As a gay woman, I don’t feel safe in America right now. So I bought a gun.

[DonViejo]

by Bree Schmidt on June 16, 2016

I’ve been staring at the gun lying on my desk for more than an hour now. It’s not loaded. In fact, I own no bullets for it. But I've decided I need it — just in case.

As a gay woman living in the American South, "just in case" for me means that I expect one day to be followed into a women’s restroom by some "concerned citizen" because I’m not feminine-presenting, hardly at all, and don’t adhere to traditional gender standards.

"Just in case" means the next time an old man decides to spit at me again while I’m simply walking down the sidewalk.

"Just in case" means the next time a random frat boy leans out of his buddy’s lifted truck window and yells, "DYKE!" as they hastily pull away from the stoplight next to me.

"Just in case" means I expect things to escalate, because, for me, they always have.

more
http://www.vox.com/2016/6/16/11949302/gun-purchase-orlando

[irisblue]

1. As a middleaged dyke I am more peeved when drunken frat boys call me

me the f-word then dyke

I will not be afraid.

[ileus]

2. It never hurts to own your own life saving device.

[irisblue]

6. and I do respect her point and the vox essay is powerful.

however where she says in the essay she would brandish it....her words not mine... gives me pause.
. .

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. "Brandishing" is illegal in some states

and regardless, might stir up even more trouble. I don't blame someone for wanting some protection when they are threatened or harassed on a regular basis but at the same time, carrying a gun can create problems of its own. I don't know what I'd do if I were in that situation.

[socialist_n_TN]

40. Yeah, I had a little problem with that too.........

and I'm a supporter of oppressed people arming themselves in self-defense. But PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE take some training on when, where, and HOW to use that weapon. Everybody who owns a gun should.

[Dem2]

10. Much more likely to kill yourself or your family members

But you know this, tired of your gun fondling post here of late - off to iggy.

[irisblue]

21. "my gun fondling " ? wait wut?

[Dem2]

25. No, I don't think so.

The ileus person I was responding to - I think - I can't see the subthread cuz I put them on ignore.

[pablo_marmol]

66. Kellerman "study" nobody takes seriously anymore

due to flawed sample selection. Criminals have family members, y'know.

[Dem2]

69. What are you talking about?

What are you saying?

Edit: never mind, I see you're a perennial gun fetishist who pedals the fear of losing (get's called a Republican a lot) as an EXCUSE for doing nothing. Ever. Basically, you support mass-slaughter while a reasonable gun-owner like myself sees no advantage in treating the 2nd Amendment with kid (NRA) gloves even though other rights are restricted in many ways.) Off to ignore with you.

[GreatGazoo]

33. a kevlar vest

[scscholar]

3. Now you're even less safe!

Forty+ times more likely to have it used against you than in self-defense.

[liberalnarb]

7. +1

[MH1]

48. What, as a club? The author stated they had no bullets. nt.

[Straw Man]

56. Wrong.

Forty+ times more likely to have it used against you than in self-defense.

Absolutely false. Kellerman's statistics compared dying by one's own gun to killing someone in self-defense. Needless to say, it isn't necessary to kill someone to successfully defend oneself. Furthermore, he included suicides in his figures of those gun owners who died by their own guns. Killing oneself with one's own gun is hardly "having it used against you."

For people who are trained with the use of their gun, who store it safely, who are not suicidal, who don't live in situations of domestic violence, and who don't live a criminal lifestyle, the risk is small.

[cali]

4. that's fucking nuts. shoot someone for yelling dyke at you?

[Straw Man]

63. I don't think that's what she means.

I read that as the yelling being a precursor to an attack.

[maxsolomon]

5. Hopefully this Bree Schmidt won't purchase bullets for that gun

She'd be more likely to use it to kill herself than defend herself, unless she plans to brandish it illegally.

[madinmaryland]

46. ^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^

+1000

[Separation]

8. Couple of things here that are going to get her into trouble

First of all I am happy to hear that she is willing to protect herself or others if the needs arise.

However, carrying an unloaded pistol is probably more dangerous than having one at all. Hopefully I'm guessing that she will eventually buy ammo and the part of it being unloaded is just literary.

