she stood her ground

[iverglas]

html fixed

To some, "stand your ground" means never having to consider anyone but themselves.

To this 11-year-old girl, it meant risking her life to save someone else's.

She did it against her father and his firearm, and she did it "unarmed". She stood up for someone else.

That is genuine bravery and genuine honour.

http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=14092

OTTAWA—His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, will present two Stars of Courage and 42 Medals of Bravery at a ceremony at Rideau Hall, on Friday, May 6, 2011, at 10:30 a.m.

The Decorations for Bravery were created in 1972, to recognize people who risked their lives to try to save or protect the lives of others. The Cross of Valour (C.V.) recognizes acts of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme peril; the Star of Courage (S.C.) recognizes acts of conspicuous courage in circumstances of great peril; and the Medal of Bravery (M.B.) recognizes acts of bravery in hazardous circumstances. ...

CITATIONS

STAR OF COURAGE

Miranda Suggitt, S.C.
Lindsay, Ontario
Star of Courage

On November 22, 2005, Miranda Suggitt, then 11 years old, risked her life to prevent her mother from being shot. During the evening, Miranda’s father became intoxicated and violent, threatening her mother with a rifle. The rifle went off, missing the woman, who quickly ran outside. Miranda’s father followed his wife and pointed the weapon at her. Without any regard for her own life, Miranda stepped between the two and begged her father not to shoot. He yelled at her to move, but she stood her ground until others helped to take the rifle away and hold him until the police arrived. Through her actions, Miranda showed great courage and prevented a terrible tragedy.

(Please avoid time-wasting by noting that "the rifle went off" is language used to avoid publishing an allegation of a criminal offence where there has been no conviction.)

[LAGC]

1. Clearly this act by a drunken idiot means we need to ban all rifles.

Like he couldn't have tried to stab her with a kitchen knife or something.

Maybe we should just ban alcohol again, since Prohibition worked so well? :sarcasm:

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

27. Banning things doesn't work... we need to file restrining orders.

If we can somehow legally file a restraining order (on behalf of alcohol) against firearms, say 300 feet minimum distance, then the problem of booze+guns will be solved.

[RSillsbee]

2. Brave kid. How does this apply to my civil liberties again?

So, this guy did something illegal and stupid w/ a gun and he should pay a consequence for his actions, I get that. What I don't get is why should I pay a consequence for his actions?

[jpak]

3. You don't have a civil liberty to threaten others with guns

nope

[RSillsbee]

4. You are absolutely right flatlander

In Colorado that's called felony menacing and you can go to jail for 2 years (minimum) for it. Please cite the post in which I claimed a right to threaten others w/ a gun.

[ileus]

23. someone claimed they did?

[Glenn Vardy]

30. "How does this apply to.........."

"....me, me, me and myself?"

[Taitertots]

5. Moron breaks the law and get punished. The system works perfectly

Good thing everything he did was already against the law.

[GreenStormCloud]

6. What does an incident in Canada have to do with my freedoms as an American? N/T

[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. +1 -- what does this have to do with 2A?

[Upton]

7. Great for the kid..but how is this relevant?

Particularly when it comes to my constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties.

Here's a dog who won the SPCALA’s Hero Dog Of The Year Award for saving his family from a house fire. Does that mean we no longer need fire extinguishers?

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/05/04/pit-bull-named-spcalas-hero-dog-of-the-year/

[CreekDog]

12. yes, we know

anything else is secondary.

[AtheistCrusader]

16. Erm.. DU isn't restricted to access/activism/etc in the United States only.

[petronius]

9. An extremely courageous child, and a well-deserved honor

It's unfortunate that you chose to disrespect the story by using it as a prop in your snark about "some", but that's par for the course with "some" around here...

[lawodevolution]

10. Meanwhile hundreds of other gun owners on this day used their guns to protect their family

[Common Sense Party]

11. Here's a different example of genuine bravery and honor, and it's

by someone who was armed, thank goodness:

When the bus reached the station, the riders stepped out.

"All of a sudden these people appeared," she said. "It looked like thousands."

Men smashed cola crates across riders' heads and tried to push a jagged pipe into one protester's ear. That's when the head of the Alabama state police, who had vowed to protect the riders, arrived. Furious that Montgomery's police had betrayed him, he pulled out a gun and shot twice in the air. The crowd drifted away.
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/travel/121380159.html?page=2&c=y

I'm sure some will say, "That's why we have police. They're the ones who SHOULD have guns!" To which I respond, and if you can't FIND a state policeman? If you can't TRUST the local cops?

Also, what CCW permit holder could not have done the same thing in that situation?

[Atypical Liberal]

13. A fantastic example of what happens to unarmed victims of violent crime.

Thank you for posting this. It is another fantastic example of what happens to unarmed victims of violent crime: They can run, if they are able, they can submit, if they can survive submission, or they can engage in a physical contest of strength against their attacker.

Miranda chose to submit to her attacker in order to allow her mother to escape.

In this case, the victim was lucky as her attacker had a change of heart during the commission of his crime.

