BELLICOSE GRANNIES?

Reversing longstanding patterns in the US, residents ages 65 and up are now the mostly likely of all citizens to own a gun.

Interesting. What’s more interesting is why:

“You need to be able to protect yourself, because the police are not always able to protect you at any moment,” he says.

That’s certainly true, though I wonder why people are feeling this way now, when crime is actually down considerably? I suspect that there’s a post-9/11 cultural shift underway here, not just a response to specific risks.

UPDATE: This Mark Steyn column is interesting, too:

As I wrote in September, to expect the state to protect you is to be a bystander in your own fate. It’s interesting that, during the recent security scares, the terrorists seem to have been targeting BA and Air France. They seem to reckon they’ve a better chance of pulling something on a non-US airline. I hope that’s not true, and that when the next shoebomber bends down to light his sock, he’ll find himself sitting next to some gung-ho Brit rather than the “peace and solidarity” type.

You can have a nanny state if you prefer. But not for long.

Read the whole thing.

ANOTHER UPDATE: On the other hand, younger women are packing, too.