Mothers With Guns: Packing Too Much?
Moms pack many things—endless lunches, bottles, diapers, snacks, toys, wipes, overdue library books, and of course kids.
But does a responsible mom also pack a gun?
The question was recently raised on the website BabyCenter, which chronicles all things motherhood, from conception to inconceivably picky eaters and back-talking three year olds.
On the site, a mom blogger described the terrifying experience of a mother who was attacked at home in a safe neighborhood by a rapist with a gun. The woman fought, the attacker fled, and the blogger posed a question: “Do you think that every mother should own a gun?”
The point-blank debate about point-blank defense revealed that some moms are packing heat.
“I carry a Keltec 380 (small pistol) on my hip everyday,” revealed a mother of a one year old and a two year old. “I feel comfortable knowing that I will be able to defend my kids and I if we are in a life-threatening situation.”
Another mother—eight months pregnant and with a toddler—wrote that her husband works the night shift, and “our gun is the only way I could defend myself and my children should someone intend to do us harm.”
And there was this disclosure from a police officer mom: “I keep a loaded 9mm in my Coach diaper bag.”
Suddenly, it seems, mothers with guns are everywhere—movie star moms included. Recent news reports quote actress Angelina Jolie as saying she keeps a gun at home for security, and that “if anybody comes into my home and tries to hurt my kids, I’ve no problem shooting them.”
Tell us what you think: Should a mother’s responsibility to protect her children include having a gun?
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moms + guns = death
People should not have to carry guns to protect themselves. What has become of this world when the emphasis to kill has a greater priority than anything else?
tim smith | 1 year, 4 months ago
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Moms + Guns = life & death
You’re right. People shouldn’t have to carry guns to protect themselves. However, criminals don’t follow rules. As the father of a 2-year old, I find myself struggling with the decision of whether or not to purchase a gun for defense. I’ve run through scenarios in my mind, lying in bed at night, of how I would react to a home invader with and without a gun. Right now, I have a metal bar under my bed for defense. While I can certainly do some damage with it, it is of little use against a gun. Sure, the chances of being the victim of a home invasion are low, but it happens, and while my odds at large are low, they’re the same as the guy who lives next to me.
I also find it interesting that you read the article and see an emphasis on killing rather than protecting.
Dave Washburn | 1 year, 4 months ago
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Bag of Tricks
I have no issue with a mother carrying a concealed weapon, including a gun, as a means of protection for herself and her children. Frankly, I have no issue with anyone doing this as long as they get a license, register the gun and take safety courses. However, my stance on gun rights is not why I’m commenting, so let me get to my point. The mother who keeps her gun in her diaper bag should be locked up. That’s just plain irresponsible. A holster keeps your firearm at the ready, but more or less secure. A diaper bag typically has a big gaping hole that can be reached into by anyone and (if protected by a zipper) unzipped by nearly any toddler. Not to mention the fact that based on my experience with diaper bags, they’re not exactly super-organized. I wouldn’t want to mess with fishing my gun out if I needed it at a moment’s notice.
Dave Washburn | 1 year, 4 months ago
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Statistics?
I can understand a parents concern for safety for their children but a mother carrying a gun on her during the day has to also store that gun in their home at night. Anyone who reads the paper should know that guns in the home are a bigger risk to children than protection. There are dozens of statistics that state that guns kept in homes for protection are more likely to be used in an unintentional shooting, a homicide or a suicide. If parents really want to keep their children safe they should teach them about the dangers of gun violence and should educate themselves about how big issue gun violence amongst children is.
Jane smith | 1 year, 4 months ago
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Ravenna
Mothers with guns is TRUTH. There are many women who have been in the military and are very well trained. I have been a guardian of history. History tells me in Australia when the Government made guns Illegal crime among the elderly risen 300% overall crime risen 80%. Now let us talk about Hitler. He got rid of guns for the safety of “The Children” (for your protection) and looked what happened.
When it comes to truth, I cannot depend on the cops … after rape! I cannot depend on our military…..during/after 911! I believe in law and what’s just. I believe in freedom! THANKS
Raymond Kelly McElhiney II | 1 year, 4 months ago
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Guns NO!
It should be common knowledge by now that gun ownership is a terrible way to defend your kids. Mothers with guns will more likely end up killing their kids with it than saving them. Most of the time when guns are purchased for protection, they end up being used in suicides, homicides or murders, but not for safety. Even in the rare instance that you are attacked by someone with a gun, what help would having one too, do? It might make the assailant even more edgy or scared and more likely to shoot when he intended not to. Americans are in constant fear of being attacked, raped, mugged, shot at and everything else the media makes people fearful of. The fact that the media has mothers so scarred across the country that they are starting to think that carrying a 9mm in their diaper bag is responsible makes me sick. Guns kill many more innocent people than guilty people. Be smart, don’t buy a gun, and stop being so scared of EVERYTHING and EVERYONE!!! If you want to feel safer then get non-lethal protection or even more effective, a home burglar alarm. The best way to stay safe is to use common sense and learn how to identify dangers and avoid them. Just remember no matter what you see on the evening news, the reality is that the world is not full of creeps who are out to get you and your kids.
Ty | 1 year, 4 months ago
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Where's the proof?
