Emails come to me from people such as Larry Pratt and John R. Lott Jr. whose news mosty pertain to political events surrounding the gun issue in the U S but these articles are of interest to us all.

We all know that Switzerland is the most secure country in the world. Not only because it's terrain is difficult to penetrate but mostly because every Swiss citizen is armed to the teeth and ready for combat within 24 hrs. It was once said that America could never be invaded because every second person owned at least one weapon to defend his territory. With 90% of Americans protecting their "own territory" it would not be silly to say they they could practically do without a military force to defend their own soil. Men and women faced with the possibility of the invasion and harm of their home and family are fearsome opponants.

Since the attack on New York it has become abundantly clear that if Americans are going to survive, they must play a part in thier own defence because the invisable enemy is everywhere.

Important, because more than ever people are realizing that the government cannot protect them.

The Washington Post (10/2/2001) reports that area gun dealers and law enforcement statistics reveal that fear of suspected terrorists living in their communities and the threat of more attacks has caused "a surge in gun sales" following September 11. Many of the buyers are said to be "buying firearms for the first time." Applications to buy handguns in Maryland more than doubled during the week of September 11; Virginia State Police said background checks on those seeking to buy handguns, rifles and shotguns were up 32 percent during this same time period.

The Post quotes one 29 year-old mother of a 4 year-old son -- who bought a handgun in Virginia but previously had never fired a gun until now -- as saying: "You don't know what's next, so you have to plan ahead. It's not to be taken lightly, but when you weigh that against keeping your family safe, you have to."

Also quoted by the Post is another Virginia resident identified only as Tom who bought a 9mm semi-automatic handgun. He brought his wife and 14 year-old daughter to a range for shooting practice. His wife says she never thought they'd let their daughter practice with a gun but now it is necessary.

NBC's Today show (10/10/2001) reports that women across the country are signing up in record numbers for gun safety courses, that "more women than ever are taking matters into their own hands." One unidentified woman on this program says she will not rely only on law enforcement to protect her: "But yet if someone is coming at me, I feel that we should have as much security, knowing that if I'm going to pick up a gun, I'm not going to be afraid to use it."

NBC reporter George Lewis says that Mary Cummings, owner of the Tactical Edge gun shop in West Palm Beach, Florida, says "business is booming. It's so brisk, in fact, women are even coming in during lunch hour to buy guns and sign up for shooting classes." Lewis, who notes that gun sales to women increased more than 60 percent during a three week period in some parts of the country, says "a lot of women who feel insecure are heading for the nearest firing range."

Time magazine (10/8/2001) says Marietta, Ohio, is the kind of place where people hang signs on their porches that read: "THIS HOME PROTECTED BY SHOTGUNS THREE NIGHTS A WEEK. WANT TO GUESS WHICH NIGHTS?"

The Associated Press (10/2/2001) reports that after September 11 "a rising number of Connecticut residents reached for a gun." State Police say that residents bought 5,397 guns in September -- an increase of 41 percent over September of last year.

Another Associated Press story (10/2/2001) about increased gun sales in Virginia quotes Darren Guthrie, manager of All American Guns in Fairfax, as saying that citizens are "finally waking up and realizing that they are responsible for their own security." And the CBS Morning News (10/2/2001) reports that in California "gun sales have jumped 42 percent."

Also encouraging is the fact that airline pilots and passengers are realizing the importance of self-defense. The Washington Post (10/19/2001) quotes Gregg Overman, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association in Ft. Worth, Texas -- which represents 11,500 American Airline pilots -- as disagreeing with those who are against pilots having guns. Overman says: "We favor lethal weapons."

In a front-page story, the New York Times (10/11/2001) reports that airline passengers are vowing to resist any future hijackers. This story notes there is "a new breed of traveler" in the skies, passengers like Gordon Langford who is quoted as saying he would "do whatever it takes, or go down fighting."

Another passenger, 245-pound Donald Avery, is quoted as saying: "It's a sorry man that would sit still during a hijacking now. It would be a bad idea for someone to try to hijack a plane while I'm on it, I'll tell you that. I think the American citizenry as a whole, especially males, are pretty pumped about this now."

