It seems as though real life examples of guns saving -- rather than taking -- innocent life go largely unreported (or flat-out ignored) in the mainstream media. Therefore, I have decided to post the following must-read story in its entirety (via Cameron Gray):
A woman hiding in her attic with children shot an intruder multiple times before fleeing to safety Friday.
The incident happened at a home on Henderson Ridge Lane in Loganville around 1 p.m. The woman was working in an upstairs office when she spotted a strange man outside a window, according to Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman. He said she took her 9-year-old twins to a crawlspace before the man broke in using a crowbar.
But the man eventually found the family.
"The perpetrator opens that door. Of course, at that time he's staring at her, her two children and a .38 revolver," Chapman told Channel 2’s Kerry Kavanaugh.
The woman then shot him five times, but he survived, Chapman said. He said the woman ran out of bullets but threatened to shoot the intruder if he moved.
"She's standing over him, and she realizes she's fired all six rounds. And the guy's telling her to quit shooting," Chapman said.
The woman ran to a neighbor's home with her children. The intruder attempted to flee in his car but crashed into a wooded area and collapsed in a nearby driveway, Chapman said.
Deputies arrested 32-year-old Atlanta resident Paul Slater in connection with the crime. Chapman said they found him on the ground saying, "Help me. I'm close to dying." Slater was taken to Gwinnett Medical Center for treatment. His condition is unclear, but Chapman said he was shot in the face and neck.
In February, Slater was arrested on simple battery charges, according to the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office. He has been arrested six other times in the county since 2008.
Kavanaugh was the first reporter at the scene as deputies investigated. The victim's husband told Kavanaugh he's proud of his wife. He was on the phone with her as the intruder broke in.
"My wife is a hero. She protected her kids. She did what she was supposed to do as responsible, prepared gun owner," Donnie Herman said.
He said he's thankful for his family's safety.
"Her life is saved, and her kids' life is saved, and that's all I'd like to say," Herman said.
Of course, gun control advocates can speculate all they want about the intruder’s true motives. “Wait a second,” I imagine them saying. “We can’t be 100 percent certain he was prone to commit violence. Perhaps he was simply trying to rob the place!” But the fact is, because this woman was armed -- and unhesitating -- she and her two children are alive today. That is beyond dispute. Sure, it’s virtually impossible to know exactly what was going through this creep’s mind when he unlawfully entered a stranger’s private residence, but it’s fair to say that his intentions were not good. What if, say, he attacked this terrified woman and her innocent children with the crowbar he used to gain entry to her home, and she didn’t own a firearm? I shudder at the thought of what might have been -- especially had this woman not exercised her Constitutional right to keep and bear arms, and thus was unable to defend herself.