The Autobiography Of Linda Hasselstrom

Linda M. Hasselstrom carries a gun, a pistol to be exact, for her own protection. According to a survey that Hasselstrom read 200,000 women get sexually assaulted every year. The 200,000 women that they have estimated does not include the women that do not report the crime. More and more women each year are starting to be like Hasselstrom and buy guns for their protection. Linda Hasselstrom is a kind-hearted woman, but events from the past has her convinced that she is safer when she carries her pistol. “We found out our closets neighbors were two young boys. As we gathered our cooking gear, they drank beer and loudly discussed what they would do to us after dark.” Hasselstrom explains one of her reasons for carrying a pistol. (PCW p. 354). “We asked the rangers point-blank if they would protect us and they stated that the boys were just kidding” Hasselstrom realizes she can only protect herself because no one else will. (PCW p.354). …show more content…
She thought about getting a CB radio, until “A woman with a flat tire on a street I usually traveled on called for help on her CB radio, and got a rapist who left her beaten”. She ruled out the CB radio. She also realized she could not have nothing to protect her, one night she was encountered by four men following her car. “It passed me on a narrow bridge while a passenger flashed a blinding spotlight in my face. I braked sharply. . . . four men jumped out. I realized the locked doors were useless if they broke the windows of my pickup” “I decided to use their tactic: fear. Speeding, the horn blaring, I swerved as close to them as I dared as I roared past. It worked.” (PCW p. 354). She was frightened and angry but realized she needed to get something to protect