Equalizers

Be not afraid of any man no matter what his size; when danger threatens, call on me, and I will equalize.

I have yet to pin down the exact origin of this line, but it seems inextricably bound up with the Colt Peacemaker revolver. It has been mutilated as it has been passed down, but the meaning remains unambiguous; almost anyone can defend themselves effectively with a firearm.

As with any statement so bold, there are some rather important provisos in that. A firearm is not a magical death ray or talisman; it takes training and awareness to bring into combat effectively. The important point is, however, that anyone, saving perhaps the exceptionally physically disabled can be so trained and can be so aware.

Firearms aren't the first weapons with such a distinction. Certainly the crossbow was a shock to the status quo. The naginata was reckoned to be a good weapon for the short, as its reach would help keep a taller opponent at a distance. The composite bow allowed unarmored men and women to rule the steppes from stubby ponies for centuries; Central Asia has a long tradition of armed females. None of these priors, however are nearly so egalitarian as the firearm.

Certainly, other small arms are quite so accomodating to women. Gun guru Jeff Cooper, whom you could rightly accuse of many things but not inordinate political correctness, was utterly convinced that women are entirely the equals of men in the shooting disciplines. Some have even gone so far as to claim that women are inherently better shooters than men, but when asked why they tend to shuffle quietly away, so I suspect that this is hooey. It is, however, likely that women learn shooting much more quickly than men, as they are not afflicted with testosterone poisoning and less headstrong in the face of instruction. The industry seems to be learning this fact, slowly (due to the fact that is still largely run by men), and one of the largest demographic increases in shooters has of late been women.

Given all that, I find it odd that the way to accelerate this trend has been to single out female shooters. Why are there, for example, women's divisions in competitive shooting? Perhaps it is encouraging to the relatively small number of female competitive shooters to have a seperate division, so that they don't get lost in all the noise. Why does the Smith and Wesson Ladysmith line exist? Designing a gun for women is exactly the same endevour as designing a gun for a man, albeit one with slightly smaller hands on average. Again, this makes the most sense as an attempt to reassure female shooters that they are being paid attention. In an ideal world, this would not be necessary.