Should women be trained and issued firearms?

There's plenty of empirical evidence that shows that more guns leads to more gun violence. Arming us won't stop violent crimes. It would most likely do the opposite.

Interesting if anecdotal - I lived a lot of my life where there was little police protection. I once called them and the couple of Staties who patrolled the area were trying to get to us but encountered at least two situations that had to be dealt with before they could move on. It took hours for them to arrive (about 4 1/2 hours).

They called at least twice to explain the delay. They asked “Are you folks okay until we get there?”

I said, “We are - as long as everybody understands nobody is coming into this house we don’t want here. There’s a shotgun here standing in for you.”

I always thought this was ‘rural myth’ but the officer actually said, “If you have to shoot him, drag him into the house, after.”

The area where I lived was remote and sparsely populated in places, lots of hunting cabins unoccupied much of the year - but crime rates for breaking and entering and home invasion were virtually zero.

Why? Because everybody understood that homeowners had guns, and stood prepared to use them.

One of the reasons women don't commit more crimes with firearms is that we generally aren't as interested in them and not being interested in them doesn't cost us any man points.

Absolutely! Teach your daughters to shoot because a restraining order is just a piece of paper.

Funny you say this... I was at Cabela’s yesterday and all the people being helped at the gun counter were women! It was awesome, actually

I think most women don't want that and rightly so.

I'm a woman who is trained to use a firearm. While I agree that it should be encouraged, I don't believe one should continue to encourage if the other party is not interested. Chances are, something will eventually prove to that person that knowing how to use and own one will benefit them.

I just love this... The answer to the question of what to do about guns and the problems they cause is to add more guns to the question!

Men [i]mostly[/i] commit violent crime, but men are also far more likely to be the victim of violent crime.

How does that fit with your suggestion?

I think it’s just about choice if someone man or woman has a gun in their home they should understand how it works for safety reasons. But carrying isn’t something everyone is comfortable with. The option is available to those who want it.