March 1996 Column: Gun Villagers

For those of you who are clock watchers, here's something you may not 
know when it's 11:30 PM in Buffalo, New York, it's 6:30 AM in 
Johannesburg, South Africa.
I found this out on my return from the 1996 SHOT Show, when a 
producer from an all-talk station there called and asked if I'd be a guest on 
their morning show with John and Dan. It seemed someone at the station 
had picked up a copy of W&G, and since gun ownership was a hot topic 
in South Africa these days, they thought I'd be an interesting guest.
Still reeling from jet lag, weather shock (it was 71  when I left Dallas 
Sunday afternoon, 13  on my return to Buffalo), and the horror—oh, the 
horror—of my desk, piled as it was with all the stuff I didn't finish before 
I left plus all the new items that had found their way in, I still thought I 
could manage to banter for ten minutes with folks half way around the 
world.
The biggest problem with doing radio shows in unfamiliar markets (even 
those nearer to home) is that you really have no idea of what comes before 
you or what comes after. Last April I did an hour call-in show in the 
midwest, which I thought went pretty well. The host was anti-gun, but not 
obnoxious; he courteously thanked me for participating. A few minutes 
later a subscriber in that city called to say Mr. Radio Host was now 
ripping me (and my opinions) up and down the airways. (Conversly, the 
best thing about doing radio is that you can wear your jammies and you 
can make all the faces you want.) 
John and Dan were also pretty pleasant fellows. I heard about 45 seconds 
of the show before I was on, and they were discussing television 
commercials. Dan liked the one with the kid in it, John didn't. It sounded 
very, very familiar.
They had gotten ahold of last July's issue (and thought Paxton Quigley, 
who was on the cover, looked like one of their ad sales staff). In the few 
minutes I was on we discussed my newest gun (a Beretta 303 shotgun), 
why more and more women are gunowners and Jean-Claude Van Damme 
movies. In this business, even if you are wearing your flannel pjs, you'd 
better be prepared to think fast! 
Fortunately my sister is quite the Jean-Claude fan; I was able to tell them 
the shotgun was for fun—and add that a lot of women are recreational 
shooters who enjoy the shooting sports, and the "Why" question is one I 
answer about four times a week.
What little we discussed of the gun issue as it relates to South Africa 
sounded awfully familiar—high crime rates had politicians and clergy 
calling for confiscation and the like. It's a small world, afterall. I was able 
to mention Switzerland which has almost universal gun ownership and 
very little crime, and America, where we have seen a dramatic drop in 
murder and violent crime at the same time legal gun ownership continues 
at its highest levels. Perhaps, I suggested, we should all start looking for 
other answers, wherever we live.
Maybe John and Dan spent the rest of their morning making fun of me, 
but I went off to bed.
One little known side effect of the SHOT Show is that, at least at my 
house, it gives the dog insomnia. Ezra, away at the kennel for the five days 
I was out of town was happy to see everyone return safely, so happy, in 
fact, that he felt it necessary to start his first full day home early—at a very 
dark and cold 5:45 AM. (Who knows, maybe dogs live on South African 
time?)
I settled down with Irish Breakfast tea and toast (Ezra had his early 
morning biscuit, several mouth-fulls of snow and went back to sleep) and 
turned on the television for confirmation that it was cold out.
Mrs. Clinton was being interviewed by Maria Shriver, about her book, "It 
Takes a Village" (although very few of the questions dealt with the book).
It's a great title, taken, I believe, from an African proverb, "it takes an 
entire village to raise one child." And it reminded me, as Hillary Rodham 
Clinton had no doubt intended, that I had just returned from the "village" 
of guns.
The SHOT  (Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade) Show is one pretty 
big village, wherein just about everybody with an interest in the business 
of guns appears, loses some of their display, mills around, greets old 
friends, talks to people who had previously only existed as disembodied 
voices (or increasingly e-mail addresses), regrets that they didn't pack a 
Phillips screwdriver, goes to receptions, discusses the weather, football 
and the economy with cab drivers, and tricks people into eating calamari. 
And that's just the set-up day.
When the thing really gets going you do a lot of the above, but throw in 
actual business—in our case a mixture of scoping out new products to be 
included in these pages soon, talking to advertisers who help keep us in 
business, and talking to our customers—that is, subscribers and dealers 
who carry Women & Guns.