I suspect most people who favor being armed would not trust to the altruism of their attacker as a substitute for being armed.

[rl6214]

14. Good thing they have such strict gun laws in canada

[Lursa CB]

18. I know, really helped that woman eh?

Yeah, shows you how effective strict gun laws are. @_@

If her husband had a history of drinking and violence she should have left long ago. As such, she nearly got her daughter killed too (I have little tolerance for women with kids that remain in abusive relationships, but I cannot assume that was the case here without more info)

Of course, millions in Canada and the US drink and drive and kill many more with cars than bullets any given year.....er, better get rid of those cars!

[rl6214]

19. But, but, but

guns are made to kill, cars aren't

:sarcasm:

[miriley6]

21. Here's more insight, I'm Miranda

My dad was an alcoholic. He did beat us, the reason why he pulled out the gun was because my mom was leaving him. My mom had enough and didn't want to be a part of it anymore. She had found a new man too. However, we lived in this community where everybody knows everybody. And if anyone figured out that she had, in some sense, cheated on my father, they would have done something similar. My father was very controlling, so that pissed him off. My mom did everything she could. We had our stuff packed, but he had planned this earlier. I haven't seen my father that intoxicated before. So it was first degree attempted murder. Not only on my moms life, but judging by what the police say, he planned to kill us all. And the funny thing is, he should have got life in prison, or at least half life, right? He got (from what I remember) just over a year. Oh well, life goes on right? Still to this day, 6 years later, if we see anyone from that community, they call my mother a "slut" and they all think my siblings and I were "brainwashed" into thinking my dad was a bad man. My father's parents said to my father that night (I remember this because I was right there) that my mother and her new boyfriend deserved to be shot in the head. They hate me in particular, because I got this award from the government, which makes him look bad. Anyways, we're all happy, we're living life and enjoying it! (Other than my father who lives of social welfare.) But yeah, this situation wasn't my mothers fault, it was my fathers. He crossed a line by taking a bunch of pills, drinking, and pulling out a gun.

[iverglas]

24. Miranda, welcome and thank you

I imagine you found this place, and my thread, by googling your name.

Sadly, the situation you describe is a well-known phenomenon: abused women (and their kids, and their pets) are at highest risk precisely when they decide to leave the abuser and try to carry out their plan to leave.

If only our Conservative government would stop its chest-thumping about law&order and tough-on-crime and actually do something that would truly help women and kids in this situation. This is crime, and it's serious.

They could stop pretending that rifles and shotguns are nothing for anyone to be concerned about, for starters, and restore the registration requirement for owners of those weapons. Men who threaten, abuse, intimidate and sometimes kill their family members most often do it with a rifle or shotgun.

I'm glad that you truly weren't brainwashed, and you stood up for your mother and your family. (Do you know the story of Joanne Thatcher? She wasn't so lucky. Her husband Colin Thatcher, a rich and powerful politician in Saskatchewan, was able to turn her kids against her, and then have her shot to death.)

Congratulations on having your head screwed on very straight, and on being a brave kid when you needed to be.

About 400 years ago, an English poet and clergy person said: Living well is the best revenge. ;)

He also said: Storms make oaks take deeper root.

Glad to meet you!

[gravity556]

25. You're a brave individual, Miss.

[aikoaiko]

15. I'm proud of that girl, too.

Standing your ground has always been about yourself AND others.

[iverglas]

17. Girl rewarded for saving mom's life

http://www.mykawartha.com/news/article/129886--girl-rewarded-for-saving-mom-s-life

Miranda Suggitt will receive the Commissioner's Citation for Bravery in Orillia today (Friday). <June 1, 2007>

... Escalating problems between her parents came to a head that night, Miranda said, when her father threatened her mother with a shotgun. Lisa Suggitt said when Mr. Suggitt threatened her, all four children jumped on him, trying to protect their mother.

... Miranda then went to her mother, standing between her parents and refusing her father's demands to get out of the way. "I knew he wouldn't shoot us," said Miranda, speaking of the children. The child stood her ground until other people at the scene took the gun away from Mr. Suggitt, Ms Suggitt said.

... Police said Brian Suggitt was charged and later convicted of attempted murder using a firearm. He is currently serving a sentence of three years and 15 days.

A firearm is often the most effective way of committing homicide, but is often not the only way of preventing it.


Interesting that at 6:00 a.m., 2 hours after I posted, the thread had four recommendations.

[rl6214]

20. "Interesting that at 6:00 a.m., 2 hours after I posted, the thread had four recommendations."

yeah, and now its got none.

Who would've thought.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

28. Your second to last statement seems odd for some reason.

kind of like eloquent rambling without actually saying anything at all. (Were you a politician in a past life?)

"A firearm is often the most effective way of committing homicide, but is often not the only way of preventing it."

"A firearm is often not the only way of committing homicide, but is often the most effective way of preventing it."

[ileus]

22. Here in the states Mom could have stood her own ground, without putting daughter in harms way.

[miriley6]

26. I chose to stand in front of her

She didn't ask me to. I did it by myself.

[spin]

29. Miranda did indeed show great courage...

I admire her.