Secondly, I hope she doesn't think that because somebody spits on you, or call you a name it gives you a reason to shoot them. Once again, I hope that is just a literary description on how she feels.

Lastly, I hope she takes a CCW course, then goes to the range several times a month. Shooting any type of gun isn't natural. When something goes wrong, and it will go wrong, she needs to have the muscle memory to be able to react.

Lastly, I hope she never has to use it. Taking a life no matter the reason has certain.. consequences.

[Angel Martin]

13. she needs to take a basic gun safety course and and concealed carry course

carrying it unloaded won't do much

when people are attacked it happens so so quickly that she will not have time to display the gun and tell them to back off

in that instance an empty gun is just a club

in that case get a 1911. it is all metal an weighs a ton, not half plastic like a glock

[liberalnarb]

9. Jesus! Shes gonna shoot people for insults. Thats just the problem in the country.

[Straw Man]

65. That's not what she meant.

See this post.

[Bigmack]

11. If you're gonna own one of those damn things,

BE SURE TO TAKE ONE OR MORE GUN-SAFETY COURSES. I have owned guns off and on in my life (not now, tho), and I do know how to use them, and I also know that in the hands of inexperienced people, guns are MORE THAN DANGEROUS. Take care and be careful in this STRANGE and dangerous land. Ms Bigmack

[lapfog_1]

51. The problem isn't gun safety training

you need a one to two week training course on active shooter defense.

And you need it every six months.

Otherwise studies and simulations have shown that you are either ineffective at best or a danger to other innocents at worse.

The good person with a gun only works when that person is trained to a point of muscle memory reactions.

[Straw Man]

67. Training.

you need a one to two week training course on active shooter defense.

And you need it every six months.

Yes, you need it. No, you don't need it every six months. If you have access to a range where you can practice drawing and shooting while you move, that will be sufficient to retain your skills.

Otherwise studies and simulations have shown that you are either ineffective at best or a danger to other innocents at worse.

If you're talking about the ABC News simulation, that was complete rigged bullshit. In any case, "ineffective" is a wash, and "a danger to other innocents" is meaningless in a "kill 'em all" situation. If you do something, some may live. If you do nothing, they all die.

The good person with a gun only works when that person is trained to a point of muscle memory reactions.

And again, it doesn't take a two-week course every six months to train and retain muscle memory.

[Eleanors38]

12. It is best Bree get some training before loading....

to include what the law says sbout use and non-use of ANY weapon in confrontational situations.

[jtx]

14. Buying a gun without training

is like buying a guitar without lessons.

Either don't buy one, or commit to learn what you are doing safely, thoughtfully, and effectively.

Without actual training and practice, a gun is likely to be grabbed and taken away from you and then used against you putting you in a worse position overall.

I'm all for people having the right to own a gun for self-defense including concealed carry (no open carry), but only if they commit to do so safely, learnedly and with proficiency.

But, I am glad you and others are thinking about taking responsibility for defending themselves, their friends, and family.

[Fumesucker]

61. I imagine that someone *could* accidentally kill themselves with a guitar

I rather doubt it has actually happened though.

[Bluenorthwest]

70. Keith Relf – Electrocuted While Playing Guitar

Relf died on May 14, 1976 in a bizarre incident at his home. The veteran musician was apparently playing an improperly grounded electric guitar in his basement recording studio when he was electrocuted.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/keith-relf-strange-rock-deaths/

[Fumesucker]

82. It figures someone would find a way, thanks for enlightening me..

I hadn't considered electric guitars, I was thinking about falling on a guitar breaking the neck and getting stabbed by a sharp splinter or garroted by a string or something..

[msongs]

15. because of gun owners it is unsafe to walk the streets here nt

[hunter]

16. Ronald Reagan was surrounded by well armed and well trained Secret Service agents.

He still got shot.

Buying a gun for "self protection" is lunacy.

Bad guys shoot first, and they don't fight fair.

[phylny]

44. ^This!!!! n/t

[Straw Man]

64. Yes, but ...

Ronald Reagan was surrounded by well armed and well trained Secret Service agents.

