Second Amendment Sisters. (Making a Difference).

The grassroots self-defense advocacy organization Second Amendment Sisters (SAS) was formed in December 1999 to counter ideologically the anti-gun Million Mom March sideshow in the nation's capital on Mother's Day 2000, and to raise awareness of the vital role that the Second Amendment plays in protecting the basic human right of self-defense. In January of this year, the influential gun rights group formally announced a new project: the formation of SAS chapters on college and university campuses.

Conservative pro-gun activist Christie Caywood, a junior at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, had been selected last fall to serve as college chapter liaison. She and a handful of likeminded students subsequently launched the first SAS chapter at Mount Holyoke, a small women's institution renowned for its liberal leanings. On February 23rd, the chapter hosted a luncheon and discussion sessions for Second Amendment activists in the New England area. Peggy Tartaro, executive editor of Women & Guns magazine, delivered the keynote address, during which she noted that from nine to 15 million U.S. women own handguns, exploding the myth that women are "anti-gun."

Chapter coordinator Caywood is a native of rural Oklahoma who recently told Baltimore Su columnist Susan Reimer that after arriving in Massachusetts, "A friend of mine from Kansas who grew up around guns, too, suggested that we go to the firing range to take a break from finals." They were joined by four other students, three of whom had no prior hands-on firearms experience. After learning to shoot a .22 semi-automatic, however, the neophytes were "hooked."

Caywood decided to buy a gun and hone her shooting skills, but found that the Bay State's draconian gun control laws required waiting until her 21st birthday to begin the process. And even then, she could be denied a permit without any real justification. "I saw that the rights of people to own guns were being denied here' she told Reimer. "That's when I looked at starting an organization and talking to women about their Second Amendment rights."

While organizing the chapter, Caywood Learned that campus security police are barred from carrying guns, thereby ren-dering the unarmed students "almost completely helpless." Recognizing that it is unlikely that students will be permitted to carry guns or keep them in campus housing in the foreseeable future, the chapter is currently working instead for a change in school policy to allow arming of campus police. "If SAS can get campus security armed," Caywood explains, "then maybe we might be successful in trying to start a campaign to have students be able to arm themselves if they're properly trained and licensed." After all, she points out, "I'm at a women's college and they talk about empowerment. We shouldn't have to depend on others to take care of ourselves, and that's what it's left at right now."

Caywood, who recently turned 21, does not yet own a gun. "I have to save a couple of paychecks first," she told Reimer, "but I do plan on carrying a gun in the future, everywhere it is legal."