December 1994 Women & Guns Dear Self-Reliant Reader, Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. Last year at the holiday season, I wished for, among other things, an indoor shooting range within a 15 minute drive of my home. It's due to open in the next few months! Now if only I would get the vacation and .22 target gun that I asked for. This year there are three gifts that I hope you receive _ even if they are presents to yourself. Number one, of course, is a subscription, or renewal, to Women & Guns. As publisher of this magazine, I am proud of the roots from which it grew. I am also professionally and personally thankful to work with Peggy Tartaro, its dedicated Executive Editor. She works tirelessly to insure that this publication is one that represents the right of women to choose not to be a victim. Number two consists of information. There have been several excellent books published recently discussing the right to choose not to be a victim. The first book that I suggest is Fire with Fire by Naomi Wolf (Random House). The subtitle, The New Female Power and How It Will Change the 21st Century, explains the premise of this work of non-fiction. The author, a celebrated feminist, focuses on the right to choose not to be a victim, by citing Women & Guns. I purchased the book because of this chapter titled, The Turning Point. After reading it, I started at the beginning and read through the entire book. Naomi Wolf discusses the choice of power feminism versus victim feminism in the same light that this magazine presents self-defense options. The next book that I suggest is Effective Defense: The Woman, The Plan, The Gun by Gila May-Hayes. Gila is a Contributing Editor of this magazine. She writes numerous reviews of firearms, as well as, a monthly column that is on personal training. She is a certified National Rifle Association instructor and qualified to teach several disciplines of self-defense strategies. She takes her reader through discussions from rights and responsibilities to kids and guns, from staying safe to etiquette for the armed citizen. Her book is available from FAS Books, P.O. Box 2814, Kirkland, WA 98083. You may also order by credit card by calling 1-800-327-2666. The next book that I would give is Things You Can Do to Defend Your Gun Rights by Alan Gottlieb and David Kopel. Although I share a last name with one of the authors, I humbly suggest that this book is an excellent primer for the individual wanting to do something to stop the erosion of her right to choose not to be a victim. Alan and David present ways to educate yourself and others, to influence government and to achieve strength in numbers. This book is available from the Second Amendment Foundation, 12500 N.E. Tenth Place, Bellevue, WA 98005 or call the Foundation at 1-206-454-7012. The last book that I would suggest is one that I have been waiting for for two years. I first heard its author, Joyce Lee Malcolm, speak at a symposium on the Bicentennial of the Second Amendment. The volume is titled, To Keep and Bear Arms and is published by Harvard University Press. Dr. Malcolm presents a clear, cogent and cohesive history of the origins of the right to keep and bear arms from Anglo-Saxon times. It is also available from the Second Amendment Foundation. The last item I would like to give is a copy of the Freedom and Firearms Infobase. It's a Windows based CD full of information about gun rights and ownership edited by Karen and Craig Peterson and Andrea Albright et al. Published by Lektra Press, it can be obtained by writing them at P.O. Box 1120, Merrimack, N.H. 03054 or calling 1-800-432-9758. It has the entire text of the Clinton Crime Bill, American Rifleman Armed Citizen columns, White House press releases, the Federalist Papers, numerous law review articles and quotes from the founding fathers. You can query, search and there is on-line help. It's the ideal treat for any computer aficionado. It's great for schools and libraries and it is scheduled to be updated quarterly. A final note of interest _ the Second Amendment Foundation and Women & Guns have gone high tech. We now have an area on Internet named saf.org. This area contains information of interest to those who choose not to be a victim. Also you can send e-mail to me at jhvg@saf.org and general queries and information requests to women&guns@saf.org. To all our readers, I wish you the most joyous of holiday seasons. I hope that you retain the most precious gift of all _ freedom.