WOMEN AND GUNS: Fear, Fury And Fire

With pounding hearts but eyes firmly on target, record numbers of women are learning to use firearms in crime-riddled South Africa. Training starts with the legalities of owning a firearm, which to most, is probably the most effective tool to disarm attackers, and also an introduction to the sport of shooting.

- Paula Slier

Sitting on a carpet, I’m overwhelmed with a feeling of foreboding. A Kalashnikov rifle is pointed at me by a masked man smoking a cigarette. Behind him, three armed fighters chatter anxiously, casting looks in my direction. The far-off spurts of gunfire light up the night sky. I’m in a remote village in Afghanistan waiting for an interview that might or might not happen.

I chide myself, not for the first time, for coming here alone. If this tip-off proves false, I’m at the mercy of these men. The thought crosses my mind that I could grab the AK47 and…. then what? I’ve never held one of those guns, let alone shoot with it.

Which is why, a few weeks later, I find myself at a shooting range in South Africa. Despite the tip-off being correct, I am making good on a promise to myself that if I got out of that village alive, I would take control of my safety and no longer leave it to fate – or the goodwill of others.

It’s fitting I’ve chosen to sign up in South Africa.

While a long way from Afghanistan, the statistics here are amongst the worst in the world which explains why record numbers of people, women in particular, are learning how to use firearms. Most want to be able to shoot for their own safety and that of their families. 

From July to September last year, 13,000 women were victims of assault and [over 10,000] rape cases were opened by the police – “a needle in the haystack,” says Lynette Oxley, founder of Gun Owners SA (GOSA) Girls On Fire.