crime, especially rape and murder.

    • Formerly a resident of a very Progressive leaning state with many acquaintances who are Progressive, I learned a very important lesson: Progressives are not pacifists. In reality, they are the complete opposite. Their motivations, moral boundaries, and end-goal is much different than that of most people.

  2. “Losing a child is a big deal. Perhaps the biggest. Which is why even the most passive woman can become hyper-aggressive — you might even say irrationally aggressive — when a child is confronted with injury, rape or death. That’s why virtually all women will pick up that gun — and shoot — if her child (or someone else’s) is in danger.”

    Still, the assertions I hear from the anti-gun mommas are usually, “well, I don’t need a gun, because if someone is hurting my child, I’ll go momma bear on them… ”

    To which my response is, “you’re not a f*cking bear.”

    Ladies, grown men do not carry .44 magnum revolvers and “mom spray” whilst walking around the local parks in case they happen upon a female human who feels threatened by their presents.

    I’m a grown man with MMA training under my belt who stays in shape and I still don’t want to fight another grown man without a weapon.

    Stay armed up, ladies.

    • Unfortunately I too have heard the “mamma bear” thing. Smarmy wishful thinking. It’s exhausting to hear, load of nonsense yet one can’t question it without insulting the person somehow. I’m just like “Yeah whatever.”

      • If you’re insulted by the truth, then I’m not the person you want to hang out with… I have no issue calling BS and having it called on me, as well.

        • Yeah call it out. Especially if they are important people in your life. The idea that someone who could be 100 pounds lighter, with no fighting experience, going up against one or more foes that are armed and they are going to go “momma bear” on them is absurd. This is willful retardation at its finest. Its like the guy that thinks when he gets into a fight he is going to be able to go “Jet Li” on someone because he watched a kung foo movie. Reality sucks, and only the prepared make it out alive. When I go get in my car I don’t bank on the idea that I’m going to go all “fast and furious” and survive a triple barrel roll after getting run off the road. I drive safe and wear a seatbelt.

    • Yep. I’m 6’1″, 220lbs and work out enough people have asked if I’m a professional body builder , with years of martial arts training, Aikido, Karate and mixed martial arts. And I carry a firearm because of almost losing my first street fight with a human predator targeting me for an attempted mugging back in 1997.

      A woman, like this one in the video actually prevailed against a man almost twice her size, but this is not the norm. Any woman, let alone any man, would be a fool to depend on only hand to hand fighting skills to defend oneself. “Cell Phone thief takes a beating from a girl!
      Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3ee_1374602708#triGjLwjzF136BOW.99“

      • Nice vid. 🙂

        It’s tough to bounce back from having ‘the twins’ kicked so hard they now reside in your throat…

      • I leaned to hand-to-hand fight, because I needed to learn to hand-to-hand fight… Once I learned to hand-to-hand fight, I didn’t want to hand-to-hand fight anymore.

        • This. Find me someone who says “I’ll beat you with my bare hands” and I will show you someone who has never been in a real fight. They are messy and no one makes it out unscathed.

      • As someone who also practices MMA and other “regular” martial arts I agree 100%.

        I tend to think about this in “lines” the way people do about gear.

        The first line of defense is being aware and avoiding problems when you can.

        The second is the gun.

        The third is the knife.

        Forth is an improvised weapon if one is available.

        Fifth and finally is unarmed hand to hand.

        • For me improvised weapon would be before a knife, you can keep some space between you and the problem using a chair/stool/2×4/lamp or such.

        • @ACP:

          I would agree with you, but I’m thinking about this from the point of view of walking down the street where it’s entirely possible the only things you have are what you’re carrying on you.

          If you’re just walking down the street and get jumped by a thug, whatever comes to hand is great, you’re absolutely right about that, but I don’t make the assumption there would necessarily be anything at hand to grab.

    • Can you point me to one of these? Google just gives me the story of the Texas woman who beat up a carjacker who hit her van.

