Reply #86: For your reading pleasure. . .

[TPaine7]

Here's a story about a "poor little woman" defending herself:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=118x183386


And here's one about a "poor little woman" with a gun saving a "big brave man" without a gun:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=118&topic_id=180340&mesg_id=180340

What a difference a gun makes, huh? It makes you see Thomas Jefferson's quote about the "duty to be at all times armed" in a new light.



As for the rest of it, no one--at least no one who doesn't need psychiatric assistance--thinks that you always and only have to use a gun in a confrontation. And while it is easy to second guess another person's emergency actions after the fact, I agree with the woman's decision to go in the store. The assailant was wound up and threatening to shoot people. If he had actually had a gun, and had decided to shoot her, her window would have provided no protection. None.

By going in the store, she put space between them, she increased the witnesses, she increased the likelyhood of encountering an off duty officer, she provided herself with hiding places, and she gave the police more time to respond to the situation. If she saw an opportunity to safely do those things, she was wise to take it.

As for her initial reaction, she was correct to think that most men will not attack a strange woman with a baby in public over a fender bender. It probably didn't occur to her that he would assault her. I refuse to second guess her instincts--the fault lies entirely with the deceased.