My estimable publisher, Julianne Versnel Gottlieb (clad in her trademark 
Winter Red) went off looking for the "unusual little stuff we mostly miss" 
and came back with a variety of items, some of which she details in her 
Parting Shot on Page 58. A few brand new items made it into our "What's 
New" pages this month, and there are many more to come.
Four of our Contributing Editors were there: Carolee Boyles-Sprenkel, 
Sheila Link, Gila May-Hayes and Judy Woolley. 
Sheila, her hunting instincts unerring, found our booth almost before I did 
and she went off in full Huntress-Gatheress stride to collect material for 
her column, as well as several feature pieces she will be doing this year.
Gila and I waved to each other as Taurus unveiled their "Ultimate 
revolver"—an eight-shot .357 Magnum, and then sat down to our 
traditional chat. (She also signed copies of her book, Effective Defense, as 
we talked.) Since it was early in the proceedings she didn't have a 
complete fix on what she'll be reviewing in the upcoming months, but she 
did ask if Personal Trainer could return to our pages soon. I'm glad that 
she decided to bring this series of detailed how-to tips back, and was as 
enthusiastic about its return as I think our readers will be.
Carolee, who may have the most pleasant disposition on the face of the 
planet, came by armed with a list and left with it approved, after I added a 
few more stops for her to make. Look for her to be the third of our editors 
(joining Gila and Karen MacNutt) with a book out.
I saw the back of Judy's head twice, but we never actually connected. I 
also taked to a couple of women with interesting ideas that may eventually 
become W&G stories, broadening our scope a bit more so that we can 
truly be the place for all women gun owners. 
One of the highlights of the show for me was attending the Women's 
Shooting Sports Foundation (WSSF) reception. This annual celebration of 
the accomplishments of this group, which has done so much to promote 
the shooting sports for women, was diminished only by the absence of 
Chieftainess Extraordinaire Sue King, but she will be happy (although 
unsurprised) that her crew and WSSF Board members like Margaret 
Hornady, Becky Bowen, Gloria Salter and Marty Fajen ably filled in for 
her.
At the American Shooting Sports Council (ASSC) members meeting I 
heard author and scholar David Kopel give a wonderful presentation that 
included the exhortation to the group that they be proud of what they do 
for a living, and be unafraid to discuss it with their friends and neighbors. 
If, when someone asked them what they did for a living, Kopel said, they 
mumbled soto voce, "guns," they were in the wrong business altogether.
I hope this excellent advice will be heeded by all the "gun villagers" 
(including you), because the anti-gun strategy has always been to 
marginalize gun owners and make them as alien as possible.
I also spent some time talking to the folks at the US Olympic Shooting 
Team, who are looking forward to this summer's games in Atlanta. Look 
for some coverage soon in these pages. Interestingly, the shooting events 
are among the earliest held in the games, and while they may not get the 
same sort of TV coverage as the more "glamorous" events, they represent 
the first medal hopes for the US. Launi Meili, who won the first American 
gold medal in Barcelona at the last summer games, will not be competing 
in Atlanta, but I'm told the women's team will be formidable once more. 
Last year was a tough one for the firearms industry, since everyone who 
could, bought in the preceeding two years, spurred by the banning hysteria 
of 1993-94. That left little for firearms purchases, especially handguns, in 
1995. We heard a lot of unhappiness in 1995.
Last fall we saw the beginning of the road back, with the introduction of 
what one wag (okay, it was my father) dubbed the "Clinton Compacts," 
new handguns from Smith & Wesson, Kahr Arms and Glock that offer 
innovations to tempt purchasers even as they conform to the myriad of 
new specifications required by law, such as the limited magazine capacity.
The sense I got at the SHOT Show was one of restrained optimism. That 
translates into good news for the rest of you villagers—the consumers. 
When manufacturers and distributors are already talking about back 
orders, you can translate that into a host of good news, in the form of more 
research and development, and marketing and pricing that is competitive.
As I wandered (sometimes literally, it's a very big show) around our 
makeshift village last week, I was happy to be one of its citizens. Even as 
we move toward Spring, and its natural regeneration, the show provided a 
similar feeling for me, and I look forward to sharing some of the harvest 
with you in the months ahead.

Peggy Tartaro,
Executive Editor