Lady NES'ers, LISTEN UP!!

[Grace]

W.E.C.-one thing i took out of this is,

the women are frightened.

and the vocal ones - the ones who have no idea how guns function,and never saw one up close are trying to ban all guns as the answer,


and the rest of the women are signing up for ltc's and going for training.


we need women spokspersons, they will carry more weight,right or wrong, that's how I see it.

Thank you WEC. You are right. I went to the hearing at Cape Cod Community College yesterday, and the estrogen was all on the anti-2a side. Grandmother's Against Gun Violence, the Mom's Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and the Mass Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence sat with linked arms and yellow stickers on their cardigans. Now there were several female speakers, including myself, on the pro-2a side. The first focused on the infringement of sportsmens rights, and she did do a great job.

But we need to be louder.

The majority of the men who spoke for our side were well spoken, stayed on point, and stuck to the facts. The women who spoke for the anti's began most testimony with 'I cried for days after Newtown...I knew I had to do something' or 'As a mother of xyz I decided I can take no more'.

It's our turn to speak up.

I know you're out there. You're moms, nanas, aunts, daughters and you are proud gun owners. You go shooting at the range, you carry your pistol to work with you, you lock up your gun so you can drive your kids to school. You are responsible, law abiding female gun owners. But many don't believe we exist.

In fact, one DB stood up and on a tangent about Nancy Lanza threw out there that a woman with a gun is more likely to just be overpowered and have her own gun used against her. Is your blood boiling too?

These hearings are important. If these bills pass then 7 round magazines, one gun purchase per month, mandatory liability insurance, off site storage of large capacity firearms and a 25% tax on gun and ammo purchases will be the new reality. If you see this as a gross infringement of your constitutional rights, if this even slightly pisses you off, or if it makes you think, meh, that kinda sucks; then PLEASE, attend a hearing! Speak up! It's not that scary, in fact it's kind of invigorating. Let your MA legislators, your neighbors, that whole auditorium know that you are a lawful gun owner and that further restricting your rights will do NOTHING to combat gun violence. Criminals don't follow laws. More laws against lawful citizens won't stop criminals. Enforce the laws we have. Speak your mind, whatever angle you feel comfortable attacking. But this debate is sorely lacking the female perspective. We need to do something about it.

Thanks for reading my rant.

 

[30Mauser]

+1 Grace!

how about we we turn that around with "as a parent I cried when thinking about Newtown, knowing that if at least one of those slaughtered adults had been armed, the magnitude of the tragedy could have been greatly reduced, if not eliminated! I knew then that further attempts to diminish the capacity of law abiding citizens to protect themselves and their loved ones must be halted!"

 

[cekim]

+12etybillion, please do!

 

[Permanent Waves]

There is a good chance my wife will testify. We are both in the middle of preparing our verbal testimonies now.

 

[cekim]

One of the specific questions the committee asked an instructor is why women are such an outsized growth demographic of gun ownership.

Unfortunately, it was a male instructor who really can't answer this question...

I am sure the answer is as varied as people tend to be, but particularly if something happened recently to cause you to get a permit, that would be a great thing to share with the committee.

 

[shamrockjr]

Well stated Grace! I commend you for picking up the banner and encouraging the finer gender to stand up for their rights! We absolutely must have women on the pro @A side to turn the tide. I hope every woman reading this realizes how powerful their voice is and how much they can contribute simply by attending a meeting and speaking up.

Keep up the great work!

 

[Queen Bee]

I was at franklin's meeting but ive been working since . Dont know if i'll be able to attend others because of the distance

 

[pastera]

+1: You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Joe&Grace2A again

I am working on the second item to get a reaction from the committee, verifiable cites for violence statistics. The committee members are inundated with the BS lies from the gun control pushers, that needs to change.

 

[MizSophie]

I am working on my testimony for Worcester on the 8th. I am only too happy to speak my mind.

 

[yanici]

To the OP: Great post and I think that bringing your children along shows that many parents believe that guns and children can cohabitate and that you are further able to defend your family from outside violence.

 

[Grace]

I did hope to drive home that point, thanks Yanici. With my luck it probably put me on the DSS watch list. But bring it on! My kids are not only well versed in gun safety but are more knowledgeable in firearm mechanics than the majority of America.




P.S. I plan on repeatedly and obnoxiously bumping this thread to further the cause.

 

[Dadstoys]

I know one of the things the infuriates my wife is the condicending "someone will just take it away from you sweetie " tone. That B.S. needs to be called out at these meetings by the ladies.
That little bow tie wearing fruitcake Rep. in Co. Went on about women with guns just shooting away at anyone that even looked threatening.
I got a $20 for anyone that could take a paperclip from the Mrs. never mind a loaded gun.

 

[Grace]

Bumpity...


