Gun Ownership to Women of America

By: Joe Mauricio

 

There’s a new bipartisan gun control push being discussed in the U.S. Congress.

There’s President Obama’s push coming, anti-gun regulatory proposal.

There’s Dangerous ID push, which could be just the ticket that the gun-grabbers need to create a national gun registry.

Then, there’s the ongoing race for the Oval Office.

That’s why I’m counting on VT readers to sign as members of a national association of gun right, FRONT LINE DEFENDERS.

That’s why this article, “LADIES, GET YOUR GUNS,” interest me and the pro-gun readers. It is your Second Amendment Right–the right to bear arms, reprinted from OZY.

“It’s the apotheosis of American gridlock: gun deaths. Every time some awful massacre happens — as in Charleston, or Aurora, or Newtown — the citizenry assumes its battle positions. On one side, they’re shouting for more gun control. On the other, they’re shouting for more guns. And the louder they shout, the farther they get from anything resembling compromise, let alone an actual solution that would stave off the next awful massacre.

Hre’s a very simple idea, likely to please (or piss off) both sides in equal measure: Let anyone own a gun, doesn’t matter what kind, so long as she’s a woman. That’s right — guns for all women and no guns for men. The reasoning here is that guns don’t kill people; dudes with guns kill people. If we adopted this bright-line rule, not only wouldwe likely see violent crime plummet, but we’d also resolve a seemingly intractable tension between the Second Amendment and security.

Of the 70 U.S. mass shootings committed since 1982, just one perpetrator was a woman.

In a way, the solution is right under our noses. In the aftermath of a mass shooting, reporters line up to delve into the shooter’s background. Was he mentally ill? What was his motive? Who let him own a gun? Notice the continuity in those sentences — it’s nearly always men who commit these crimes. Of the 70 U.S. mass shootings committed since 1982, just one perpetrator was a woman, a deranged California postal worker in 2006, according to an analysis by Mother Jones. Year after year, FBI statistics show that men commit about 90 percent of homicides, and that firearms are the murder weapon of choice. So let’s keep guns legal and easy to learn about. But let’s only issue them to women, who have shown themselves to use them more responsibly. It’s true that the playing field isn’t exactly level here — women are, after all, three times less likely to own guns than men. But they’re still nine times less likely to murder than men are. And already, both the gun rights lobby and the gun control lobby can support not selling firearms to mentally unstable people, on the grounds that they are less likely to use a weapon responsibly. We should deny guns to men on the same grounds.

To be sure, most gun control advocates see the problem in gender- neutral terms: “This is about insanely easy access to guns for dangerous people in this country,” says Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, who cites significantly lower rates of suicide and domestic-abuse homicide in states that require background checks. But universal background checks are not likely to come to pass anytime soon. And the National Rifle Association, which declined to comment, would almost certainly oppose a half-blanket restriction like this, if only because it would put a big dent in its membership.

Because men have controlled the weapons throughout most (if not all) of history, it’s hard to say for certain what the outcome would be. It’s possible that if only women owned guns, the number of massacres and shootings and murders would remain the same, and only the gender of the perpetrator would change. But for now, women who do own guns, and use them, think otherwise. Carrie Lightfoot, who owns and founded the female-focused gun organization The Well Armed Woman, says the women who come to her clubs usually have guns because they want to be able to defend themselves — not, you’ll notice, because they want to enter a movie theater dressed as a Batman villain and kill or injure dozens of innocent people.

OK, probably most men don’t want to, either. But keeping guns away from men would benefit them, too: Not only are 90 percent of killers male, but so are 80 percent of victims. Would restricting gun ownership to women solve America’s gun-deaths problem?”

Philippine Delegation in 2015 Intl. Folk Art Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico

The Philippine Delegation is headed by Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) Board of Trustees Secretary Atty. Tanya Karina Lat. NTFP refers to all biological materials other than timber that are extracted from forests for human use. NTFP is a regional organization. NTFP-EP Philippines is a network of NGOs and People’s Organizations working towards the empowerment of forestdependent communities to strengthen, develop and promote non-timber forest products (NTFP)-based forest management strategies that are sustainable, culturally-appropriate and gender responsive. NTFP has 15 partners working in 13 provinces throughout the Philippines.

The CustomMade Crafts Center Inc. (CMCC) is an initiative of NTFP-EP Philippines to expand the market for indigenous and rural crafts in the Philippines. CMCC advocates fair trade and environmentally sustainable production practices. It aims is to create a regular source of livelihood for forest dependent communities and to support the continuation of their traditional arts. This is the reason why it continues to identify markets for Philippine crafts such as the IFAM.

The IFAM, which expects to draw 20,000 visitors, will be held in Santa Fe, New Mexico from 10 to 12 July 2015. IFAM is touted to be the largest and most prestigious folk art market in the world, bringing together artisans from all over the world and providing the venue to show their handmade masterworks drawn from old traditions and cultures. The crafts and products are chosen by a selection committee composed of folk art curators, collectors and experts.

This is the second year that the NTFP and its marketing arm CMCC are participating in the IFAM. This year, two new traditions are being introduced, the Piňa, considered to be the “queen of Philippine fabrics,’ and the Tingkep from Palawan. The tingkep is a special basket of the Pala’wan tribe used for practical and spiritual purposes. The featured artists are T’boli tribe, T’nalak master weaver Ms. Bernadeth Ofong from Lake Sebu, South Cotabato and Piňa artist, Ms. Anna India Dela Cruz-Legazpi from Kalibo, Aklan. The Philippines featured six (6) folk art traditions:

1. The piňa weaves of Kalibo, Aklan;

2. The t’nalak of the T’boli of Lake Sebu;

3. The tingkep baskets of the Pala’wan tribe of Palawan;

4. The hinabol of the Higaonon of Imapasug-ong, Bukidnon;

5. The geometric waves of the Yakan tribe of Zamboanga and Basilan; and,

6. The tapis of the Kalinga tribe.

Also part of the delegation is Mr. Andres Isabelo Roberto Y Moran who presented the prospects of Sta.Barbara, Iloilo as a creative city, folk art hub, and showcase of heritage conservation

Master weaver Bernadeth Ofong demonstrates the art and craft of t’nalak weaving at the Philippine booth.

 

The Philippine delegation to the 2015 IFAM.