I don't have much to add to Hadley's previous post on the subject of the tragic murder of Kasandra Perkins by Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, but I will add this:
As Mary Katharine Ham pointed out in her excellent opinion piece last week for Hot Air, women are the fastest-growing segment of the gun-owning population and numbers of women buying firearms for the first time far exceed men.
Why is this? Simple: women want to protect themselves. After all, we’re living in uncertain times. Crime rates are high, the economy is still sputtering along and unemployment remain at record high levels.
Just last month, a study published in the British medical journal The Lancet showed the rates of suicide in the United States has more than quadrupled since 2008. And a study published last year in Health Economics found that economic recession brings increased use of alcohol including binge drinking, problem drinking, and driving under the influence. Alcohol abuse is often linked to domestic abuse.
No wonder women are more interested in gun ownership.
There are so many unknowns about the night Belcher killed his child’s mother but what we do know is that if Kasandra Perkins had been in possession of a gun, she might have been able to defend herself.
The National Rifle Association (which is currently being smeared by ghoulish opportunists who want to connect them to this tragedy) just launched a new program called the NRA’s Women’s Network where women can get resources on news, education, information about training and activities in their area. Women can even upload their own stories and photos.
I encourage all women to check it out here.