I grew up as the skinny kid in class. I was of average height, but as thin as a rail. Because of that, and being a little odd in general, I was the target of a lot of picking on, humiliation, and more than a few acts of violence. I tried to hold my own, but size matters when physical violence occurs, so there was only so much I could do.
Which is why I feel like I can speak about why gun rights are important to women, who are smaller, physically weaker, and slower on average than men. Yes, ladies, there are exceptions, but unless you’re Rhonda Rousey in her prime, the odds are that you’re not one of those. Don’t feel bad, because I ain’t either.
Gun control is a direct attack on women, but it’s also unsurprising when a feminist publication like Ms. celebrates just that.
Much ink has been spilled on the violent scene at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. No doubt the entire story is an indictment of so much of what is wrong in American life. Take your pick: the scourge of incendiary political rhetoric, vast partisan polarization, a nationwide mental health crisis, the calamity that is the federal government’s longstanding failure to enact meaningful gun safety laws. Or, more likely, all of the above.
There is another perspective that warrants our overt recognition at this moment: how deeply and uniquely gun violence impacts women and children, nearly always at the hands of men.
Yes, this is true. That violence mostly comes from violent men. That’s not really groundbreaking, since most violent offenders are men in a more general sense. Men are usually the sex that fights wars, defends homes, goes into burning buildings, and does a lot of other stuff that people with good sense would say are dangerous, but dudes still do it, and while all of these are good things, it comes from the same urges that lead to violence unless there’s a good framework in place to direct it positively.
No one is going to debate that, though I also have to roll my eyes at the equivalent of “World Ends. Women and Minorities Hardest Hit” kind of language.
And it doesn’t get much better, because the author here tries to equate two unconnected issues as being all the same.
This sobering reality made the latest legislative news out of Virginia all the more inspired—a trio of bill packages passed into law, the combination of which addresses this intersection in a powerful way.
Over the past week, a suite of gun safety bills headed to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk, several of which she signed into law, and others she amended, including a ban on the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines—Virginia would be the 11th state to enact such a ban—as well as protections for domestic violence survivors, age limits on gun purchases, safe storage requirements and industry accountability measures.
Her statement of support for the bills ties directly to healthy families:
“[G]un violence is the leading cause of death for children and teenagers in America, and that should motivate all of us to ask ourselves what we can do to mitigate this harm.”
She simultaneously signed bipartisan legislation known as the Momnibus, which aims to improve and expand healthcare coverage for mothers and families, particularly women who face the highest risks, by codifying the need to collect maternal health data, supporting mental health screenings of new parents, and expanding insurance and Medicaid coverage for a variety of care.
The official announcement echoes the language of gun safety bills:
“No mother should have to fear dying during or after childbirth, and no family should have to endure the pain of losing a mother to an avoidable death. The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate compared to any other high-income country, and we know Black women are at far greater risk than the rest of our neighbors.”
The Momnibus bills have been years in the making and come at a critical time for reproductive rights as well as the need for safe communities.
First, so-called gun violence isn’t the leading cause of death in children. It only looks that way when you lump children in with teenagers, who are more often involved in violent gang culture. Even then, it’s not that common, nor are the mass public shootings that are used to justify these kinds of attacks on Second Amendment rights.
And what does that have to do with healthcare coverage for mothers? Not much.
Sure, post-partum depression can be a real mother (pardon the pun), and help and support for that might prevent so-called gun deaths by suicide in such cases, which is an undisputed good thing for everyone, but what does this have to do with an assault weapon ban?
Nothing.
The thing is, the author is trying to portray what’s going on in Virginia as a big win for women across the board, but while we could debate Medicaid coverage for a variety of care, the fact that Virginia has banned standard capacity magazines and weapons like the AR-15 isn’t remotely good for women. It means they’re more vulnerable to the kind of violence the author has already decried.
When you’re scared, there’s no such thing as too much ammo. Your hands shake so much that your sights are bouncing. You’re not likely to hit your target like that, but if you’ve got more rounds in the magazine, you might be able to settle down before you get killed and score a hit. Or you’ll just throw so much lead downrange that the bad guy decides to go away on his own, which is still a win.
So-called assault weapons are adaptable firearms that can be adjusted quickly to almost any shooter, and will allow someone to fend off intruders with more accuracy, more punch from the round, and better options for dealing with stress-induced shaking.
But sure, let’s just pretend that not only are none of these factors a thing, but that the worst school shooting in modern American history didn’t happen in Virginia and involve two handguns.
Because that’s what Ms. is celebrating here. They’re reveling in bills that make everyone, including women, less safe and pretending it’s a win for feminism.
Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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