Jane Smith and Ty, do you have the statistics you quote? I have firearms in the house and my children (5 and 1) know it. My 5 year old knows gun safety and shoots with me often. We enjoy shooting as a hobby, and the home protection comes second. Responsible firearms ownership means not hiding things from the children. My wife knows how to shoot, but does not. I respect her for that choice, just as I respect the mothers who responsibly carry a firearm.
Matt | 1 year, 4 months ago
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Statistics.... confirmed
Please see some facts below. Please note that these are direct facts from bradycampagin.org and are cited from national studies:
In 2005, 1,972 children and teenagers were murdered with guns, 822 committed suicides with guns, and 173 died in unintentional shootings. Twenty-one were killed in a police intervention, and another 39 died, but the intent was not known. A total of 3,027 young people were killed by firearms in the U.S.
Firearms are the second-leading cause of death (after motor vehicle accidents) for young people 19 and under in the U.S.
The rate of firearm death of under 14-years-old is nearly 12 times higher in the U.S. than in 25 other industrialized countries.
43% of households with children have guns, and 23% of gun households keep a gun loaded. 28% keep a gun hidden and unlocked. 54% of parents said that they would be highly concerned about their child’s safety if they knew there was a gun in the home of their child’s friend.
Jane smith | 1 year, 4 months ago
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Let's discuss it rationally, Jane.
Your source is incorrect, simply by virtue of common sense. If 43% of households with children have firearms, and the firearms are the second leading cause of death (with your caveats), then there ought to be a lot more deaths than you list. In point of fact, people locking their kids into cars and going into malls, or running over them with cars, or losing them somewhere, or letting them drink the stuff under the sink, or beating them to death because they cry, or letting them go out in the yard to play with the pit bull, or talking on the phone and then noticing them at the bottom of the pool or trying to change their diaper and rolling them out the window, or born and left in dumpsters ….let’s lump it together and call it household accidents…are the most common causes of death of children. With teenagers, it’s impaired driving. If you don’t want a firearm in your home, by all means don’t have one. Kitchen knives are the preferred murder weapons within families anyway. But don’t tell me that guns cause accidents.
As of July 1, 2008, heart disease was the leading cause of death for ALL Americans ages 24 and older – almost 725,000 every year (source: Ban the Ban’s Ten Leading Causes of Death in the USA). How they made it to 24 with a gun in the house boggles the mind.
What does that tell you? Instead of going to the shooting range and learning to enjoy the outdoors and be safe with firearms, kids are smoking dope, doing drugs and eating fast food….but you would be concerned if your kid’s friend’s parent had a firearm?
Almost TWO MILLION civilians prevent violent crimes against themselves or someone else annually by owning a firearm. “Civilians” doesn’t include police officers.
I will let you research the statistics of how many women and children are raped and tortured and murdered every year because they couldn’t protect themselves, but almost NONE of them are shot.
If you want your neighbors’ children to feel safe in your home, you ought to put up a sign out front that says, “There are no firearms in this home. I trust that the government will SEND someone with a gun, in the middle of a dark, rainy night; that the officer will not nave a mechanical breakdown, will be less than two minutes away, and will arrive with the complete knowledge of the situation (the 9-1-1 dispatcher will tell him “Woman screaming; call dropped; unknown further), and that he will be able to save me.” Get a book called ‘Dial 9-1-1 and die”.
Madame, your case for not having a firearm in your home applies, more correctly and statistically, to kitchen implements, stairs and slippery floors.
The bottom line is that the government has no responsibility for protecting any individual, or even responding to 9-1-1 calls. It’s a service, not an obligation. Some humans are predators; some are simply irresponsible. Gun owners are typically the most responsible people in society. The occasional exception does not invalidate the premise of personal responsibility.
Tom Burnett | 1 year, 4 months ago
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Trying to be rational and respectful
Tom, you have asked me to discuss an issue rationally and in my opinion I think statistics are rational. From your notes, what your common sense tells you is not what my common sense tells me so I think it is safe to say we will agree to disagree! I don’t think you’re wrong, I am sure there are many responsible gun owners and that people have protected themselves with firearms but an individual with a gun in their home is more likely to have a gun related accident then a home with no guns. I stand by my opinion.
I had a request from another writer to provide some statistics for my opinion and I did. I did not make up the statistics or change them based on my opinion – I noted my source, so if you believe that the statistics are wrong I would recommend checking out the Brady campaign directly. Please know I am not an advocate of getting rid of guns or the right for people to own them, however, I simply don’t believe people should have to resort to carrying guns around on a daily basis to protect themselves or should keep guns in a house with children unless they are extremely secure. I will mention I do not believe it is a polite way to make a point by assuming someone else’s opinions on items that they have not commented on – I also don’t think kids should be eating fast food, smoking dope or doing drugs either. I think they should join a sports team and enjoy a healthy life style and as you stated you think they should go to the shooting range. So again, we have to agree to disagree.
I have lived in two of the biggest cities in the US in the last five years and the majority of crime I hear about always has to do with gun violence- especially amongst teens, so we clearly have different perspectives. So while I don’t agree with all of your opinions, for example I have more faith in our law enforcement officers than “call 9-1-1 and die”; I respect your opinion and ask that you also respect mine. Thank you.
Jane smith | 1 year, 4 months ago
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