Female gun advocate straight shoots with students
The founding fathers were the first feminists, they understood that the Second Amendment was about individual rights to defend themselves from those that would do them harm, said Janalee Tobais, president and founder of Women Against Gun Control (WAGC).
WAGC is a national organization aimed at preserving the Second Amendment right to bear arms. Tobais spoke at the Taggart Student Center Auditorium on Thursday to support Utah State University’s Students of the Second Amendment.
“I have a message for the United Nations and any other person or organization that tries to take my guns away to leave me and my family defenseless to terrorists, rapists and murderers; You’ll have to pry my gun away from my cold dead fingers,” Tobais said. “You don’t protect yourself by disarming yourself.”
Women are especially vulnerable to attacks, Tobais said. A woman’s attacker is most often a man that is physically larger than a woman and that’s why women need to carry guns for protection. Judges and lawyers cannot alter biology and the best way for a woman to protect herself is with a gun, she said.
“A gun is an equalizing force for women who are otherwise no match for a would-be attacker,” Tobais said.
Tobais said a woman can spend thousands of dollars and many years on self-defense classes, however, they “can’t protect you from a 250 pound drug addict, high on meth, from raping or killing you and your family.”
Tobais said a woman most often can’t match a man’s strength, so they need other methods of protecting themselves.
“If guys could be women for a day and receive the harassment that women go through on a daily basis, I guarantee you that they’d be packing a pistol in their pants,” Tobais said.
Tobais said it is extraordinarily difficult to observe high-profile women such as Hillary Clinton, Janet Reno, Sara Brady and others that actively participate in an attempt to disarm women. She said it agitates her to know that other women are trying to take away her rights and added that many of these women may be well-meaning, but they are extremely hypocritical since many of these women live in gated communities with body guards that carry guns.
“I just want to ask these women that are trying to disarm other females, just how are they going to protect themselves if an attacker breaks in? Are they going to scratch their eyes out or pull their hair?” Tobais said. “I bet they’re not, I bet they have got a gun stashed under their bed or in their underwear drawer.”
Danna Huntzinger, a second-year graduate student in communication disorders, said, “I think it’s important for all of us to realize that guns really aren’t the bad guy. If only criminals have guns, then we’re just going to be the ones unprotected.”
A woman has natural instincts to protect her family, Tobais said, and just like any other animal, when a women and her family are in danger, she should have every means possible to protect herself and her family.
“If anybody tries to mess with my kids, they’re going to get hurt,” Tobais said. “I’ll fight to the death to protect them.”
Caterina Wilson, a doctoral student in communication disorders, said, “As a woman, a single woman particularly, I want to be able to protect myself and I don’t plan on being a victim, so I think it’s my right to choose how I do that, including carrying a gun.”
Tobais said gun accidents rank among the lowest in the nation, but the media with their “blatant lies” try to demonize guns. She said that whenever there is a gun accident, it’s front page news, but when there is a car accident or a child gets ran over by a car, there is no story.
“I don’t understand at all why the media has that opinion about guns. They are very misinformed and are lazy reporters if they don’t go out and check the facts,” Tobais said.
James Campbell, an undeclared junior, said, “I think all the women out there need to take advantage of gun control and gun rights. They need to do more about protecting themselves especially in a campus atmosphere, they need to have instant protection.”
Tobais said facts show that since gun organizations have been educating people about gun safety, gun accidents have dropped. If people want to compare gun accident numbers with numbers of car accidents, then gun accidents are minuscule.
Tobais said a bicycle on the front lawn is a lot more dangerous for a child than a loaded gun. National statistics will show that more children are seriously injured while on a bicycle than with a gun.
“The kind of people that carry a concealed weapon have registered to buy them legally and have had background checks and everything first,” said Marjorie Blake, a USU graduate that attended the speech. “This says that they are a law-abiding citizen.”
Tobais said, “The number one priority of Women Against Gun Control is safety.”
Gun owners need to be responsible with their firearms, they need to store their firearms correctly and teach their children to stay away from guns while they are young, Tobais said. When children get old enough to handle a gun, parents need to teach their children proper firearm safety.
“Parents that teach their children how to use a firearm are less likely to get involved with a gun accident,” Tobais said.
Education is the key to firearm safety, Tobais said, a gun can’t be irresponsible with a person. It’s people that are irresponsible with guns. As a society, people need to examine what causes people to commit crime, not the weapon involved in the crime. The people that are irresponsible, Tobais said, are those that won’t let gun safety be taught in schools.
“I’m sick and tired of the gun haters blaming guns for crime, because they are ignoring the real causes of crime,” Tobais said. “The real cause of crime is the breakdown of family. Statistics show that gun owners are more religious than any other segment in society. They are family oriented. They do things with their kids. They believe in God and just want to be left alone to spend time with their families.”
Craig Huntzinger, president of the Students of the Second Amendment, said he believes police officers are not able to provide the safety and protection needed in this country. They are there to simply write the report
when the crime is over. He added that the individual right to manage their own safety becomes a personal responsibility and the legislatures that are for gun control tend to believe it is their responsibility to manage the citizens of the United States.
“We will tolerate no more gun laws. There are more than 20,000 gun laws that have been passed in this nation and it’s not stopped any criminals from getting a gun,” Tobais said. “You have to either believe there is peace through weakness or peace through strength.”
-dlalbiston@cc.usu.edu