"I would just call the police; there's nothing in my house worth shooting someone for."

[mvccd1000]

Nothing? How about the lives of both of your children's parents?

http://hamptonroads.com/2011/11/man-kills-wife-self-suffolk-neighborhood

This woman was on the phone with 911 while her ex-husband (against whom she held a restraining order) broke into her house. The dispatcher lost contact with her when her ex-husband murdered her. Police later found his body, as well.

I disagree that there's "nothing in the house worth shooting an intruder over."

She should have had a gun.

[hlthe2b]

1. Having a gun in the house doesn't automatically mean...

she would have brought herself to use it. Perhaps she knew that she COULD NOT. :shrug:

[RSillsbee]

5. How'd that work out for her? NT

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. You know absolutely nothing about her,

yet you assume she could have handled a gun with no problems.

Brilliant.

[iverglas]

10. not just that

Tells her what she should have done.

How about: he shouldn't have had a gun.

One more death to skew the statistics: he will show up as one of those suicides that we all have no business trying to interfere with.

[gejohnston]

12. I actually agree with you on one and half points

One more death to skew the statistics: he will show up as one of those suicides that we all have no business trying to interfere with.

If either was going to have a gun, it should have been her

[AtheistCrusader]

18. Yeah, I don't even know if she had a restraining order.

If so, he should have been prohibted from purchasing a gun.

Using one he already had, is another matter, unfortunately.

[rl6214]

16. Dosen't matter IF she could have handled a gun with no problem

even being able to handle it with some problem would have been a better option for her. Would she have been double dead if she had tried to use a gun but failed?

[TheCowsCameHome]

19. And what do you know about her abilities with a firearm?

Absolutely nothing, that's what.

Some people, believe it or not, aren't capable of handling a firearm even under ideal conditions.

To think everyone is comfortable or capable with one is ridiculous.

[rl6214]

22. So you are saying if someone is not comfortable or capable

with a firearm, they could not use one to defend themselves? I may not be comfortable with a machete but if that what is what is best to defend myself against an attacker, I will make do. She should at least have a fighting chance, comfortable, capable or not.

[TheCowsCameHome]

25. The last sentence of the OP is

one of the dumbest lines I've ever seen written here.

[RSillsbee]

24. I know she's dead NT

[TheCowsCameHome]

26. No fair. You peeked.

[Union Scribe]

27. We know she relied on the police to protect her.

Didn't work. Often doesn't.

[AtheistCrusader]

17. You know, that sounds like blaming the victim to me.

In this country, to the best of my knowledge, she was ABLE to purchase a firearm.

Maybe she didn't think she needed it. Maybe she didn't think she could use it. Maybe she wasn't willing to take a life, even in self defense. There's a lot of possibilities that might have led her to that place and time, and circumstances, where she had a phone in her hand, and not a gun.

Whatever those choices, whatever those circumstances, the only person in the story I will mock, is the shitbag that killed her.

[lbrtbell]

9. If you have a gun in the house

You're sensible enough to defend yourself. Nobody buys a gun then starts shrieking, "OMG OMG OMG me no can pull icky trigger, ewwwww!"

[hlthe2b]

11. That is just ignorant. Have you never heard of shell shocked veterans...

who in the line of fire, just could NOT pull the trigger? Really? Incredible...:eyes: Sensible has nothing to do with it. Not everyone is prepared nor willing to kill--particularly the father of their children, no matter how horrible.

[RSillsbee]

29. I know quite a few veterans

and that's not been my experience. Most of the vets I know have been conditioned to shoot when necessary. As a matter of fact there was a case in Co Springs a year or two ago in which some idiot pointed an unloaded AK clone at a vet and got shot. The vet's defense was that it was a conditioned response

[rl6214]

15. PERHAPS she was not given that option but

had she had one at least she might have had a fighting chance.

[Atypical Liberal]

20. There's no reason to assume that.

As far as the news articles report, she was a normal 39-year-old woman. She had a protective order against her estranged husband.

For that matter, we don't even know if she had a gun or not.

[hlthe2b]

21. I wrote nothing that made assumptions.. Perhaps you meant to respond to another.

I wrote a statement of fact: "Having a gun in the house doesn't automatically mean she would have brought herself to use it. Perhaps she knew that she COULD NOT".

Your post makes no sense in the context except to imply that a "normal" 39 year old woman, would of course be able to kill her estranged husband. To that I say, nuts.

[Atypical Liberal]

28. Nope, I had the right person.

I wrote a statement of fact: "Having a gun in the house doesn't automatically mean she would have brought herself to use it. Perhaps she knew that she COULD NOT".

Your post makes no sense in the context except to imply that a "normal" 39 year old woman, would of course be able to kill her estranged husband. To that I say, nuts.

The implication is that there was something wrong with the woman that she could not defend herself with a firearm against a man she had taken out a protective order against.

There is no reason to make this assumption.

[exboyfil]

2. I'm okay with you staying downstairs while I huddle

inside the bedroom awaiting the calvary with my wife, kids, and dogs, but you come upstairs you are dead.

[KeepItReal]

3. It is not her obligation to need a gun to defend herself

It is her ex-husband's responsibility to not want to murder a mother of two small children.

[pipoman]

6. It has been established the ex isn't responsible..now what?

[SteveM]

23. Just to be clear...

While I agree with you that it is the "ex-husband's responsibility to not want to murder...," we cannot always expect such civilized behavior, esp. when there is a restraining order on the killer.

And while there may be no obligation to "...need a gun to defend herself," there were two children in the house with her. The mother ALWAYS has a responsibility to defend her children, I'm sure you would agree. Whether or not she chooses a gun is her own judgment. Given the circumstances, she might have chosen more wisely.

[GreenStormCloud]

31. Obviously, he didn't live up to his responsibility.

The fact is that in the real world there are lots of evil folks who will happily do harm to others and sometimes you have to defend youself or die.

[ileus]

4. Every item you have you've given a slice of your life for.

Other than stuff you've been given by complete strangers that is.

[TheCowsCameHome]

7. Maybe she wasn't suited to own or use one.

Some people aren't.

Did that ever occur to you?

[RSillsbee]

30. But some people are

why do you want to take that option away from us?

[rrneck]

13. Maybe, maybe, maybe...

Maybe if he were convinced that she wouldn't hesitate to shoot him he wouldn't have tried to break in at all.

Maybe he's the kind of asshole that abuses women and tends to seek out those who are easily dominated. Maybe any woman willing to shoot somebody isn't likely to be one of those.

Lots of maybes involved in the use of hindsight.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

14. this is sad. my condolences to the families.

if "there's nothing in my house worth shooting someone for." then why even bother the police? :shrug: