ARMED AND FEMALE

by Paxton Quigley ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 1989

While you are sitting comfortably watching television,"" advises Quigley, ""get to know your weapon. Aim it at the TV or at lamps around the room and pull the trigger. . ."" And if Quigley, a former Playboy Enterprises, Inc. executive, gets the wish expressed in her first book, nearly every woman in America will be doing just that. Quigley used to hate guns; in fact, she assures us, she was instrumental in the passage of the Handgun Control Act of 1968. But two decades later or so, she realized that ""our gun control laws did not work"" and ""the next thing I knew, l was holding a compact, stain-less-steel revolver:"" Now Quigley supports guns with all the passion of the newly converted. She marshals a lot of horror stories here (mostly of rape and foiled rape) to demonstrate that guns, and only guns, can significantly prevent criminal attack, and a lot of statistics too (""knife-armed resisters were six times more likely to be injured than gun-armed resisters""). She enthusiastically tackles ""the ethics of lethal defense,"" concluding that the specter of AIDS ""almost demands"" the use of deadly force to resist rape; and, in a subsequent conclusion that tap-dances across some slippery legal and ethical ground, intimates that it's right and proper to ""use any means necessary"" to dispose of any intruder found in the home in the middle of the night. How to do this? Heed the details Quigley gives here on the best guns (on .380 autos: ""This caliber is my perennial favorite. . .INTIMIDATION VALUE: excellent. . .MY FAVORITE: Sig Saner Model 230"") and how to buy them, where to practice using them, how to keep them out of the hands of kids, and how to shoot to make every bullet count. Passionate, competent--if not fully convincing--advocacy; and a very thorough guide for those who plan to follow Quigley's advice.

Pub Date: May 2, 1989

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1989

Categories: NONFICTION