Anti-gun groups and gun-ban politicians will try to convince you that very few people successfully defend themselves and others with firearms; in fact, they like to claim that having a gun in your home is simply a danger, not a legitimate means of protection.
Actually, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Statistics reported by several different researchers show there are at least 500,000 defensive gun uses each year—and some believe the number could be as high as 3 million. Statistics aside, one has only to do a simple web search to find dozens upon dozens of such cases actually reported every month by local media outlets.
One person to prove the naysayers wrong earlier this month was a juvenile who protected himself during a break-in at a Columbia, S. C., apartment complex on February 6. According to a report at wltx.com, two juveniles were at the apartment when a man began breaking into the unit. The juveniles hid when they saw the intruder, but he broke into the apartment and began shooting at them.
Left with no other choice, one of the juveniles shot back with a gun that was kept in the apartment, killing the intruder. Authorities later announced that the shooting was a justified case of self-defense, and that no charges will be filed against the juvenile.
“We continue to lose young people to gun violence,” Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott told the news station. “This community problem will only continue until we get parents and young people involved in the solution. Let’s pray and work together before we lose another life.”
Less than a week later, on February 12, a home intruder in West Palm Beach, Fla., suffered the same fate as the South Carolina intruder, according to a report at kxxv.com.
Local police reported that a couple were asleep at home when the break-in occurred at 4:16 a.m. According to authorities, the man broke in through a window and turned on a light, alerting the residents to his presence.
After confronting the intruder, one of the homeowners shot the intruder. The intruder later died at a local hospital. The investigation is ongoing, but at this point, it seems to be a case of armed self-defense.
One thing that many people don’t realize is that the vast majority of armed self-defense encounters end with no shot being fired. Such was the case with a Louisiana Air Force veteran, who used her firearm to protect herself and her baby from a carjacker on February 15 in New Orleans.
According to a Fox News report, Charise Taylor was driving to pick up her husband when a man tried to get into her car when she was stuck in traffic. At the time, she had her two-year-old son in the vehicle with her, and she wasn’t about to let the intruder gain access. Taylor grabbed her gun and told the man, “It’s locked and loaded,” prompting him to flee the scene.
“You shouldn't have to navigate your own city like a war zone. It’s un-American,” Taylor, who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, told WDSU. “The crime is out of control and it’s terrifying.”
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