Good luck to all today, hope you make a strong showing! Please think about testifying if you can. Get there as early as possible to sign up to speak and you shouldn't be too far down on the list. FYI kid-toters: I totally used my boys to bump up in the line after we changed rooms at the last hearing, 'my children have been sitting patiently for 3 hours for our turn to testify, is there any way I could please go next?'. No shame.

As it has been reiterated make sure you mention the specific bill you oppose early on or it seems like they don't really get too engaged. Keep us posted!

 

[Grace]

As warned, here's the bump.

Use the momentum from the Amy Lord tragedy and please, please, PLEASE make a noticeable female presence tomorrow. This is not a middle-aged flannel wearing man issue only (no offense, men). But that is what they are expecting because that's the only crowd getting vocal about this. By showing up you are showing to the panel and the anti's that these bills, that more gun control period, is an issue that affects you and your family personally.


Surrusly. Please go!

 

[pastera]

As warned, here's the bump.

Use the momentum from the Amy Lord tragedy and please, please, PLEASE make a noticeable female presence tomorrow. This is not a middle-aged flannel wearing man issue only (no offense, men). But that is what they are expecting because that's the only crowd getting vocal about this. By showing up you are showing to the panel and the anti's that these bills, that more gun control period, is an issue that affects you and your family personally.


Surrusly. Please go!

+1
We need as many women to get up and make the statement that they don't want to be the next defenselss victim

 

[yanici]

As warned, here's the bump.

Use the momentum from the Amy Lord tragedy and please, please, PLEASE make a noticeable female presence tomorrow. This is not a middle-aged flannel wearing man issue only (no offense, men). But that is what they are expecting because that's the only crowd getting vocal about this. By showing up you are showing to the panel and the anti's that these bills, that more gun control period, is an issue that affects you and your family personally.


Surrusly. Please go!

Yep! This would hit a grand slam if some lady could pull it off.

 

[Grace]

Precisely!! I can't swing Springfield tomorrow or I would be there. Someone needs to stand up and demand that the focus of these hearings shift from heaping yet more un-abideable laws onto law abiding gun owners to fully enforcing the laws already in place. Then reference one of the bills, like h47, and ask how these proposals deter criminals? The lack of enforcement is creating their 'gun violence crisis'. If enforcement were a priority Amy Lord would be alive because Edwin Alemany would be in jail. And you want to tell me that making it harder for me to buy a firearm, harder for me to store my firearm, to take 3 bullets out of my magazine is going to keep me safer? We live in Massachusetts, the birthplace of American freedom, where our forefathers fought for our nation's freedom. With firearms. And yet today this state chooses to make it exponentially more difficult for me to exercise my constitutional right to defend myself by the same means. Somebody here can pull it off!

 

[spcantwell]

Precisely!! I can't swing Springfield tomorrow or I would be there. Someone needs to stand up and demand that the focus of these hearings shift from heaping yet more un-abideable laws onto law abiding gun owners to fully enforcing the laws already in place. Then reference one of the bills, like h47, and ask how these proposals deter criminals? The lack of enforcement is creating their 'gun violence crisis'. If enforcement were a priority Amy Lord would be alive because Edwin Alemany would be in jail. And you want to tell me that making it harder for me to buy a firearm, harder for me to store my firearm, to take 3 bullets out of my magazine is going to keep me safer? We live in Massachusetts, the birthplace of American freedom, where our forefathers fought for our nation's freedom. With firearms. And yet today this state chooses to make it exponentially more difficult for me to exercise my constitutional right to defend myself by the same means. Somebody here can pull it off!

+1

 

[Bill Katt]

Precisely!! I can't swing Springfield tomorrow or I would be there. Someone needs to stand up and demand that the focus of these hearings shift from heaping yet more un-abideable laws onto law abiding gun owners to fully enforcing the laws already in place. Then reference one of the bills, like h47, and ask how these proposals deter criminals? The lack of enforcement is creating their 'gun violence crisis'. If enforcement were a priority Amy Lord would be alive because Edwin Alemany would be in jail. And you want to tell me that making it harder for me to buy a firearm, harder for me to store my firearm, to take 3 bullets out of my magazine is going to keep me safer? We live in Massachusetts, the birthplace of American freedom, where our forefathers fought for our nation's freedom. With firearms. And yet today this state chooses to make it exponentially more difficult for me to exercise my constitutional right to defend myself by the same means. Somebody here can pull it off!

Awesome, just awesome! I hope you can make a future hearing and bring some friends. The passion in what you typed here rings true and they need to hear it in person.

 

[Woodstone]

Oh you GO, girls!

And to Grace...rep inbound.

 

[Grace]

That's part of my testimony at the first hearing. But it's gotta be more than just me that's rattled out there, right? Organization is key, we have to look just as unified as the opposition.

Am I beating this drum to deaf ears? Aren't there women here?!

 

[MizSophie]

I am here waiting and more waiting to testify.