Funny. My comments on Ms Magazine were censored.
Typical gun prohibitionist who wants to ban something they know nothing about.
The crappy holster she is wearing says it all.
My Month With a Gun: Week One
June 12, 2013 by Heidi Yewman 112 Comments
UPDATE: See Statement of Ms. Magazine in Response to Alleged Pro-Gun Bullying
My hands are shaking; my adrenaline is surging.
No, it’s not from the latte I just inhaled or because this is the first time in two years I’ve been in a Starbucks since declaring a boycott on its open-carry gun policy.
What’s got me jittery this morning is the 9mm Glock that’s holstered on my hip. Me, lead gun policy protester at the 2010 Starbuck’s shareholder meeting. Me, a board member of the Brady Campaign. Me, the author of a book about the impact of gun violence,Beyond the Bullet.
Yes, I bought a handgun and will carry it everywhere I go over the next 30 days. I have four rules: Carry it with me at all times, follow the laws of my state, only do what is minimally required for permits, licensing, purchasing and carrying, and finally be prepared to use it for protecting myself at home or in public.
Why? Following the Newtown massacre in December, the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre, told the country, “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” I wondered what would it be like to be that good guy with a gun? What would it be like to get that gun, live with that gun, be out and about with that gun. Finally, what happens when you don’t want that gun any more?
I decided to find out.
Getting the permit to carry a concealed weapon was simple. I filled out a form, had my fingerprints taken for a background check and paid $56.50. No training required. It took far longer to get my dog a license.
I started my 30-day gun trial with a little window-shopping. I visited a gun show and two gun dealers. I ended up buying a Glock 9mm handgun from Tony, a gun dealer four miles from my house. I settled on this model because it was a smallish gun and because Tony recommended it for my stated purposes of protecting myself and my home.
It was obvious from the way I handled the gun that I knew nothing about firearms. Tony sold it to me anyway. The whole thing took 7 minutes. As a gratified consumer, I thought, “Well, that was easy.” Then the terrifying reality hit me, “Holy hell, that was EASY.” Too easy. I still knew nothing about firearms.
Tony told me a Glock doesn’t have an external safety feature, so when I got home and opened the box and saw the magazine in the gun I freaked. I was too scared to try and eject it as thoughts flooded my mind of me accidentally shooting the gun and a bullet hitting my son in the house or rupturing the gas tank of my car, followed by an earth-shaking explosion. This was the first time my hands shook from the adrenaline surge and the first time I questioned the wisdom of this 30-day experiment.
I needed help. I drove to where a police officer had pulled over another driver. Now, writing this, I realize that rolling up on an on-duty cop with a handgun in tow might not have been fully thought through.
I told him I just bought a gun, had no clue how to use it. I asked him to make sure there were no bullets in the magazine or chamber. He took the magazine out and cleared the chamber. He assured me it was empty and showed me how to look. Then he told me how great the gun was and how he had one just like it.
The cop thought I was an idiot and suggested I take a class. But up to that point I’d done nothing wrong, nothing illegal.
So here I sit at Starbucks, and the irony couldn’t be thicker. On March 12, 2010, I was surrounded by big hairy men with guns on their hips, yelling at me as I led a protest against Starbuck’s gun policy. Today, I’m surrounded by five-year-old boys sitting with their moms at the next table. Now I’m the one with a gun on her hip. The gun makes me more fearful than I could have imagined.
In some way, I feel a certain vindication. I was right to protest Starbucks policy. Today, they have a woman with absolutely no firearms training and a Glock on her hip sitting within arm’s reach of small children, her hands shaking and adrenaline surging.
For parts 2-4 of “My Month with a Gun,” read here.
Photo of the author by Dave Yewman
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- Glock Steps Up In Challenge To California’s Handgun Roster (onlygunsandmoney.blogspot.com)
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RealDefense 
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Ignorance at it’s best
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I hate these gn lovers I wouldn’t mind if they started doling out the death penalty for being a sick gun loving freak.
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So much for gun prohibitionists being all about nonviolence…
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You are almost as big of an idiot as the author of this terribly written pile of garbage.
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How the hell does she think she’s going to be able to use that gun in an emergency when she’s never fired it under any other circumstances? She is spending all her time being afraid of the gun and never actually doing anything with it other than objectifying it as some kind of terrifying device out to kill her and her family.
Lady, the gun isn’t the dangerous part of this equation, you are.
– Reddit user ApokalypseCow.
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I second this… that woman doesn’t understand that if you are legally able to buy a gun, doesn’t mean you need training before-hand. What a RESPONSIBLE gun owner would do is buy the gun, go to a class, go to the range, and become PROFICIENT with said weapon… THEN carry it.
Was it easy to buy a gun? For a law-abiding person, yes. It is also quite simple for me to go into a car dealership and plop down $40k for a new vehicle… whether or not I have a license or even a good driving record. Should we start looking at car sales laws and driving laws for idiot drivers?
To the lady who wrote this: YOU are the problem with this “scary reality” you are painting. Those “big hairy men” you speak ill of – those are the ones who were responsible enough to train with their gun before carrying it. Lady – if you shoot someone wrongfully because you carried a weapon without training… or shoot yourself even – YOU will become those headlines that anti-gun people crave seeing and reacting to. So do us all a favor and either 1) train with the gun and learn to love it and care for it like a child or 2) put it the F**K down and go on with your clueless life.
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So, I can buy a car on craigslist, cash in hand, stick any ol’ plate on the back and take off, right? Is it YOUR responsibility to train me?
This “article” is incredibly poorly thought out, Even more poorly executed and presented.
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I can go buy a set of kitchen knives, but are you going to blame the kitchen knife lobby if you cut yourself or leave them out on the counter top for kids to get to? A legal right to own something does not negate a level of personal responsibility in how you use it. I’m not going to go out tomorrow and buy a chainsaw and then go use it without some training and education.
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I think it’s completely IRRESPONSIBLE that you have a LOADED FIREARM ON YOUR PERSON with NO TRAINING OR EXPERIENCE.
STOP WRITING ABOUT IT AND GET SOME EXPERIENCE, YOU IDIOT.
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