Boomsticks: "Oh my God! The chicks are packing heat!"

The title alone is enough to get me spun up: "Women Getting Trigger Happy". It seems to hover somewhere in tone between "Ain't that cute?" and having a missing, but implied, "Uppity" as the first word. Well, Mr. Reporter, why don't you put this here apple on your noggin, and I'll show you some "trigger happy":

The gun industry is catering to women with everything from more girly guns and apparel to all-female hunting trips and free ladies nights at the range. It's clear the feminine touch is adding up to big business.

Why is it that when some bright spark in the marketing department at Apple, Cannondale, or Pontiac notices that slightly more than 50% of the planet's population is setters rather than pointers, it gets two column inches on page 24 of the WSJ, but when their counterpart at Remington or Smith & Wesson does likewise, it calls for a panting TeeWee news spot from ABC? Build a Saturn that has room to stow a purse in the front passenger compartment, and nobody notices. Make a SIG small enough to fit in that purse, and shoulders get dislocated in newsrooms across America as folks reach for dusty tomes by Freud. Weird.

"If you look at statistics, there are more crimes of passion committed by men than there are women," said Sandra Froman, president of the NRA. "But I say that everyone has their emotions, and one of the things you learn when you take firearms classes is you learn to control your emotions."

Appropos of nothing, we get introduced to the good Ms. Froman via an out-of-context quote chock full of "passion" and "emotions". You know, the ol' subliminal "Oh, jeeze, they're so emotional. If they have a gun, they might blow me away during that time of the month." I don't think you need to be worried about that, sport. We're no more likely to shoot you at "that time" than we are to run you over or shiv you with that nice JA Henckel chef's knife you got us last Christmas. (No matter what time of the month it is, though, I'd recommend kevlaring up before swilling the milk from the jug. We have glasses for a reason, honey.)

But not everyone is convinced encouraging women to carry a gun is a good idea. According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, it's at least 20 times more likely that you'll use your weapon to shoot someone in your home rather than using it to protect yourself from an intruder.

Fact check on Aisle Five, please. Where in heck is this data from? (Even leaving aside the fact that your attacker is very likely to be somebody you know, rather than a random stranger.) But again we have the implication that we chicks are just not to be trusted. Ask yourself this question: If you had a gun, would you just up and kill someone you love? No? Well then who in the hell are these putzes (putzii?) to claim that you are too flighty to resist the alien brain control waves emanating from an inanimate object?

"Every time you pull that trigger you feel that rush," she said.

She's just what the gun industry is hoping will represent the next generation of pistol-packing women.

...and a titillating quote to close on. Substitute "push that plunger", "heroin ring", and "smack-shooting" in the appropriate places, and you get the sort of message that the author of this steaming little pile was going for.

Jerk.

(Oh, and just by-the-by, the evil manipulative gun industry control committee would like me to remind all of y'all that Tuesday is Ladies' Day at CCA. Free range time. Yay!)