Good Gunwomanship

Today marks the debut of a cable television show, "The World of Beretta," and I was invited weeks ago to the reception honoring the star of the show, actor Gerald McRaney. The former "Major Dad" star will be hosting the program, which showcases the world's finest big-game and bird-hunting destinations.

The reception took place in the premium Gun Room of the Madison Avenue Beretta store, and as the guests sipped their drinks and munched on the hors d'oeuvres, they could watch a preview of the show.

Mr. McRaney is an avid hunter and one of the few Hollywood celebrities willing to admit to it. When I mentioned there are lots of closeted gun lovers in New York, he told me the same is true in California. The owner of 30 guns, Mr. McRaney was unapologetic about his love of the sport, and the room was filled with like-minded men and a few women.

Although the room was rife with the smell of testosterone admiring the rifles and shotguns, the pictures on the wall were definitely free of gender bias. The smiling women in the pictures showing off their feathered or wooly trophies reminded me of a P.D. James novel I read recently.

One of the characters in the book, "A Certain Justice," is a female police officer who excels at target practice. She tells her partner, "I wish I knew why I always look forward to a shoot. I can't imagine wanting to kill an animal, let alone a man, but I like guns. I like using them. I like the feel of the Smith and Wesson in my hand."

Her partner tells her, "You like shooting because it's a skill and you're very good at it."

The fact is women can be exceptionally skilled at target shooting, and when New York women get over their fear of handling the lethal weapons, they may find it addictive.

The Women's Shooting Sports League holds regular shooting and training clinics at the Westside Rifle and Pistol Range. Tonight, they will be offering the NRA Marksmanship Qualification Program for those who want to get their targets scored (for patches). A $30 fee covers targets, rental of a .22 rifle, one box of ammo, private instruction, safety class, and eye/ear protection.

I'm one of those New York women who have never handled a rifle. I don't think that's anything to be proud of, though. I plan to attend next month's WSSL session and to drag my daughters with me. All over the country, there are women who are expert at firearms. My mother-in-law, who lived near the Florida Everglades, was a crack shot and could shoot a deadly snake between the eyes from yards away.

In Larry Wilson's magnificent book "Silk and Steel - Women at Firearms," he presents a comprehensive look at the surprising number of women who have been shooters, hunters, collectors, engravers, and even gun makers. In this city, where political correctness reigns supreme, we have forgotten that many heroines in our history not only bore arms but excelled at handling them.

Do our current history books even mention Molly Pitcher, the heroine of the American Revolution? Does the name Annie Oakley register with today's public school children as one of the finest sharpshooters of either gender?

The American women pioneers knew how to defend their homes and families. Self-reliance and hardiness were taken for granted in those days as was the necessity to bear arms.

When I look at the statistics of women brutalized and raped in our town, it's obvious that we may be regarded as easy targets by the predators. While I'm not suggesting that we all arm ourselves, we do need to re think our attitude about firearms as the first step to rejecting our image as victims.

In "Silk and Steel" Wilson writes: "The story of the role of women in the firearms history of America was lost, in large part because the later generations - those who wrote the story, thought as men, and thought of guns as manly objects - forgot that, in a pioneer nation, which required firearms to survive and to flourish, firearms as the tools of one sex alone was an untenable concept."

The strict gun control laws that target lawful citizens have made that concept a reality. In Afghanistan, Muslim women took up guns to fight the fundamentalist rule of the Taliban, as have other women in war-torn countries. Thomas Jefferson once said that the gun gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind. In these perilous times, women need to be as strong as possible when the need arrives.

On September 11, Port Authority Police Captain, Kathy Mazza-Delosh rushed with her rescue crew from Jersey City to the World Trade Center. After the call to evacuate was issued, she led people down to the mezzanine level where the exits were blocked. She used her revolver to shoot out the glass, providing an escape route for the others. Captain Mazza-Delosh went back inside to continue helping others and perished when Tower One collapsed.

Now that, my friends, was some woman.