Knife-Wielding Criminals Meet Gun Owner

Right on the heels of my recent post about self-defense shootings in Kansas I happened upon another incident report, this time in Georgia. Two men attempted to rob a man at knifepoint in a parking lot. Unfortunately for them -- particularly for one of them -- their intended victim had a handgun.

a shopper was getting out of his car when he was attacked and held at knifepoint by two male suspects. ... Investigators say he struggled with the two men and was able to fire a weapon, killing Williams. According to the report, the robbery victim told a deputy "This guy tried to rob me and I shot him."

The man was injured during the struggle, but apparently not seriously. He's alive and un-robbed, thanks to the fact that he had a gun handy. Guns get quite a bit of bad publicity any time some nut goes on a shooting spree. But the fact is that guns are also routinely used in self-defense throughout the country. Many of the incidents garner little attention except for a mention in local news sources. And any day some violent criminal picks the wrong victim and ends up in the morgue is a good day in my book.

And here's a note for any pro-criminal apologists who have foolish sympathy for the poor attacker who supposedly didn't deserve to die for just a mere theft attempt... People like the shooter in this incident, and the apartment residents in the other, don't have the luxury of examining their options and trying to assess the motives of criminals. If someone breaks into your house, or grabs you and tries to put a knife to your throat you have to make an immediate decision under tremendous pressure. You don't know whether the criminal is simply going to take your money and go, or whether he's the type that doesn't want to leave any witnesses to his crime. If he's in your house it's even worse, because if you have a family, they are also at risk. In these situations a gun is a tremendous benefit to self-defense. It gives the weaker, the elderly and the outnumbered at least a fighting chance against a potentially lethal criminal, who may himself be armed with a firearm or other weapon. As I mentioned in the previous post, the fact that criminals in America have to fear being shot by their potential victims is a good thing.