Perhaps not Chriss, but I'm all for giving women a chance to defend themselves, no matter which country they are in.

pelican, "I reckon universal gun ownership creates more problems and increases violence one way or another"

No-one is recommending "universal gun ownership". What you and others are doing however is denying a deterrent and self-defence to women with the excellent character and clean record who can qualify for a firearms licence and complete the requisite instruction.

To be blunt, you deny good citizens a defence against criminals. The criminals however get to use whatever weapons they choose AND are assured that the good citizens they target are unarmed and defenceless.

Who are you to make other women's choices for them? If you cannot pass the hoops to qualify for a licence or don't want one anyhow, so be it, but you do not have the right to require other women to do the same.

No-one here has managed to dispel the arguments of police chiefs, government and the women themselves in India that women who are can qualify for the licence should be allowed to defend themselves. Honestly now, what evidence do you have that such women are going to commit crime with their tool of self-defence? It is ludicrous to claim there will be more crime. How?

As long as there are crapheads & morons with criminal minds we need to focus on the crapheads & morons in authority to do their job. If they can't protect anyone then anyone must be permitted to protect themselves.

"It is ludicrous to claim there will be more crime. How?"

Its easy to imagine those who decide that the risk to their personal safety is high enough to warrant carrying a gun being a little trigger happy if the right mix of unfortunate circumstances arises.

Which of the men supporting guns for self defence wants to be the man who happens be walking behind a woman carrying a gun who has had a recent fright over her safety and then find's herself feeling threatened in a place where she may be a bit more alarmed than ususal?

It's not an easy balance but preemptive execution of innocents based on a bad feeling would seem to be a real risk.

R0bert

I don't and wouldn't feel alarmed; I have frequently walked behind armed women that I didn't know at all, complete strangers, never been worried one little bit.

R0bert,
You're expressing legitimate concerns however, this can be easiliy dealt with simply by the introduction of a National Service for everyone from age 19 to 21. Once people have experienced discipline & have been exposed to the phenomenon of responsibility they will then appreciate the new-found mentality that is common sense & react totally different to the average 21 year old now. We'd simply have a better society and, as the weeding out of educated spoilt morons gains pace, everything will fall into place. Just as stupidity easily snowballs so does a healthy mentality & an appreciation of the privilege of being better human beings..