Women are buying handguns and taking courses for concealed carry permits in response to the surging violence in gun-controlled Chicago.
Breitbart News reported there were nearly 4,400 shooting victims and almost 800 homicides in Chicago during 2016. Moreover, the Chicago Tribune reported that the city passed 1,000 shooting victims for 2017 before April was even over.
The violence in gun-controlled Chicago was so bad by the end of June that President Trump announced he was sending in “federal help” to try to stop the bloodshed.
It now appears that one group of women in the city are not waiting for federal help to arrive. Rather, they are taking steps to protect themselves by buying handguns and taking classes to get their concealed permits.
According to AFP, 71-year-old Marietta Crowder is one of the women who recently purchased a gun and is now taking a firearms course. She said, “My husband influenced me and we thought about it a long time. Maybe you need a gun these days, in your house at least.”
Crowder is part of a training course designed just for women. The course was put together by retired police officer Javondlynn Dunagan, who started carrying a gun “after divorcing her police officer husband.” She said, “I was at home by myself with my daughter, and I was used to having a firearm in a home with my ex-husband. So, I wanted to make sure that we were safe.”
Dunagan said she saw a few women shooting together at a range and the idea for a course designated for women was born. Dunagan is black and hoped her class would be a way to encourage more black women to purchase and carry guns for self-defense.
She also teaches a “Mommy & Me Self-Defense Class,” where mothers with daughters between the ages of eight and 18 can bring their girls to the course and learn self-defense tactics together. Dunagan said the idea for that course was born when her daughter departed home for college and could not find anywhere to get self-defense training.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.