WASHINGTON — Their counterdemonstration in support of gun rights will be smaller than the Million Mom March. But the gun-owning women who make up the Second Amendment Sisters feel just as passionately about their cause.
"The anti-gun factions constantly say that if it saves one life, it's worth it," said Debra Collins, who once used a 12-gauge shotgun to defend herself from an attack by her ex-husband at 4 o'clock in the morning. "Well, my firearm saved one life--mine."
Collins, Colorado coordinator for the pro-gun group, will be in Washington on Sunday, Mother's Day, to tell her story at the Armed Informed Mothers March. (Despite the name, these women won't be packing. "And, please, no empty holsters," says the group's Web site.)
As many as 5,000 of the pro-gun women--many marching with their children and carrying balloons to represent the "lives saved by personal firearms every year"--will gather a few blocks from where the Million Mom March hopes to draw 150,000 or more to what is expected to be the largest gun control rally in U.S. history. Counterdemonstrations also will take place in Los Angeles; Denver; Tulsa, Okla.; and other cities.
Major Support Tool for Pro-Gun Advocates
The sisters, who say they are working independently of the National Rifle Assn., are nonetheless a crucial tool for those who are fighting new gun controls. Faced with public opinion polls showing majority support for tougher gun laws, especially among women, they defy the stereotype.
"Slavery used to be popular in this country too," said Kim Watson, who says proudly that her 10-year-old son "has been shooting since he was 4, supervised. He knows all of the safety rules."
Watson established the Dallas-based Second Amendment Sisters with four other women she met over the Internet. None wanted Congress to believe that the Million Mom March speaks for all women.
"I sure don't feel the same way these other women do," said Watson. "A lot of people look at folks on our side and they just have this picture of us sitting behind our door with our firearm, just waiting for somebody to break in so we can blow them away. And that's absolutely not the case."
Texas state Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp, whose parents were among 23 victims of the 1991 shooting at a Luby's cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, is equally passionate.
"I don't care what the majority thinks. We have this wonderful Bill of Rights, which is there to protect the individual from the majority," said the Republican lawmaker, who was elected in 1996.
