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Got a gun?
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Got a gun?
NY Post - By ABBY ELLIN
August 18, 2002 -- Leslie Entin never planned on packing heat. Not as a kid growing up in Queens, not as vice president of Selection de Givenchy in Manhattan and certainly not after giving birth to her daughter, Mia, who's now 5.
But then came Sept. 11, and like many other people, Entin changed her views about a lot of things. Now, this 40-year-old Upper East Side mama is learning to shoot a gun.
She's taken a series of one-hour classes at the New York Sportsman's Club on Murray Street, one of two shooting ranges in Manhattan, firing away with a loaner .22-caliber rifle. One can do this without a permit.
She's become pretty good at it, too.
But why would she do this?
"You feel like you need to take back, to not be vulnerable," said Entin, who runs Media Jet Inc., a writers syndicate in New York.
"Although it's not the Wild West, you have to do something to feel empowered. You're not going to stop terrorism with a gun, but you have some sense of security."
"You think, September 11th, anthrax: What am I going to do, just sit here?"
Entin's not gunning solo.
Though the city keeps no statistics on the number of women here who own guns, anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that they are arming themselves like never before - taking classes at shooting ranges, organizing weapons seminars and applying for permits to carry pistols and rifles.
Interviews with advocates, consultants and licensing officers reveal a remarkable rise in female firepower, as much as a 30 percent increase over last year.
A mix of motivations has sparked the trend, but many of those at the trigger cite a need to feel safe and empowered following Sept. 11, even if they fully realized that having a pistol in their purse can be highly dangerous to themselves and won't prevent another attack on New York.
Entin, for example, says she's gotten exactly what she wants out of her target lessons. "I have such a secure sense now," she said. "It gives me back power in my life."
This hello-to-arms trend has seduced a number of unlikely converts, women such as Leslie Frank, the 53-year-old co-owner of Project Solvers, a fashion-consulting firm in the city.
Frank, a self-described "former flower child," recently attended a women's evening seminar at the New York Sportsman's Club, organized by range owner Martin Fainblatt.
Wary of guns in general, Frank was offered a chance with the .22.
Fainblatt pulled out a set of headphones to muffle the shots and put them on her head. He also rattled off a number of safety tips: "Always assume a gun is loaded when you pick it up" and "Never put your finger on the trigger until you're ready to fire."
Frank took aim, and fired at a paper target. Bang! She nailed it. She fired again. Bang! Another hit. She aimed carefully. Bang! Again.
"The power of being able to hit the target," Frank marveled. "It takes a lot of concentration."
Just how many more women are doing the Clint Eastwood thing? A lot, according to Larry Goodson, the owner of License Services, a pistol-permit consultant in Rosedale, L.I.
Goodson has been helping shepherd gun applications in the five boroughs, plus Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties, for three decades. He says he's seen a 30 percent increase in women clients since Sept. 11.
"I see people I wouldn't have seen before," he said. "Regular Joes, soccer moms. They're saying the world is becoming a tragic place and what happened could happen on my street and I want to have additional security for my family."
Of course, getting a gun legally in New York is no easy feat.
The application process takes up to 6 months and requires a full FBI background check, fingerprinting, an OK from the state's Mental Hygiene and Motor Vehicles departments, plus pay stubs and references from an employer and friends.
"One woman who is a homemaker had to bring in a letter from her husband saying that he supports her," said Goodson.
If you pass, the NYPD issues you a premise license, which allows you to target shoot and keep a concealed weapon at home. You can bring the weapon to the range if it's unloaded and in a locked container.
The only people who get carry permits are those who operate cash businesses - diamond merchants, for example - and celebrities, such as Don Imus.
All that red tape hasn't dented the demand, however.
The NYPD says it doesn't know the male-female ratio of applicants, despite gender being a question on the form, but there's a consensus among officers manning the department's gun-permit division: The number of women who want a permit is up.
