Staff Writer
Gun sales have been on the rise in Augusta, particularly to women.
Zach Boyden-Holmes/Staff
Myra Powers fires her .380 pistol at a target on her property in Hephzibah. She has carried a gun daily for the past 10 years.
Rainier Ehrhardt/Staff
Local gun experts recommend training classes and learning martial arts as added precautions.
"Over the last year, it's been on pretty much a daily basis," said Eddie Walden, the owner of Waldens. "We'd see (women) before, but not on a daily basis."
In addition to numerous break-ins and home invasions, there have been 22 homicides in Augusta this year -- 14 since June. That's likely prompting the run on guns, say some.
Myra Powers, who has carried her Sig Sauer P232 daily for the past 10 years, said she feels more prepared when she leaves work at unusual hours knowing her gun is nearby.
She says she feels better knowing she and her daughter can be safe when her husband isn't there.
"They're tools," Powers said. "They're not an evil thing that's going to jump out and bite. It's just like learning to use any other tool effectively. They're an equalizer."
Steven Fishman, the president of Sidney's Department Store, said recently he's sold to woman ranging from their 20s to 80s.
"There's an old saying in the business," he said. "Can you really afford to wait the five minutes it takes for the policemen to come? Is it as easy to carry a firearm in your pocket as it is a policeman in your pocket?"
Fishman said gun sales have dramatically increased since Judge Carlisle Overstreet shot and killed an intruder, 20-year-old John E. Howard Jr., at his Summerville home Aug. 20.
Aaron Rote, a certified National Rifle Association instructor, said about 44 percent of his students have been women. One of the first questions he asks students is whether they are capable of pulling the trigger when confronted with danger -- without any moral or religious beliefs standing in the way.
"Nobody wants to talk about killing or about taking someone else's life," Fishman said. "Unfortunately, if they're putting you in a position where they're willing to take your life, your ultimate obligation to you and your family is self-preservation."
Powers took one of Rote's classes at the beginning of the year along with a co-worker whose husband had just purchased a gun for her.
Though Powers has carried a gun for a long time, she knew extra training would help eliminate the "panic and freeze" some victims experience.
Walden recommends women who are interested in owning a gun try out several models and find one that feels comfortable in their hands.
Fishman recommends women learn martial arts as an added precaution.
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