She was a victim of a home break-in. Now she teaches women how to shoot
UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. – Jane Milhans mentioned she nonetheless sleeps with the lights on typically, greater than 15 years after two males broke into her home whereas she was home.
But she remembers being remarkably calm because the occasion unfolded.
“It was like adrenaline took over, and I just took command of the situation,” Milhans mentioned.
Jane Milhans dedicates 100 hours a 12 months to educating different women how to safely deal with pistols and rifles. She says having a gun helped her really feel extra in management when two males broke into her home. (Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital)
She remembers shouting on the two burglars she present in her kitchen. One suspect took off operating out the sliding glass door, however the different froze and listened to all her instructions till the police confirmed up about quarter-hour later, Milhans mentioned.
She feels lucky that she did not have to draw the pistol her dad and mom purchased her for her twenty first birthday, however its presence made her really feel safer.
“It gave me the confidence of knowing that if they stepped any closer to me, I could protect myself,” she mentioned.
Now, the Tacoma-area firearms teacher dedicates 100 hours a 12 months of her time to educating gun security and taking pictures expertise to different women by free or reduced-cost courses. Business has been booming as more women buy guns.
“People kept asking me, can you please show me how to shoot so I can protect myself?” Milhans informed Fox News throughout one current coaching session. “From that home invasion, this is the good that came out of that.”
Jane Milhans teaches a gun-safety class at a rifle vary in University Place, Washington. (Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital)
The concept of proudly owning weapons for self-defense has plenty of critics.
A Harvard University analysis discovered individuals defended themselves with a gun in lower than 1% of crimes from 2007 to 2011.
More not too long ago, a Stanford University study of 17.6 million Californians discovered that individuals who lived with handgun homeowners however didn’t personal a gun themselves died by murder greater than twice as typically as their gun-free neighbors.
The distinction was primarily fueled by homicides at home, particularly these during which a victim was shot by a partner or intimate accomplice, in accordance to the analysis revealed final 12 months. Women accounted for 84% of such victims.
“That’s because most people who live with gun owners and don’t themselves own guns are women,” David Studdert, one of the research’s lead authors, wrote in a Time magazine op-ed.
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Milhans has typically discovered herself testifying on the alternative facet of survivors of shootings and the relations of crime victims. Several years in the past, survivors of the Las Vegas concert massacre gave emotional testimony in favor of gun management measures in Washington.
“I stand before you as a crime survivor today,” Milhans testified in response. “I don’t want to be a crime statistic. I want to be able to protect myself.”
She’s not alone: 5% extra women report proudly owning a gun now than when she delivered that testimony, according to Gallup. Female firearm possession is at its highest stage — 22% general — since Gallup began monitoring the numbers in 2007.
Many women cite rising crime as their purpose for arming up. One of Milhans’ college students determined to take the category after coming face-to-face with two automotive prowling suspects in her driveway.
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“What can I do [against] two men?” Lisa Olson mentioned. “Being a woman and not as strong, we need something a little stronger to help protect us.”
Milhans mentioned she needs to assist as many women study to really feel extra snug and proficient with weapons as attainable.
“We are easy targets,” she mentioned. “But at least a firearm levels the fight between us and our attackers.”