So why have so many women become taken with weaponry?
Crime in the city is down significantly since last year. There have been no further terrorist attacks. The Taliban is gone. Osama bin Laden hasn't been seen in months.
"It's not the fear of terrorism; it's the fear of terrorism causing other aspects to unravel that's causing them to get interested in guns," offered Reva Freifeld, a documentary filmmaker in her 50s who's currently working on a movie about legendary sharpshooter Annie Oakley. J
enene Fusco, a 27-year-old art director living in Brooklyn, said she and her fianc?, George Russo, have both fired weapons in the past for recreational purposes. Now, she says, she wants to own a gun.
"Just having a permit would make us feel a little better," she said. "Then we'll get approved, hopefully, and go buy [a gun]."
She says she will keep the weapon in a safe box with a trigger lock on it.
"A lot of people say, 'Are you crazy? A gun?' But others are definitely like, 'I want one, too!' "
Monica Schaeffer, a single, 30-year-old account executive at Andy Morris and Company, a p.r. firm in Manhattan, is hoping to get a Ph.D. in art history at NYU - and a gun permit from the NYPD.
A few weeks after Sept. 11, she was visiting a cousin in Oregon and shot her first round. Much to her surprise, she loved the feeling.
"All that power! It was amazing," she said. Now Schaeffer wants to pack heat.
"I would feel much more comfortable with a gun in my purse, and knowing how to shoot properly."
Perhaps not surprisingly, the surge of interest in guns has spawned a supporting culture made up of social events and information for aficionados.
Diane McKeogh, for example, a Pace University undergrad who heads the New York chapter of the pro-gun group Armed Females of America, teamed with partner Tom Burman to print and distribute 10,000 copies of their newsletter, the Boiled Frog News, in Queens and Manhattan in April.
The newsletter featured articles on women and guns, of course, but also children and guns and a Dear Ms. Magnum advice column.
It's the kind of information that Amy Heath soaks up. Heath, a free-lance TV producer, is one of New York's most enthusiastic gun supporters.
A 32-year-old native of Texas, Heath joined the NRA while in junior high, having been taught how to lock and load by her grandfather, Col. Jeff Cooper, a firearms guru in Arizona.
These days, Heath keeps busy teaching firearm safety and organizing such events as last month's Women on Target gathering, a day-long seminar at the Westside Rifle and Pistol Range on West 20th Street to "introduce women to shooting sports in a non-threatening, non-competitive environment," she said.
Heath wanted to hold the event, which was sponsored by the NRA, before Sept. 11. The attacks, she says, have led to a greater interest in guns.
"It inspired those who were on the fence to make the final leap," she said. "We need to take responsibility for our own lives and not wait for anyone to help us."
It's worth pointing out that gun use in the city isn't just on the rise among women. The total number of permit applications went from 2,282 in 1999 to 3,946 last year. There are currently 37,245 registered gun owners in New York City.
Still, nationwide, 27 percent of all women in the United States keep a gun in the house, according to the Justice Department.
And the fact that all those weapons often wind up hurting their owners - a gun kept in the house is 43 times more likely to kill a family member or friend than an intruder - hasn't slowed the fascination.
Entin, for one, shrugs off such gloomy statistics. She says that if someone threatens her family, she's going to be ready.
"I truly believe that we all need a piece of our lives back," she said. "This gives me back power."
________________________________________________________________
Contact Your Representatives:
NY Governor:
http://www.state.ny.us/governor/form.htm
State Legislature:
http://congress.nw.dc.us/cgi-bin/stateindex.pl?dir=townhall&state=ny
Federal Legislature:
http://congress.nw.dc.us/townhall/
Visit the Plattsburgh Rod & Gun Club:
Featuring a web-based news service for gun enthusiasts
http://members.aol.com/Joseph1822/index.html
New York Sportsmen Alert:
Sign up to receive alerts
http://members.aol.com/joseph1822/nyalert.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
NY Post - By ABBY ELLIN
August 18, 2002 -- Leslie Entin never planned on packing heat. Not as a kid growing up in Queens, not as vice president of Selection de Givenchy in Manhattan and certainly not after giving birth to her daughter, Mia, who's now 5.
