Are we as CDs targets for harm?

[battybattybats]

Guns cannot be carried legally by the vast majority of crossdressers in the world.

I canot legally carry concealed a gun, a knife, a sword (mentioned only because I am good with one and they can be concealed in canes), a taser or mace. All concealed weapons are strictly illegal for civilians in my state.

The best I am legally allowed to do is carry a personal alarm and while I can poke a key through my fingers to protect my knuckles and inflict greater damage assuming I have time to do that I can then possibly be charged for doing so!

Now a crossdressing child was murdered with a gun in his classroom in the USA within a week of my birthday this year. Some transpeople have been murdered within their own homes.

Even the 'safest' places can be unsafe. Not everyone assaulted for being transgendered had a choice of walking away or avoiding a fight.

The gun issue is an option for only a tiny minority of crossdressers. What about the rest of us?

So as guns aren't the answer for most people what is? As nowhere is totally safe what then? As you can't always walk away what then?

How about treating the cause rather than the symptoms?

[donnalee]

Gene Hackman - "You just shot an unarmed man!"
Clint Eastwood - "Well, he should haved armed himself."
The Unforgiven (1992)

[annabellesmooth]

yes amber
this is why im glad to be an aussi
liveing in a part of sydney were i as an anglo saxon am a minorioty an yes we to have had riots caused by small minded people, but a smile is free and frendly in all cultures,
leave your gun at home an you to can be humble
an lets not crap on other lands,
as you live in a glass house
love to all

[cd_britney_426]

I agree with Batty that we should keep this thread international-friendly because different countries have different laws as well as culture. So the UK-US and US-UK attacks are quite pointless. Regardless of what you can or cannot carry in your country, state, or municipality, you can still reasonably defend yourself if you practice the basics of self defense which mainly focus on simple street smarts.

I do have to add something about the gun issue in the U.S. though. Most gun crimes happen in "weapons free zones." The man that shot up Virginia Tech--weapons free zone. The man that shot up Omaha mall--weapons free zone. The school that Batty referenced--weapons free zone. In most U.S. states, weapons are prohibited in schools and places that serve alcohol and in workplaces, churches, or shopping malls by internal policy. Because guns are legal in the U.S., a criminal knows that another citizen might have one. Therefore, a criminal is going to attack someone he thinks is not carrying a gun. That is why psychos don't shoot up police stations, airports, or military installations but instead choose schools, shopping malls, and workplaces.

Back to the topic, though, TGs are at high-risk for violence and I read that TGs are 200 times more likely to be murdered in the U.S. than non-TGs. If that is true, we have to be seriously concerned. Please see my points in the previous post with regards to education and personal responsibility. Britney

[Emily Anderson]

Just fyi in case you didn't see it yet, the headline on Yahoo! today:

"Supreme Court says Americans have right to guns"

[PhillyGuy2Girl]

Personally I am very pro 2nd admendment. I'm glad to hear that many CDers are protecting themselves. Also, I think more women should protect themselves also.

[donnalee]

Not all Americans are gun-crazy. This doesn't define us as a nation. & you're right, it isn't necessary. Going around with a gun you're in the mindset of expecting violence. If only the 2nd Amend. people were as concerned about the other Amendments being taken from us, our country might be in better shape.

The 2nd Amendment is the one that enforces all the others in the bill of rights. The founding fathers knew that a well armed (regulated) people (militia) would prevent the development of absolute rulers amd other perversions of the constitution. This is why they balkanised the government into 3 different branches, so that 1 could not achieve absolute power (checks & balances).
It's not a matter of EXPECTING violence; it's being prepared for it if and when it comes.

[AnnMorgan]

StayceeCD and I live in the same State. I've had a permit to carry for over 15 years. Bad things do happen to good people and I realize that I am responsible for my/our own protection. To me it is unacceptable to be made a victim because of some faceless, nameless bureaucrat who BTW will have an armed security force protecting their pudgy butt.

[DanaR]

Wow, I cant' imagine going anywhere fem or not fem; where I would need a gun for protection. There are too many better places to go.

[Beth-Lock]

The most I have thought of carrying in my purse is a small bottle of spring water. There is a GG here though, a woman of some class,, who carries a knife when out at night I am told. But that sort ofthing is unusual.

[cd_britney_426]

Wow, I cant' imagine going anywhere fem or not fem; where I would need a gun for protection. There are too many better places to go.

You cannot be sure that any place is 100% safe. In fact no place is and bad things can happen anywhere. Sometimes the worst things can actually happen in the places you would least expect. The criminals from the bad side of town will go to the nice parts of town to do their crimes. Be aware of your surroundings and it will minimize the amount of trouble you are likely to catch yourself in. This applies whether one is in femme or non-femme.

