The bombshell and the gun

Venus Ramey circa 1944

And today...

A Colt Detective Special

In 1944 Venus Ramey won the Miss America contest. She was a pin up girl in any number of American military barracks, she sold war bonds and her image adorned the side of a bomber. In the language of the time she was quite a bombshell. However the headlines and attention were long behind her or so she thought as an 82 yr old living quietly on her Kentucky farm.

The only problem is that she had suffered from a rash of burglaries where person or persons unknown had been stealing things from her barn. About a month ago she became aware of uninvited guests in her barn. So naturally she did what any normal 82 year old lady would do. She grabbed her walker and a .38 revolver and went out to nab the crooks. When confronted one of them announced he was leaving whereupon she replied "Oh no your not." Then balancing her weapon on the walker she proceeded to shoot out the tires of the would be getaway car. After which the intruders decided to just sit down quietly and wait for the cops.

The video at the linked news report show her handling a short barreled (snub nosed or "snubbie") .38 special, probably a Colt Detective Special. Now I used to carry a little snubbie (Taurus Model 85) back when I lived in Virginia. And I can tell you that while they are fine for close quarter personal protection they are not designed for target shooting. Hollywood film nonsense notwithstanding people just don't go around shooting out car tires with a gun that has a 2" barrel. All I can say is...

What a broad!