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American Morning

Female Students Expressing Desire to Defend Themselves

Aired March 12, 2002 - 07:40   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Since September 11th, there has been a surge in gun sales nationwide. At Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts, long considered abashed in liberalism, female students are expressing a desire to defend themselves. And although guns are not allowed on campus, some 50 women have formed the first collegiate chapter of Second Amendment Sisters, a national women's pro gun group.

Christie Caywood, a junior, organized the Mt. Holyoke Sisters. She joins us from Springfield, Massachusetts this morning. And also with us from Austin, Texas this morning, state representative Suzanna Hupp, a strong advocate of gun rights.

Good morning to the two of you.

CHRISTIE CAYWOOD, MT. HOLYOKE STUDENT: Good morning.

SUZANNA HUPP, TEXAS STATE HOUSE: Good morning to you.

ZAHN: All right, Christie, I would love to start off with you this morning. Mt. Holyoke sent us some statistics showing that there was one forcible sex crime on campus in 1999 and the year 2000, and the highest crime statistics recorded were for burglary. What is it that you're most afraid of? Why do you want to arm yourself?

CAYWOOD: Well we know that we're at a very safe campus and a very safe community. We're very fortunate. We are interested in the issue for a variety of reasons. You know, some of our members are very interested in it with the focus on self defense, or self defense, you know, even without firearms. We have other members who just like to go down to the range and do some target shooting, and others yet who have never fired a gun, have no intention to, but just support second amendment rights.

ZAHN: All right. You have some 50 members in your group. And according to the NRA, its training department says that after September 11th it has received 70 percent more inquiries from both women and men about basic self defense and gun training courses. Based on what you just said, I imagine you don't think these statistics are terribly surprising.

CAYWOOD: No, they're really not. And it's important to educate people about self defense issues even before September 11th. I mean, here in Massachusetts, only after looking into starting a group like Second Amendment Sisters, did I find out that even pepper spray requires a license, and it's important for women to know that.

ZAHN: So ultimately, if the state of Massachusetts allows for you to carry a gun -- because I guess it does have to be approved by a state-by-state -- a case-by-case basis...

CAYWOOD: Yes.

ZAHN: ... is that what you want?

CAYWOOD: Well I do plan to apply for a license to carry. I only recently became of age to do so. I do not own a firearm, though, so that kind of gets in the way of that.

ZAHN: I'm sorry, you do what?

CAYWOOD: I do not own a firearm.

ZAHN: You do not own a firearm.

CAYWOOD: No.

ZAHN: All right. Representative Hupp, first of all, your reaction to what Christie and some of her fellow students are trying to do here, and how Massachusetts may respond to this grouping.

HUPP: Go Christie. I think anybody that wants to take their -- the responsibility for their own safety into their own hands is definitely on the right track. And I'm a bit older than Christie and have small children, so I feel a huge responsibility for my kids' safety as well. Unfortunately, she does live in Massachusetts, and in Massachusetts, whether or not she can get a permit to carry is up to a local bureaucrat, typically a police chief.

So what happens is incredibly discriminatory. The people that get the guns, the people that get the permits, are of a usually white, middle and upper middle class white guys, frankly, that live out in rural areas. The poor, the minorities, the handicap, the women, the gay community, people that are in the victim class so often are denied their permits over and over again. It's discriminatory at best.

ZAHN: All right. Christie, I know Mt. Holyoke has the reputation for wanting freewheeling discussions on campus. What has been the reaction to your trying to get people to join this group?

CAYWOOD: Well we've been very fortunate in everything we've experienced. The administration is very supportive of free speech rights, so we didn't run into any problems there. With students, fortunately for us a majority of them are -- you know, have stated things like, "I don't agree with you. I probably never will, but I agree with your right to gather, you know, as fellow classmates and advocate something that you believe in."

ZAHN: And, of course, Representative Hupp, you would have to acknowledge that there is great concern that some of these college kids, if they ultimately able to arm themselves and the state allows for it, that they really aren't competent to carry a handgun. HUPP: Yes.

ZAHN: And I know you feel very strongly about that, because you say it's very much a matter of who's holding that gun.