Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Brittany Ramos calls her SIG P-250 pistol a necessary means of protection.
Ramos, Overland Park senior, serves as the vice president of the KU chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, or SCCC.
This week the SCCC’s KU Chapter is conducting its second annual protest to speak out against the Kansas Board of Regents’ weapons ban in place at state colleges and universities. About 50 students will carry empty holsters on campus to protest the ban, which overrules a Kansas state law allowing qualified licensees to carry concealed weapons in public places.
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Gun ownership has become a hot topic in the U.S., and the debate has arrived on campus.
Brittany Ramos, Overland Park senior, is the Vice President of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. Ramos has owned her handgun for about a year, and will recieve her concealed carry permit this weekend.
The week-long protest, which was planned in conjunction with a nation-wide demonstration, has special meaning for Ramos, a staunch supporter of Second Amendment rights. In addition to working locally with SCCC, Ramos has testified before a Kansas Senate committee in favor of allowing concealed weapons on college campuses, and started her own shooting club.
As a woman, Ramos said, it was important to be able to protect herself in the case of a violent crime or a personal attack. She said the ability to carry concealed weapons was much more pressing for women than for men.
“It seems like a lot of women depend on male chivalry for protection,” Ramos said. “But, if there are no guys around, I would have no protection.”
Ramos first became interested in guns after joining the University’s Air Force ROTC program in 2006. She went to a shooting range with her boyfriend and was hooked.
“When we first went shooting, I absolutely loved it,” Ramos said. “I really wish I had gotten into this earlier.”
Ramos didn’t grow up shooting guns. She remembers her father’s guns being kept under lock and key. She said his guns were “off limits.”
“My mom at first didn’t like the idea of her little baby girl having a weapon,” Ramos said. “But she understands it’s for my own protection.”
Eric Stein, Topeka senior and state leader for SCCC, said most people wouldn’t guess that Ramos was a gun aficionado.
“Brittany is really pretty, and she doesn’t look, or even act, differently than all the other girls,” Stein said.
Her boyfriend, Derek Miller, Kansas City, Kan., senior and president of the KU chapter of SCCC, said Ramos and other women had a higher stake in protecting themselves with weapons than men.
“You know if she were up against a big body builder type guy, she might not have anyway to protect herself. She’s just a 110-pound sorority girl,” Martin said. “So, it’s definitely an equalizing thing.”
Although he said it was important for women to join in the fight for Second Amendment rights, Miller said seeing a woman as involved as Ramos was unusual.
“It’s just not something you see as often, especially someone as involved and passionate about it,” Miller said.
Stein said the original concealed carry law was passed in Kansas after many rape and domestic abuse victims testified before the legislature. He said supporters pushed for the law for 14 years before it passed in 2006.
“Women’s issues is what got concealed carry passed in Kansas,” Stein said.
Stein said women needed to pay attention to the severity of crimes on campus against women. He said those crimes happened too often and were evidence of women’s need of protection.
“I really don’t think they hear about these crimes enough,” Stein said.
Ramos has no intention of letting go of her gun any time soon. She will begin the eight-hour course to get her concealed carry license this weekend.
Her license will allow her to carry a concealed weapon in Texas, where she plans to live after graduating in May.
Ramos said she would continue to support Second Amendment rights, even if few other women did the same.
— — Edited by Chris Horn
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Comments
dchanay (anonymous) says...
haha. i really like that picture.
April 22, 2009 at 1:56 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
leehuaitu (anonymous) says...
Keep your gun on your body, not in your purse. Unless, of course, you think you're going to have the time and fine motor manipulation to correctly orient and produce the thing during an instance of sudden close-in violence. In which case, you're a better shooter than me by light years (this might not be hard).
April 22, 2009 at 3:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
01KUgrad (anonymous) says...
Ramos weighs 110 pounds and is really pretty, according to this article? Because that picture says otherwise, perhaps its just the lighting. This picture also shows that Ramos has zero respect for guns. I'm all for conceal and carry, but don't pose for stupid pictures like this if you want to be taken seriously.
April 22, 2009 at 8:02 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
leehuaitu (anonymous) says...
I could never understand the appeal of the Sig P250. So it's polymer and has interchangeable calibers...So?
April 22, 2009 at 12:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
pantheon (anonymous) says...
If she only weighs 110, she's gotta be like 4' tall.
April 22, 2009 at 4:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
madmike (anonymous) says...
I prefer SIG's over any other make, except maybe H&K. That being said, I wouldn't want people knowing that I have a CCW. Why give a potential attacker any information on you at all?
May 13, 2009 at 3:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )