PROP B: MAKING THE CASE FOR AND AGAINST; ISSUE: FREEDOM OF CHOICE

To the editor:

The debate over Proposition B is a very personal issue about our right as American citizens. It is an issue of government control. It is an issue about freedom of choice and the right to protect ourselves. It is not a new issue. There are currently 43 states that have some type of right-to-carry gun laws. In those 43 states, the right-to-carry law has never been repealed.

Gun-control activists have tried to tell women that we should not resist attackers. Give them what they want. Put up no defense. Let them assault, rob and even kill. Why is it that we cannot try to protect ourselves? If there is even a small chance an attacker may take our life, don't we have the right to at least fight back?

The right-to-carry law would allow us to carry a concealed handgun in our purse, on our body or in our car. It is proven fact that attackers are deterred by the possibility a victim may be armed. In fact, the Department of Justice did a study in 1986 and found that 34 percent of felons had been scared off, shot at, wounded or captured by an armed victim. And 40 percent of felons did not commit a particular crime because they feared their potential victims might be armed.

If our life or the life of someone we love is endangered, don't we have a right to use every and any method to protect ourselves? In 1991, criminologist Gary Kleck analyzed data from the National Crime Victimization Survey. The data showed that "robbery and assault victims who used a gun to resist were less likely to be attacked or to suffer an injury than those who used other methods of self-protection or those who did not resist at all." Did you know that firearms are used for self-protection 2.5 million times annually? These are all facts.

Proposition B is a referendum which will be voted on April 6. Even if you plan never to exercise your right to get a permit to carry, please don't deny women like me our rights. On April 6, we women will have an opportunity to make our own decisions. Vote yes on Proposition B, and you will have the opportunity to protect yourself as you see fit.

RACHEL BEAM

Cape Girardeau