He still got shot.

He didn't get killed. A very important distinction, that.

Buying a gun for "self protection" is lunacy.

Bad guys shoot first, and they don't fight fair.

You'd better tell the cops and the secret service to throw those things away, then. They're obviously useless.

[cwydro]

17. I'm a gay woman in the south also.

So are many of my friends.

None of us carry guns, nor do we feel the need to do so.

[linuxman]

18. Normally I would encourage her.

But if she thinks putting a gun in somebody's face over them insulting her or even spitting on her is prudent, she's going to be in for a nasty surprise.

Guns aren't universal grievance alleviators.

She sounds like she needs to reevaluate the criteria under which she'd be willing to use lethal force, because based on what I'm reading hee, she's going to end up in prison in a hurry.

[Bluenorthwest]

71. Comments like yours reek of privilege, you seem not to grasp that being spit on or having

slur shouted at you very often proceeds a violent attack. In the US each year there are over 1,500 hate motivated crimes against LGBT persons officially listed as such by the FBI. There are of course many more that don't get reported. So those slur shouts are not to be taken lightly.

I'd be very happy if every straight person in America believed all LGBT were armed ace shots. That way we'd not have to be armed to scare off all the bullies that straight America sends after us.

[linuxman]

74. Lol.

Get off your high horse and calm down

I'm all for training and arming lgbt persons, and have volunteered my time to do so. Part of that is telling someone that if they stick a gun in someone's face when not facing a profound physical threat, they're going to jail. If you'd rather have lgbt folks play Zimmerman cowboy, that's your business, but the law is pretty clear in most places about sticking a gun in someone's face when you are slurred.

But hey, be my guest, encourage lgbt persons to brandish and pull guns when insulted. You are ignorant of the law, and your suggestion that guns should be used to "scare people off" is so laughably illegal and ill advised, I wouldnt be shocked if the real goal here was trying to get gay people arrested because some idiot with zero knowledge of the law gave them shit advice.


Privilege indeed.

[Egnever]

19. Well that points out the problem with guns pretty clearly

I hope she changes her mind and takes it back.

[Brickbat]

20. Well, let's hope she follows it up with training in its use, in CC, in the law, and in situational

awareness.

[Person 2713]

22. Yes irrational gun lovers who can't wait to use it expecting "escalations" can be gay

Needs it in case someone yells dyke at her???
now she joins the stupids
Bathroom issue -I think pepper spray or something non lethal would suffice.
Yes I know 2 Trans now that are carrying pepper spray since the bathroom issue but never did they think a gun was what they needed

[mr_liberal]

23. Someone in Pulse should have had a gun, they could have shot the guy. nm

[Separation]

37. It's illegal

It's illegal to carry a concealed gun in a place that sells alcohol.

[GeorgeGist]

39. 2 LEOs failed.

So there's that.

[Straw Man]

54. Really?

2 LEOs failed.

So there's that.

So when they cornered him in that rest room, allowing the rest of the club-goers to escape and the wounded to be evacuated, you would call that a failure? They weren't there when the shooting started.

[uppityperson]

55. There was an off duty cop working as a security guard who was there at the beginning

https://www.yahoo.com/news/orlando-swat-captain-pulse-hostages-000000292.html

An off-duty police officer who was working as a security guard just outside the club’s entrance confronted Mateen and exchanged gunfire, and the shooter ran back inside, holing up in a bathroom, where police say he held several hostages.

[Straw Man]

57. Right.

There was an off duty cop working as a security guard who was there at the beginning

An off-duty police officer who was working as a security guard just outside the club’s entrance confronted Mateen and exchanged gunfire, and the shooter ran back inside, holing up in a bathroom, where police say he held several hostages.

So he initiated the armed response, and was then joined by the other two officers. Without this response, Mateen would have had much more to time to carry out the slaughter of club patrons unimpeded.

[uppityperson]

58. Or he might have left rather than "ran back inside"

This subthread started with "Someone in Pulse should have had a gun, they could have shot the guy.". Someone did, a LEO. They the shooter ran back inside.

