Posted on 08/29/2012 1:48:48 PM PDT by JohnPierce
Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed.
- G. K. Chesterton
--IMAGE HERE--
Yesterday morning a Fresno California woman came face-to-face with every mothers worst nightmare. Just after 8:30 in the morning, a man wearing a ski-mask invaded her home while she and her child were inside. But the horror doesnt end there. The man was there with a goal. He wanted her 2 year-old daughter.
This story is eerily similar to a 2003 kidnapping in San Jose California which I wrote about at the time. In both cases, the mothers fought fiercely but were ultimately beaten by the kidnapper. In both cases, the kidnapper grabbed the child despite the mothers best efforts. But that is where the similarities end.
In the 2003 kidnapping, the mother was unable to stop the kidnapper from taking her child, who was eventually released by her kidnapper but only after being sexually assaulted.
Yesterday in Fresno however, the mother had a gun handy, and that gun made all the difference in the world for that family. Staring down the barrel of an enraged mothers shotgun, the kidnapper put down the child and fled. The gun allowed her to accomplish what all of her fear-driven strength could not save her child. Anti-gun advocates are fond of saying Imagine a world without guns. But for that mother and that child such a world would be a nightmare.
Samuel Colt is often cited for the poem You never need fear a man, no matter what his size. When danger threatens, call on me, and I will equalize. Remember the equalization part of that poem when next you hear anti-gunners call for a ban on guns.
To paraphrase noted gun-rights photographer and writer Oleg Volk, those who make such a call are advocating for a return to a world in which the weak must submit to the strong, where freedom is only that which you can hold onto with your bare hands; a nasty, brutal, medieval world; a world in which this young child would not be with her mother right now.
In my 2003 article, I noted that my own daughter, who was much younger then, asked at the time, why didnt she just use her gun to stop the bad man? I didnt have a good answer for her then and I ended that article by noting that Those who are defenseless themselves can never hope to be the protector of their children.
But the converse is also true. An armed and prepared parent can use the tools at their disposal to hold back the dark and keep the dragons in their place.
A pity she did not fire it.
Probably afraid she would be sued.
With her daughter in his arms, I think it probably worked out just about as good as it could have. If she had shot him in the back after he put the child down and fled, she would have been faced a long and potentially life altering legal fight. The way it is, she saved her child, avoided legal hassles, and hopefully the kidnapper will be caught.
I would suspect that her first thought was that she might hit her child. Given that, there should be little doubt that she would have pulled the trigger had he attempted to leave with the child. At that point in time a potential lawsuit would be the furthest thing from a mother’s mind.
My thoughts exactly.
Newt: My mommy always said there were no monsters - no real ones - but there are.
Ripley: Yes, there are, aren’t there?
Newt: Why do they tell little kids that?
Ripley: Most of the time it’s true.
By not firing, other small children are now at risk for being raped, or even raped and murdered.
By not firing, she has allowed a monster to run free.
By not firing, even her own children will not be safe. The monster wanted a child, and knew there were children in that home. It would be easier for the monster to return to that home than to seek out other homes, with other children.
I am curious when they will come for our guns? It is going to happen. Australia and the United Kingdoms are much further down the liberal road and both have lost their weapons. The attempt will happen here as well. Count on it.
JoMa
I can’t argue with any of those points but I am still happy with what she did accomplish.
I like to think that it is not inevitable. We (gun owners) have recovered a great deal from our lows during the Clinton Administration. If we continue to reach out to new constituencies and win in the legislatures and courthouses, then we can hand a solidly defended Second Amendment to our children and grand-children.
I don’t mean that they aren’t still trying but I think we are making progress.
Until you have walked a mile in her shoes, I wouldn’t be too hard on her.
It would be awfully hard for me to fire with a grandchild in my arms.........too many bad things could happen.
bkmk
It is happening right now. It has been happening for 80 years. We fought a delaying action for 62 years, then Clinton tried to take too much, too soon, and the new media gave us a way to organize and fight the lies. Since 1994, we have been winning.
Thank you for posting this.
I am glad you enjoyed it. :)
The phrase, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance” comes to mind with your post.
JoMa
Why carry a gun? Because carrying a cop would be too heavy. Besides, when seconds count in a life or death encounter, the cops are only minutes away after dialing 911.
Thanks for posting this. Mark for future reference.
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