March 1994	Women & Guns 

Dear Self-Reliant Reader,

Publisher
	Women & Guns was started over five years ago to meet what some
of us thought was a void in the marketplace. A publication primarily
for women, primarily by women and presenting a strong proactive stand
on the right to keep and bear arms for women.

	Four years ago at the Shooting Hunting Outdoor Trade Show, the
Second Amendment distributed Women & Guns to those attending.

	Most people kindly took possession of our free copy and
proceeded to look at it.

	About 30% were handed back to us by gentlemen who would
comment, "Women and guns - that's way too dangerous a combination.  No
way, my wife (girl friend, daughter, etc.) is ever going to get a
gun."

	Approximately another 10 percent handed us back the
publication when they realized it did not contain pictures of
suggestively clothed young ladies displaying firearms.

	But we gave out over 3000 copies of our issue.  We were tired,
but we had succeeded in our mission.

	The situation has changed dramatically in the past few years.


	Women & Guns is a hot topic everywhere_from Australia, to
France, to Japan. Our publication has appeared in dozens of newspaper
articles, magazines and on radio and television shows.  The brilliant
philosophy of our fearless editor, Peggy Tartaro, has been dubbed into
several languages.

	It seems that we have clicked as what the general media sees
as a narrow-cast, special interest publication.

	I have always felt very main stream about my stand on
self-reliance.

	This past month, I have spent many enjoyable (and sometimes,
annoying) hours reading the works of several American women who are
considered main stream commentators on women and their various roles
in society. (They are only a small sample of those women who deserve
mention and reading.)

	I have chuckled and become teary-eyed at Erma Bombeck.

	I have nodded with and raved at Betty Friedan.

	I have alternately applauded and scowled at Gloria Stienem.

	I have waded through some and reread other parts of Naomi
Wolf.

	And I have pondered and digested Ayn Rand.

	Each of these women approaches life in a unique fashion.  As
do each of you, the Self-Reliant Reader.

	As the results of the readers' survey show, we are a diverse
group.  (Yes, I know that some of you out there are not women.)

	There are a multitude of questions that were not asked.  I
imagine that on the whole, we are representative of the whole American
population.  Statistically, I would guess, that we are pro-life,
pro-choice, liberal, conservative, Democrat and Republican in the
range of the general population.

	We have seen the passage of the Brady Bill and heard Joycelyn
Elders call for banning toy guns and legalizing drugs. We have seen
Hillary Clinton, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Edward Kennedy and Donna
Shalala attempt and come close to succeeding in turning the right to
keep and bear arms into crime, safety and national health issues.

	The real issue is the degradation of human life. And most
specially that of our children and young adults.

	In the past thirty years violent crime has risen 560 percent
while the population has only increased 41 percent. Today 30 percent
of all births and 68 percent of black infants are illegitimate.  The
reality is that divorces have quadrupled, the number of children
living in single family households has tripled and the suicide rate
for teenagers has increased more than 200 percent.

	In 1940, the list of offenses in school most often listed by
teachers included gum chewing, making noise, running in the halls,
cutting in lines, littering and dress code infractions.

	In 1990, our teachers are dealing (or not dealing) with drug
abuse, alcohol abuse, pregnancy, suicide, rape, robbery and assault.

	Each year thousands of laws are passed to deal with these
problems.  We have an "Alphabet Soup" of social programs to cure all
ills.

	The degradation of our society has taken place at the hands of
those who would save us from ourselves.

	There is no honor, no glory, no reward, no recognition given
to those who willingly follow the laws of our society, sometimes at
grave personal risk.  Often, situations have been legislated that
these individuals have no option but to break the law in order to
exist.

"...Walter! I won't let you do to the world what you have done to all
your friends. We can protect ourselves against men who would do evil.
But God save us from men who would do us good! This is the only
humanitarian act I've ever committed_the only one any man can ever
commit. I'm setting men free. Free to suffer. Free to struggle. Free
to take chances. But free, Walter, free! ..." (Excerpted from Think
Twice by Ayn Rand, The Ayn Rand Library, The Early Ayn Rand: A
Selection from Her Unpublished Fiction, edited by Leonard Peikoff,
Signet Edition, 1986.)

  	The elusive solution is freedom.

	To me, "self-reliance" is the ability to be free to make those
choices that are best for me and mine (AMG, Miss Splendiferous, Miss
Spectacular and Mr. Stupendous).

	Your "self-reliance" is your ability to make choices that are
best for you and yours.

P.S. It's important to let your elected officials know how you feel.
Don't forget to keep in close contact with your local officials and
state legislators.  Your member of Congress can be reached at U.S.
House of Representative, Washington, D.C. 20515, your senator at U.S.
Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510. President Bill Clinton and First Lady
Hillary Clinton can be reached at The White House, Washington, D.C.
20500.