Armed LEO wasn't able to shoot him. Point 1.

Point 2 is that by trying to do so, he caused the shooter to go BACK inside.

[Straw Man]

60. Oh, he was leaving?

Or he might have left rather than "ran back inside"

He was just on his way home to see what was on TV? Please.

The security guard engaged Mateen as he entered the club. The guard was outgunned and couldn't stop him.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article84076637.html

Armed LEO wasn't able to shoot him. Point 1.

Once more officers arrived, they were able to contain him. They forced him out of the main room. Had they not been there to engage him, he would have been able to slaughter everyone in the club.

Point 2 is that by trying to do so, he caused the shooter to go BACK inside.

That's not the way it happened. And even if it were, what would have been the alternative to engaging? Stand down and hope he's finished? That would have been criminally irresponsible.

The only lesson here is that in this scenario, the more guns that are shooting back at the perpetrator, the better.

[Tsiyu]

24. I read the full article

I am assuming that what she means to say is that whenever one of these situations arises whereupon she is spit on or insulted, she fears that the scenario may escalate. In fact, the excerpt claims that. She doesn't know if that person who called her a name might decide to start beating on her. Or stabbing her. Or shooting her.

At the end of the article she talks about how she might have to take out one life to save many if she found herself in a similar situation to what happened at Pulse. She contemplates the moments when she might be called upon to use her weapon, but never once claims that she would use it in the scenarios she describes in her introduction.

This is a very good article, and I believe its author is being grossly misinterpreted here.

[mwrguy]

26. She's part of the problem

[mr_liberal]

32. Did you know the muslim woman in your picture is a conservative republican. Just fyi. nm.

[mwrguy]

34. Thanks. I'll look into that and remove her.

[mr_liberal]

36. Saba Ahmed. nm

[mwrguy]

80. Fixed. Thanks again.

[BobbyDrake]

28. Many of the problems she mentions, if handled by her gun, would make HER the criminal.

You don't get to shoot someone for spitting at you, much less yelling from a car. You certainly don't gain a license to kill for going to the bathroom.

I hope she never gets depressed. The presence of her gun will make it awfully easy to find a "permanent solution to a temporary problem."

Guns increase your danger, not decrease it.

[Aerows]

29. I'm a petite lesbian next door.

Attack me - I'll be the last person to hear you take a breath.

[pablo_marmol]

53. I, for one, applaud your decision. NT

[Aerows]

59. Reining in chaos is my problem

Deciding is everybody else that is standing around's job.

[jmg257]

30. "Just in case" means I EXPECT THINGS TO ESCALATE, BECAUSE FOR ME THEY ALWAYS HAVE"

Not gonna argue with her choices. Her experiences. Her fears.


She is very smart for not doing anything with it till she makes up her mind whether she would be able use it or not.

And not in some half-ass brandishing stunt.

[Aerows]

31. Never pick up a gun

unless you are 100% mentally and morally ready to use it.

The same goes with other weapons, including physical training in martial arts.

[DinahMoeHum]

35. If she's truly serious, she should start. . .

. . .a local chapter of the Pink Pistols in her area.

http://www.pinkpistols.org/about-the-pink-pistols/

[roamer65]

41. I agree. Pink Pistols can direct you to training.

If you decide to do concealed carry, you need to be educated on the permit process and know the liabilities that it entails.

[pablo_marmol]

52. Pick on someone your own caliber. ;-) NT

[GulfCoast66]

38. Actions made in fear are often regretted

I own guns. Grew up with them and am comfortable with them. For a very specific reason I got a CC license but never actually carry concealed.

But buying a gun on a whim is so dangerous. It is not something like running a coffee maker where you do it a few times and it is easy. More like driving. It takes a long time and lots of practice to master. And like driving a car if you do it with little experience you are likely to get hurt. Or with a gun, killed.

So while I respect the author's feelings, I have trepidation.

If someone wants to at least get a good safe. That way your guns will not be used to kill a stranger.

[roamer65]

42. Same here, familiar with guns, except I let the permit lapse last year.

Never really used it and the money was better spent on other things. If one makes a mistake with CC, the civil case will bankrupt you.