The Times says interviews with passengers headed to a dozen destinations "suggest that most people now believe that passengers have the right, indeed the obligation, to act." Nina Baker, flying from Seattle to Salt Lake, says: "In the past, we allowed ourselves to be passive victims because we figured it was safer. Now we know it is not safer. I think anyone who's out to hijack a plane now should expect to be killed."

In his excellent book, "A Nation Of Cowards (Accurate Press, 2001), Jeff Snyder says: "Our society suffers greatly from the beliefs that only official action is legitimate and that the state is the source of our earthly salvation.... As long as law-abiding citizens assume no personal responsibility for combating crime, liberal and conservative programs will fail to contain it."

Well, it appears -- at least in the short-run following September 11 -- that an increasing number of such citizens are realizing that that they have both a right and a duty, a personal responsibility, to defend themselves. I hope and pray that this continues.

At the very least, so-called "homeland defense" begins at home. And this means that against foreign or domestic terrorists we must defend ourselves the same way our forefathers did -- by having a proper firearm for home defense and knowing how to use it.

A year ago it would have been shocking news: a governor publicly telling women to get a concealed handgun permit so that they can defend themselves against a serial killer. Hardly politically correct advice. Yet, in this post-9/11 world, no overwhelming calls are being made for a retraction of the governor's statements. Contrast this with the typical recommendation that women behave passively or simply make sure that their doors are locked.

Louisiana's governor, Mike Foster, last week pointed to the undeniable: Police, while extremely important in fighting crime, simply can't be there all the time. People should "assist" the police in searching for the killer, but "you have a right to get a [concealed] gun permit. . . . if you know how [to use a gun] and you have a situation with some fruitcake running around, like they've got right now, it sure can save you a lot of grief."

The governor's advice is excellent, yet seldom heard. Despite all the free suggestions offered in the media, the U.S. Department of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey has shown for decades that resistance with a gun is by far the safest course of action when one is confronted by a criminal. The probability of serious injury from a criminal confrontation is 2.5 times greater for women offering no resistance than resisting with a gun.

Men also benefit, but the benefit is smaller because there is, on average, a smaller difference in strength between violent criminals, who are almost always men, and male victims than for female victims. For men, passive behavior is 1.4 times more likely to result in serious injury than resisting with a gun.

In my own research, I examine county crime rates for the entire U.S. from 1977 to 1998. Murder rates decline when either sex carries a concealed handgun, but the effect is particularly pronounced for women. An additional woman carrying a concealed handgun reduces the murder rate for women by three to four times more than an additional armed man reduces the murder rate for men.

Cases where women use guns to save their lives and the lives of their families occur all the time, though they are rarely given any news coverage. Take a few cases just during the last week of July:

- - Nashville, Tennessee. A man broke into a woman's home at 3:15 A.M. on a Sunday morning. In what police described as "a violent home invasion" the woman stopped the attacker by shooting him in the leg.

- - Reno, Nevada. A maintenance man began punching and slapping a female nightclub owner after she complained about the quality of his repairs. She first tried unsuccessfully to defend herself with a knife. When the man continued his attack, the woman, a concealed-handgun permit holder, pulled a handgun from her purse and fired a warning shot. The man fled the scene.

- - Albuquerque, New Mexico. A woman in her 30s was awakened at 1:30 A.M. on a Saturday "by a flashlight pointed toward her face and with a man straddling her. . he threatened to kill her." She struggled and was able to get a hold of a gun, fatally shooting the attacker three times in the chest.

- - Macon, Georgia. A 67-year-old woman stopped two men from robbing her by pulling a shotgun on them. When they saw the gun the robbers ran out of the store.

Many women live in fear of crime, but as these stories indicate locking yourself in your home doesn't guarantee safety. In all these cases, there was simply not sufficient time to call the police and wait for them to arrive. How else could these women have handled men who were much stronger then they are?

Some people find it hard to believe that, as research shows, there are two million defensive-gun uses each year. After all, if these events were really happening, wouldn't we hear about them on the news? Gun crimes inundate the news, but when was the last time you saw a story on the national evening news (or even the local news) about a citizen using her gun to stop a crime?

Unfortunately, the advice offered by Governor Foster is rarely heard. Yet, in the wake of September 11, the usual "if you simply give attackers what they want everything will be O.K." attitude is being seriously questioned. For some, that rethinking couldn't come soon enough.

- - John R. Lott Jr. is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of More Guns, Less Crime.