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Stopping Power — Why 70 Million Americans Own Guns
A Book by J. Neil Schulman
A Reply to Joyce Brothers

From Dr. Joyce Brothers’ column of Nov 11, 1991 titled “Man May Equate Guns With Power”

Men who have a love affair with guns often feel threatened or insecure … Men who are insecure about their sexual identity often equate guns with sexual power. In fact, gun is sometimes used verbally as another word for the male sex organ. Typically, this kind of man is usually a defender of sexual stereotypes. He places high value on the use of force and on maintaining the status quo, both sexually and politically.

November 11, 1991

Dear Dr. Brothers:

You are mistaken in stereotyping gun-owners as “a defender of sexual stereotypes [who] places high value on the use of force and of maintaining the status quo, both sexually and politically.”

Thirty-five million Americans own handguns. Twelve million of them are women, including the president of the San Francisco NOW chapter, Helen Grieco. While currently gun ownership rises both with education and income, the population segment buying the most new handguns is black women living in crime-infested neighborhoods.

A recent survey of 1500 police officers show 92.2 percent feel that because of limited police manpower, citizens should retain the right to own firearms for self-defense at home or business, and with good reason. More private handguns are used in a year to prevent or end a crime than to commit one, and convicted armed robbers say they fear private gun owners more than they fear the police. As for accidental gun deaths, they represent one-and-a-half percent of the accidental deaths in this country, rating half as high as medical mishaps, and only three percent as high as auto accidents.

Finally, if you must invoke the Freudian image of a gun as a symbol of the male sexual organ, you might at least note that Freud described pencils, nail files, umbrellas, and trees as phallic symbols as well.

J. Neil Schulman, Chair
The Committee to Enforce the Second Amendment

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Copyright © 1994, 1999 J. Neil Schulman &
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