I’m glad Les Colohan wrote to share his feelings regarding the overwhelming testosterone imbalance – seven-time world skeet shooting champion Dr. Susan Nattrass notwithstanding- in the shooting sports. I’ve bemoaned this fact myself for years.
Of course, what can one expect when women are actively discouraged from engaging in a safe, engaging and skill-developing hobby?
Here are some facts to counter Les’s feelings:
Small-framed handguns, ideally suited to a woman’s grip radius, were specifically prohibited by the Liberals’ Bill C-68, (The Firearms Act.)
Sorry ladies, no comfort or manageability for you.
The DPMS Oracle and other AR-15 style rifles, which are lighter and easier to shoulder than wood-stocked rifles, also contain buffers in their rear stocks to absorb felt recoil.
These features benefit female firearms users, who may lack the upper-body strength required for a heavier firearm, and who may be more adverse to stiff recoil. (And by the way, .223 is considered so low-powered that it is illegal to hunt with in parts of Canada.) Sorry ladies, these guns are black, scary and restricted.
Women’s groups like the YWCA, Polysesouvient and the Canadian Federation of University Women, by endorsing strict gun control, subconsciously send a message to women that guns are “just not for us girls.”
A conversation about the predominance of men in the shooting sports needs to address the anti-firearms messages women are subject to.
Calling males who enjoy firearms “testosterone-imbalanced alpha males who feel a need to make an impression” isn’t honest, or helpful.
Andrew Spencer,
Paris, Ont.