But then came Sept. 11, and like many other people, Entin changed her views about a lot of things. Now, this 40-year-old Upper East Side mama is learning to shoot a gun.
She's taken a series of one-hour classes at the New York Sportsman's Club on Murray Street, one of two shooting ranges in Manhattan, firing away with a loaner .22-caliber rifle. One can do this without a permit.
She's become pretty good at it, too.
But why would she do this?
"You feel like you need to take back, to not be vulnerable," said Entin, who runs Media Jet Inc., a writers syndicate in New York.
"Although it's not the Wild West, you have to do something to feel empowered. You're not going to stop terrorism with a gun, but you have some sense of security."
"You think, September 11th, anthrax: What am I going to do, just sit here?"
Entin's not gunning solo.
Though the city keeps no statistics on the number of women here who own guns, anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that they are arming themselves like never before - taking classes at shooting ranges, organizing weapons seminars and applying for permits to carry pistols and rifles.
Interviews with advocates, consultants and licensing officers reveal a remarkable rise in female firepower, as much as a 30 percent increase over last year.
A mix of motivations has sparked the trend, but many of those at the trigger cite a need to feel safe and empowered following Sept. 11, even if they fully realized that having a pistol in their purse can be highly dangerous to themselves and won't prevent another attack on New York.
Entin, for example, says she's gotten exactly what she wants out of her target lessons. "I have such a secure sense now," she said. "It gives me back power in my life."
This hello-to-arms trend has seduced a number of unlikely converts, women such as Leslie Frank, the 53-year-old co-owner of Project Solvers, a fashion-consulting firm in the city.
Frank, a self-described "former flower child," recently attended a women's evening seminar at the New York Sportsman's Club, organized by range owner Martin Fainblatt.
Wary of guns in general, Frank was offered a chance with the .22.
Fainblatt pulled out a set of headphones to muffle the shots and put them on her head. He also rattled off a number of safety tips: "Always assume a gun is loaded when you pick it up" and "Never put your finger on the trigger until you're ready to fire."
Frank took aim, and fired at a paper target. Bang! She nailed it. She fired again. Bang! Another hit. She aimed carefully. Bang! Again.
"The power of being able to hit the target," Frank marveled. "It takes a lot of concentration."
Just how many more women are doing the Clint Eastwood thing? A lot, according to Larry Goodson, the owner of License Services, a pistol-permit consultant in Rosedale, L.I.
Goodson has been helping shepherd gun applications in the five boroughs, plus Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties, for three decades. He says he's seen a 30 percent increase in women clients since Sept. 11.
"I see people I wouldn't have seen before," he said. "Regular Joes, soccer moms. They're saying the world is becoming a tragic place and what happened could happen on my street and I want to have additional security for my family."
Of course, getting a gun legally in New York is no easy feat.
The application process takes up to 6 months and requires a full FBI background check, fingerprinting, an OK from the state's Mental Hygiene and Motor Vehicles departments, plus pay stubs and references from an employer and friends.
"One woman who is a homemaker had to bring in a letter from her husband saying that he supports her," said Goodson.
If you pass, the NYPD issues you a premise license, which allows you to target shoot and keep a concealed weapon at home. You can bring the weapon to the range if it's unloaded and in a locked container.
The only people who get carry permits are those who operate cash businesses - diamond merchants, for example - and celebrities, such as Don Imus.
All that red tape hasn't dented the demand, however.
The NYPD says it doesn't know the male-female ratio of applicants, despite gender being a question on the form, but there's a consensus among officers manning the department's gun-permit division: The number of women who want a permit is up.
So why have so many women become taken with weaponry?