[Cindi Johnson]

I agree with you 100%, StephanieF. Having been to Canada often, and to many other countries, I'm always amazed at the mindless jingoism of so many here in the USA towards you all. No matter what the subject (even the odd subject of what a TG girl should carry in her purse) it always comes around to "In the USA, we're the best!!" Unfortunately, such is not always the case.

Cindi Johnson

[Nicki B]

It's not Batty's thread, so no need to take it off at a tangent. The original question was about whether people carry a gun for self-protection, and the ensuing debate has been fascinating, to say the least.

OK, so by being careful when where and how we go out we can improve our personal safety. And for the pro gun/taser/mace folk they can carry where legal.

But so long as transphobia is allowed to foster and remain in society we will all still suffer from a higher chance if being victims of assault and murder just for being transgendered.

So we've covered ways to make ourselves personally safer pretty exhaustively.

But what can we do to make us safer as a whole?

You don't think that question is worth addressing, then, particularly given the thread title?

[SatinDoll00]

I would never go out en femme unarmed.

At least a hidden knife, or worse. I own several guns, many of them too big to conceal on what I wear.

At the very least, I have a black belt is Sho-ryn-roo (a martial arts technique that involves bone breaking and disarming assailants).

If one is to go out in a skirt, when one does not belong in a skirt, one should be prepared to deal with the consequences of wearing said skirt.

Now...I am the least violent person you will ever meet. Sho-ryn-roo for me is an art form. I practice it as a one would practice ballet. But I do feel sorry for the misguided a-hole that decides that he needs to put his hands on me!

Morgan

[rian]

Since Im a closet crossdresser I did not think Im going to use a gun in my life .therefore Till the moment arrives I will think about it .

[Bev06 GG]

i personaly carry a gun in my purse when i am out enfemme..i know the pink pistols are a gay group which is very proactive on this matter as well....never know what idiot may try to do harm to myself...anybody else carry a gun inside your purse while out or am i in the minority?

Hi Michelle,
I think anyone is a target for harm nowadays. You dont even have to open your mouth to give a differing opinion on a said subject to become a victim of someones brutality. However, I dont think carrying a gun is really any protection and could cause more problems than it actually solves.
Bev

[AmandaM]

I used to carry a gun in the ghetto. But don't anymore. I tend to ignore anti-Constitutional laws, akin to someone who refusing to not speak who cites the First Amendment. But, I don't think carrying a gun is expecting violence. That would be like saying you take karate cause you expect violence. In some areas, it is prudent. Since I live in the middle-class now, I don't worry about violence so much. If you are well-trained, a gun is effective defense. The thing you have to ask yourself is, can I go to jail for hurting someone dressed like this?

[donnalee]

A firearm, PARTICULARLY a handgun, requires thorough and constant training to be effective. It presents two huge advantages to the well-trained user:
1. It is capable of disabling an opponent before he can get close enough to do you harm. Obviously, the better trained you are, the more this is true.
2. It doesn't make a difference how big or strong or what sex or age you are; how you are dressed or what your health, disability or physical condition is; with training you can become proficient in it's use. This is why a gun is called an equalizer; it does precisely that.

As far as using it in given circumstances, this is a matter for study, particularly your local laws; for if somehow you get prosecuted, they are the ones who will do it. However, ask yourself "if I or my loved ones appear to be in danger, should I act now or put them at risk by worrying about potential legal consequences?" Whatever those might be, refusing to act can be much more dangerous to your, their and society's well-being.

[battybattybats]

For those whose countries allow them it might be worth exploring the option of non-lethal weapons like capsicum spray and tasers in this thread.

There are even tasers available in pink and leopard-print!

For those who have the option of firearms but who do not want to use that option and for those who have the option of these but not firearms it's well worth bringing them into the discussion. Their relative efficacy would be particularly worth bringing up.

However this is also a global community. In NSW Australia where I live even those weapons are illegal.

And as attackers can also legally be armed to whatever extent the defender is the best that carrying a weapon can do is to engage in a contest of reflexes and training and natural aptitude. On average what that will do is give a 50-50 chance to the defender.

Your life in the toss of a coin.

Now those with above-average skills may feel confidant in their self defence abilities but the problem remains for all those below average people. Some people will always be disadvantaged in a fight and therefore vulnerable.

That is the great myth about self defence. Not everyone is going to be able to be competant at it even with firearms let alone assuming that merely being competant will guarantee being better skilled than ones attacker.

It's all well and good if you think your safe, but what about those who still aren't? Is such confidance missplaced or worse is the capacity or willingness for some to rely on it meaning they are being complacent in regards to the needs of their sisters and brothers? Are those able to defend themselves leaving their fellow CDs in the lurch?

Is reliance on being armed a gamble that while possibly having some benefit still being a partial, gamble at best, treatment of the symptoms while allowing the cause to spread and fester?

In which case isn't relying on just self defence measures as the answer to the problem essentially contributing to the problem for others by the inaction on the cause?