OC gun-rights advocate sets her sights on advocacy

Yeah, that's right, I said "her" sights. Claremont's Local Liberty blog alerted me to a story in the Register I missed on Saturday detailing a 44-year-old mortgage broker's experience as a rape victim and her exemplary rising up out of victimhood to take responsibility for her own safety by becoming proficient in the use of a firearm for self-defense. In case anyone was ever bothered by my referral to "gun control" as victim disarmament, note especially this part:

Just two days before she was raped, Courtney visited a gun store.

She had become fearful of showing houses in remote areas - a fear fueled by childhood memories of a movie about a real-estate agent getting raped and killed.

"I honestly thought you could just go in and buy a gun," said Courtney, who was surprised to learn about a 10-day waiting period. She did not buy a gun that day because of a required test on firearms safety.

On April 8, 2000, just before closing time at 5 p.m., a parolee and twice-convicted rapist, Douglas Lee Hopper, walked into Carbon Creek Realty in Brea and schmoozed with employees. Soon everyone left except Courtney.

That's right. A "gun control" law that was passed ostensibly for the purpose of controlling criminals' access to guns (its effect is debatable, given the black market that is available to criminals) had as an unintended consequence the disarming of a victim. A case could be made, more strongly in this case than any hypothetical, that she was raped because the law requiring waiting periods was passed. This is a huge reason why victim disarmament legislation very seldom has a positive effect and in fact most of the time has a negative effect. Ms. Courtney now is a strong and active advocate of strengthening Megan's Law, enacting a Victim's Bill of Rights, and making it easier for citizens of Kalifornia to obtain concealed carry permits. I wish her all the best, and when time permits (first baby on the way and all) I'd love to be a part of the organized effort in OC and the rest of CA - but in this liberal wasteland of a state, where Democrats have a stranglehold on both houses of the legislature and we keep sending Herrs Feinstein and Boxer to the U.S. Senate, it doesn't look good.