“No one is coming to save you.”
With this in mind, there is a new demographic of gun owners looking to exercise their constitutional right to self-defense. Native American females are realizing that their wellbeing rests in their own hands, and they are taking necessary steps to defend themselves.
Joe Talachy is a Pueblo of Pojoaque tribal officer who owns one of the rare Native American-operated gun stores in the country. He has a long history of serving the people, having been lieutenant governor and then governor of the Pojoaque Pueblo.
He decided to return to law enforcement and opened his own business. Talachy is the owner of Indigenous Arms 1680 Ltd. Co. This company quickly became the destination for people of the area to arm themselves and take up their own self-defense.
Talachy said there was a time when residents considered guns to be dangerous or scary. That day, however, is behind them.
Now locals view firearms as a necessary part of defending themselves and what they cherish. He cited instability as a reason to be prepared for the unexpected. “For Native American people, our men and women — I’ve trained plenty of them — they’ve decided to take their own self-defense into their hands as well.”
Talachy told Fox News Digital he opened the Santa Fe shop in 2021 and saw a surge in applicants for firearms classes following the pandemic. Particularly among Native American women, interest is growing rapidly.
“Almost every week we have a Native woman or someone close to family saying I’m really interested in taking this class and picking up a firearm because you see the numbers with the missing and murdered indigenous women and people.”
There is growing awareness across the country of an epidemic of violence against Native American women. According to Native Hope, the National Crime Information Center logged 5,712 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls in 2016.
At the same time, the Department of Justice’s federal missing persons database only had 116 cases.
And a National Institute of Justice study showed that four out of five American Indian and Alaska Native women, a startling 84.3%, have experienced violence in their lifetimes.
Talachy said the obvious trend is toward women refusing to be victims. “The gun is a great equalizer, right? You talk about gun ownership, it doesn’t matter how big or small or whatever you may be, the gun at least evens out the fight.”
He acknowledged that women are generally smaller than men and do not have the same muscular structure. “But that doesn’t give them any reason not to be able to defend themselves the same way any human being should be able to.”
Incredible advice that should be taken as the gospel for women everywhere. It is not necessary to be a helpless victim when there are lawful ways to more than even the odds against a violent attacker.
The Native American gun store owner noted a “powerful shift” in the attitudes of those he conducts business with. Women in the state are coming to realize that owning a firearm isn’t just empowering, it could very well save their life.
They can be their own protector, their own first responder. So, when they are convinced that help is in fact not on the way, they may still be protected against those who would do them harm.
That is a peace of mind worth preparing for.