[GulfCoast66]

43. I will probably re-up next year

When mine(and the wife's) expire. We kayak fish in very remote locations and on one occasion when returning to the truck we had a dicey situation with some less than respectable citizens. We were in the middle of nowhere with no cell coverage at all. I realized there are actually a few limited times when the defense of my wife and I is all on us. And having a firearm concealed on the kayak requires a permit.

Have a nice evening.

[roamer65]

45. Understandable with those circumstances.

Good eve to u 2.

[Angel Martin]

47. out in the wilderness

you could also run into some hostile 4 legged residents as well - although they usually avoid people

[GulfCoast66]

49. I actually had a run in

With a rabid coon. He treed me in the bed of my truck with the wife trapped in the cab as I was loading up the kayaks. It was 2:00pm on a hot Florida summer day and it is trying it's damnedest to get at me in the bed of the truck. Had me worried for a while. And I had no firearm with me as this was not that remote an area.

Luckily he was a small one around 10lbs not a big old 30lb boar. Cause a big one could easily have crawled up on the bumper and got at me.

Looking back it was a clown show with me trying to knock it in the head with a $300 carbon fiber kayak paddle.

I use an old iron window sash as an anchor and I finally applied it to its head and diffused the situation.

Would have loved to have had a .22 with me.

[Angel Martin]

50. LOL ! nt

[Bluenorthwest]

72. So you assume yourself to be very worthy of being armed, but LGBT could not possibly be

like you. They act on whims and emotions while you are a full human being and thus have the right to arms those people should not have.

Right. The heavily armed explain why they should have all the guns, while the LGBT should have a coffee maker. Good stuff. It's like 1956 in here.

[GulfCoast66]

73. I am surprised you took offense

LGBT had nothing to do with my post and I never referred to the issue. Did not even enter my thinking.

I was thinking gun safety which is a subject often discussed here. So many times when people run out and buy guns it leads to tragedy.

I fully support anyone legally eligible to own a gun doing so. And I can certainly understand why a member of a group so often the victims of violence as our LGBT citizens are feeling the need to have one.

But that does not change the undeniable fact that when you own a gun, you or a family member are the most likely to be shot. And those odds go thru the roof when, as is often the case, gay or straight, it is not practiced with on a regular basis.

So please read my post from the position of firearms safety and realize my entire post applies equally to anyone buying a gun.

[jmg257]

75. You should read the article - she too grew up around guns. And seems to have developed

quite the respect for them.

She was already considering using the pistol to get back into shooting. Purchasing one wasn't "a whim".
I have the feeling if she decided she would actually use her Glock outside of target practice, that she would put the time & effort in to do so safely.

"In the grand scheme of things, I don’t think shooting another to save just my life is worth it."

THAT is part she needs to think long and hard on.

In the mean time, she can shoot, and learn, and enjoy, and master it.

My sister is doing that now with her pistol.

[Aerows]

62. Lift a shit ton of weights, run a bunch and realize

We can recreate ourselves.

I'm bigger than 107lbs ever should have been, and goddamn well, you should be scared of me.

[JonathanRackham]

68. I support her decision.

I encourage her to get training and education to go with her decision. A choice such as this should not be made lightly. Her narrative suggests she has been thinking about her decision.

[Jester Messiah]

76. Well, I hope Bree makes sure to practice with it...

and develops her situational awareness. Just having a gun with no training or practice will only make her a danger to herself and others. And if she draws on an old man for the mere crime of spitting at her, or on some frat boy for yelling mean things, I hope she enjoys spending the night in jail. You don't get to play Wyatt Earp and just wave your gun around. That's called brandishing and it's against the law.

[yourpaljoey]

77. Buy guns and LEARN HOW TO USE THEM

At very least a pump shotgun and a pistol.
That 'learn how to use them' is the key here.
Better to have and not need then need and not have.

[SheilaT]

79. Once again, the meme that more guns make us safer.

If that's really true, then explain to me why this isn't the safest country on the planet.

This is right up there with the claim that we have the best health care in the world. We don't. Period.

Guns do not make us safe. Period.