        • By “these” I meant the women who claim that they can mega-morph into momma bear, on cue, without the need for arms or other equalizer. I didn’t think such a thing could exist. It just seems…foolish…to be so presumptive.

        • Ah, I see. Well, agreed on being foolish and presumptive, for sure.

          But, this has strictly been in my personal conversation with anti-folks, so Google search won’t help you find it.

          My wife works in a profession which is mostly liberal folks, so I get to have some fun convos because I’m the “right-wing, gun nut.”

          You’d be surprise how many times I’ve heard the momma bear comment.

        • Ah. Fair enough. I’ll have to keep an ear out for those comments. Being in Texas and at a fairly conservative company, I’ve been pleasantly unsurprised at how many people think our no weapons policy is shortsighted. But, being in Houston, I’m sure there are more than a few people who will tell me I’m wrong.

        • I live in Texas, too. But these folks typically aren’t from here…

          They come here because of the low cost of living and jobs, but then sh*t on the conservatism which keeps it that way.

  3. After reading the opinion piece by Shannon “Always the victim” Watts today, I needed this article.

  4. I’ve said it many times, “‘Xena, Warrior Princess’ was NOT a documentary.”

    Gun control, the theory that 110lb. women have the right to fist fight with 210lb. rapists…

    • I shut off movies where a young small unarmed woman successfully fights a large well trained and experienced male fighter. It is a pet peeve of mine for sure.

      • Then you shut off 90%9or more) of all of Hollyweird’s production. Movies of women beating on men is almost all that exists anymore. I guess that’s why I have no TV and havent been to a movie since “The Avenger’s” and “Iron Man”. Which of both feature a woman(blk wdw/natasha) beating on many men. Coincidence…???

      • The worst is Angelina Jolie… She is methhead skinny; her arms are as thick as my wirsts.

        She probably couldn’t open a pickle jar, let alone, closed fist lay someone out.

    • The disparity in size doesn’t even need to be that great…

      My youngest sister is a stout gal; about 5’7, 160ish lbs, total tomboy, hay bail throwing, horse riding, country girl. And I have no brothers, so her and I used to get into full on wrestling matches…

      She never won. Ever.

      • Yeah, if she shot you 3-4 times first, she’d have had a better chance, huh?

        • I did and she couldn’t.

          Also, the average woman isn’t the athletic one in the BJJ class going toe to toe with the boys..

          She is one in the grocery store, with a muffin top, one kid on her hip, one in the cart, buying the sugary snacks “for the kids” *wink,wink*, and who couldn’t do five mins of straight cardio.

          Are there bad a$$ women out there? Yes, but the outliers do not make the rule, they make the exception.

        • I’m not talking about the super athletic girls.

          We have girls at my BJJ school that regularly whip the tar out of large guys. They’re not the most athletic women in the world, they merely take their training seriously and know what they’re doing.

          BJJ isn’t about strength, or cardio (though those things help) it’s about technique and leverage, and without the knowledge of those things and how to apply them you have no chance against a BJJ player that gets you to the ground even if they’re completely out of shape.

          Six months of BJJ 3x a week, when taken seriously and properly applied, makes people a very dangerous opponent even against someone with a few years of high school/college wrestling.

        • You’re still not talking about the average woman, friend.

          For every 1 gal in BJJ, self-defense, kick boxing, etc, there are ten who have likely never even been in a real fight.

          Of course, BJJ is more about technical ability and skill, (I outweighed my training buddy by almost 40lbs and still lost to him as many times I didn’t), but there is a reason there are weight classes in professional fighting and men’s and women’s division.

          Men have a natural advantage; don’t blame me, blame science.

        • You properly identify the problem when you say “For every 1 gal in BJJ, self-defense, kick boxing, etc, there are ten who have likely never even been in a real fight.” then then you discard your own statement.

          The problem isn’t that women can’t do this sort of thing, it’s that they generally don’t bother. Weight shouldn’t matter in something like BJJ if your technique is correct. I’ve trashed people who are 70lbs more than me and lost to people who are 50lbs less than me. I’ve won against stronger opponents and had a couple kids who were really pretty much weaklings beat me regularly.