Crime in the city is down significantly since last year. There have been no further terrorist attacks. The Taliban is gone. Osama bin Laden hasn't been seen in months.
"It's not the fear of terrorism; it's the fear of terrorism causing other aspects to unravel that's causing them to get interested in guns," offered Reva Freifeld, a documentary filmmaker in her 50s who's currently working on a movie about legendary sharpshooter Annie Oakley. J
enene Fusco, a 27-year-old art director living in Brooklyn, said she and her fianc?, George Russo, have both fired weapons in the past for recreational purposes. Now, she says, she wants to own a gun.
"Just having a permit would make us feel a little better," she said. "Then we'll get approved, hopefully, and go buy [a gun]."
She says she will keep the weapon in a safe box with a trigger lock on it.
"A lot of people say, 'Are you crazy? A gun?' But others are definitely like, 'I want one, too!' "
Monica Schaeffer, a single, 30-year-old account executive at Andy Morris and Company, a p.r. firm in Manhattan, is hoping to get a Ph.D. in art history at NYU - and a gun permit from the NYPD.
A few weeks after Sept. 11, she was visiting a cousin in Oregon and shot her first round. Much to her surprise, she loved the feeling.
"All that power! It was amazing," she said. Now Schaeffer wants to pack heat.
"I would feel much more comfortable with a gun in my purse, and knowing how to shoot properly."
Perhaps not surprisingly, the surge of interest in guns has spawned a supporting culture made up of social events and information for aficionados.
Diane McKeogh, for example, a Pace University undergrad who heads the New York chapter of the pro-gun group Armed Females of America, teamed with partner Tom Burman to print and distribute 10,000 copies of their newsletter, the Boiled Frog News, in Queens and Manhattan in April.
The newsletter featured articles on women and guns, of course, but also children and guns and a Dear Ms. Magnum advice column.
It's the kind of information that Amy Heath soaks up. Heath, a free-lance TV producer, is one of New York's most enthusiastic gun supporters.
A 32-year-old native of Texas, Heath joined the NRA while in junior high, having been taught how to lock and load by her grandfather, Col. Jeff Cooper, a firearms guru in Arizona.
These days, Heath keeps busy teaching firearm safety and organizing such events as last month's Women on Target gathering, a day-long seminar at the Westside Rifle and Pistol Range on West 20th Street to "introduce women to shooting sports in a non-threatening, non-competitive environment," she said.
Heath wanted to hold the event, which was sponsored by the NRA, before Sept. 11. The attacks, she says, have led to a greater interest in guns.
"It inspired those who were on the fence to make the final leap," she said. "We need to take responsibility for our own lives and not wait for anyone to help us."
It's worth pointing out that gun use in the city isn't just on the rise among women. The total number of permit applications went from 2,282 in 1999 to 3,946 last year. There are currently 37,245 registered gun owners in New York City.
Still, nationwide, 27 percent of all women in the United States keep a gun in the house, according to the Justice Department.
And the fact that all those weapons often wind up hurting their owners - a gun kept in the house is 43 times more likely to kill a family member or friend than an intruder - hasn't slowed the fascination.
Entin, for one, shrugs off such gloomy statistics. She says that if someone threatens her family, she's going to be ready.
"I truly believe that we all need a piece of our lives back," she said. "This gives me back power."
________________________________________________________________
Contact Your Representatives:
NY Governor:
http://www.state.ny.us/governor/form.htm
State Legislature:
http://congress.nw.dc.us/cgi-bin/stateindex.pl?dir=townhall&state=ny
Federal Legislature:
http://congress.nw.dc.us/townhall/
Visit the Plattsburgh Rod & Gun Club:
Featuring a web-based news service for gun enthusiasts
http://members.aol.com/Joseph1822/index.html
New York Sportsmen Alert:
Sign up to receive alerts
http://members.aol.com/joseph1822/nyalert.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878