          This is why I love rolling with guys who are 50+ pounds more than me, I can’t be lazy when I roll with them. The technique is either right or it’s not, there is no muscling your way out of it. It’s also good practice to wear a gi and roll with someone who not wearing one. They get all those nice grips and you get none. Better be on your game or you’re gonna lose and lose fast.

          Sorry, it’s not all about strength, athleticism or endurance and that “women can’t compete” it’s that most of them don’t care to figure out what works and what doesn’t and then practice what works as if their life might depend on it. It just doesn’t interest most of them. Simply put, there’s not too many girls who are in to martial arts, and that’s the problem. If you take 50 ladies and give them the schedule I described earlier, they will knock most men unconscious in less than 3 minutes, or break something or have those men tapping.

  5. Extremely well thought out post Robert. My girlfriend, sadly, is the one who would pick the pistol up, but until confronted by that situation would argue it’s unnecessary to have in the first place…..

    • How do people do that? Does she turn away from any news? Does she think there’s some kind of magic at work? There are men like that, too, and I don’t mean just oBlammo, he’s just an idiot, I mean people who actually think in other subjects, unable to here.

  6. Furthermore… there is more to this than the “instinct” to survive or protect children. There is much more to it than the presence or absence of a gun. And even having a gun and knowing well how/when to use it does not guarantee a good outcome for anyone, but especially those of us who are elderly, weak or disabled in some way. And those who have young children in the line of fire/attack would be just as or more vulnerable. Think about firing a gun while holding a screaming, flailing, terrified 2 year old…

    So, some good planning and serious preparations would seem to be in order for everyone, including the buff, athletic and fully capable.

    Good place to start the conversation, Robert… but I hate it when people – especially women – get the notion that the mere presence of a gun should be sufficient to “protect” them. So, I hope you go back later and start nudging these folks to consider all the other things they need to think about and do, especially if they truly want to protect those children.

    • But doesn’t the issue of even touching the firearm have to be addressed first, well before training and preparation, etc.? Carts don’t work very well when they are put in front of the horse, even if it seems like a great idea to keep the wheels clean…

      • Absolutely! Which is why I said so… I hope that everyone who introduces someone to a gun, especially like this, makes the time and takes the trouble to GO BACK and reinforce it with more information… more than once, as the person is willing to accept it.

        Far, far too many people I talk to, and too many who come to my classes, tell me they have a gun, or grew up with guns in the home… but have never used it, or trained with it, and only later came to understand that the gun was not enough on its own. One woman was raped first… and never had a chance to get the gun into action because the violent ex-boyfriend got in through an unlocked door and grabbed her immediately. She had never thought about needing to lock the doors as a part of effective self defense… But I’ll bet she does now.

    • +1

      A gun is something absolutely everyone who might face a violent attack should have (provided they themselves are physically capable of using it), BUT IT IS NOT A MAGIC TALISMAN.

      About a year ago I was in a deadly situation (not as immediate and in-your-face as yours, Mama, but I was downrange) and my gun was useless because of the circumstances.

  7. I dont have children and am also a male but i see anyone that takes advantage of someone weaker as a coward. The gun is an equalizer, bad guys that intend to do bad thing will do them but when the “weaker” target they are after fights back with a greater force they change their mind or die. When it comes to women and firearms i know far more that are afraid of them than those that will actively train and use them. Moms demand action and others like them are instilling fear in their minds and the only way to change it is to show more women they are not murder tools but life savers and can even be fun. In the last couple of months i have turned a few to the smart side of thinking and they are glad i did and i was more than will to help.

    • Choosing a weaker target for crime is not necessarily cowardice, it is pragmatism.

      • I dont have children and am also a male but i see anyone that takes advantage of someone weaker as a coward.
        I agree that in this type of scenario, this becomes more of a predator dragging down its prey than any higher morality of a fair contested fight. The predators really do not care about virtues or lack thereof.

    • i see anyone that takes advantage of someone weaker as a coward.

      Correct, Justin, which makes the Government a coward.

  8. It’s conditioning, lack of experience and environment. I complemented a local female elementary school teacher on her truck. She said the other teachers asked her why she had a big truck. She said, “where I come from all women drive trucks like this.” She then said, “I didn’t eat meat from a grocery store until I was 14.” 🙂

    Do we all need to go rural? Nope. But we can take care of ourselves where we are.

    Happy Mother’s Day to you all. Love you Mom! You were a feisty, wise, well educated woman. You didn’t take crap off of anyone and always looked out for the innocents and unfairly treated.

  9. I remember my mom protecting us w her revolver one time from a Canadian goose. That sucker came up in our yard and was honking and flapping its wings. Mom grabbed us kids and ran for the house. She then spent time and ammo shooting through the window screen at the goose. My dad and his work buddies showed up armed for bear because when she called him he heard crazy old man instead of crazy goose. He shot its head off. Dad was a tremendous shot. We had goose later. It was delicious.

  10. Most of the unarmed “mama bears” would do one thing in the above scenario — they’d beg.

    • “Most of the unarmed “mama bears” would do one thing in the above scenario — they’d beg”

      Predators really like that…

  11. I just know the mama I live with would fight to the death. My wife used to run self-defense classes at a YWCA and was constantly confronted by (goofy) white women who would say crap like “I could NEVER hurt,stab,shoot or fight” some big thug raping me”. Does that go for their kids? Maybe…

    • Your wife is the wise one. Predators like easy targets, like stupid women who won’t fight or older woman who can’t. And predators are often pretty good at figuring out who are the hard targets and who are soft, although every once in a while they get surprised by a grandma with a gun. So, really, those fools who won’t fight, by being soft targets, are helping to keep your wife safe.

      It’s a crazy old world, ain’t it.

  12. Similar to my question, but perhaps better posed.

    “Would you fight to protect your loved ones?”

    “Would you prefer to win or lose this fight?”

    BTW: Love the photo of the woman claiming common “sense” while holding a sign saying schools are death traps.

  13. Those mama bears are already delusional thinking that they are as strong as bears.

    • I have a daughter who has a 3rd Dan Taekwondo Black Belt and even she admits that she would be a poor match for a 230 lb muscle man.

  14. You’re going to see the progressivism-over-survival mindset put to the test first in the EU, then here.

    The Islamic invasion of the EU has reached the tipping point, and the notorious Muslim practice of sexual predation upon non-Muslim women is out in full force in Europe now. The leadership of several European nations are quite busy selling women out to maintain their ability to signal their left-wing virtue.

    Go buy a pickup truck full of popping corn, the best popcorn maker on the market, and a few cwt. of butter. It’s going to be a highly amusing show.

    • Islam is reaching a critical mass in Western Europe so we will see how our much more civilized less firearm owning brethren react.
      The new modern man never needs a gun. Ever.

  15. Moms convinces women that they need to protect their (and others’) children before they can be raped, injured or killed. By restricting or banning civilian firearms ownership.
    Soooo….what happens when the whack jobs use other weapons such as knives? China anyone?

  16. “Our schools are becoming death traps”

    Because it’s a gun free zone (for law abiding) and whose fault is that?

    • No response to my first attempt to contact you at email address as you provided it. Does address need name or initials added to it? I resent my reply again. Please advise.

    • R. Farago,
      Since you have not respond to contact that you requested, it is evident you concede the issue of you taking my comments on article and writing new articles using those same points as the basis for YOUR ORIGIONAL MATERIAL. Then when I comment on on your clear plagiarism wih two references you delete my Post, as for contact then don’t reply. This says volumes about your journalistic ethics. I’m sure you will hide behind your administrative powers anx delete this Post too. When I see its gone I will still have the satisfaction of knowing I confronted you on the issue and you read it. If you reply by deleting this and just Posting your response it will show your true character. If you consider this as too harsh I guess you will ban me from posting here, but where will you get your material from in the future?

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