What do you think this 12-year old girl should have done?
Fine. You don’t like guns. You think guns are horrible, evil things that should be banned and no one should have them. Fine.
Given that, tell me what this 12-year old girl should have done?
Oh, here’s some more information:
Supposedly the dude was arrested previously for an alleged abduction of a 17-year old girl. That wouldn’t have been known to this 12-year old girl at the time he was making his way through her house, but does it matter?
She’s home alone.
She cannot escape, because obviously the dude is out there and his intentions are quite clear.
She doesn’t go to confront him, she doesn’t go looking for trouble (smart). She retreats to a safe area, hunkers down, and is on the phone with 911 the entire time.
Dude continues his way through the house, makes his way to where she is.
If you were her, how would you be feeling right about then?
And really, if this 12-year old girl didn’t have that gun, what sort of story would likely have been reported on the news that evening, especially given dude’s past?
So tell me, how was it a bad thing that this girl had a gun? And that she used it to ensure her safety?
Please… I’m really wanting to know.
And if you can tell me, could you look her in the eyes and tell her the same?
Guns are a force equalizer. As humans, we are tool-users, and a gun is a tool to help us overcome force disparity. A 12-year old girl cannot overcome a 32-year old man, especially a 32-year old man determined to do evil.
Do not deprive those on the lesser. You just empower those of the greater.
Stuff From Hsoi 
Perfect example of what the antis want. They would rather that girl be dead then be able to defend herself.
I’m not sure it’s what they want.
I think for many, they have just never considered the situation. That a 12-year old girl could be in such a situation is something they’ve never thought about, never considered could happen.
This is why I pose the question to them. I want them to realize such things happen. I then want them to think about it, and consider what solutions can be had. I don’t even care if they come up with unrealistic solutions because at least then they’re willing to think about it, to try to come up with solutions — and then we can discuss why those solutions aren’t feasible. Or who knows, maybe they can come up with a better, and feasible solution — I’m open to the possibilities.
It’s an opportunity to teach and educate. But only if they want to be educated… which is often the obstacle.
It is mostly that the antis don’t care. They live in well off gate communities or have their own private security.
“Let them eat cake” is the phrase that describes how the antis look at ordinary people.
Some, but not all. Perhaps the Washington politicians, but there are many “regular folk” around us every day that have no answer to this question either.
My point in asking this question is to engage people, to try to win folks over to our side. That even if they cannot agree with us, perhaps at least they can better understand us and why someone might think this way, why someone might think there’s merit in owning (and knowing how to use) a gun. That does more for our cause than brushing them all off with a broad stroke. Certainly there are those that are of the ilk you describe, but far more are just the rank and file citizenry that could be our allies if we gave them an educated chance.
Ordinary people are where our message must go. We believe in choice when it comes to personal defense. The leaders of the other side do not.
I don’t know what else she could have done. Seriously. If it had not been for her being armed this story might be a sad tale of a missing or dead girl and the search for her attacker.
What I want to know is why was this creep on the streets?
As to the folks on the ‘anti’ side of the issue…
I think they fall into two main camps. One camp where the thought is about either control or the Utopian notion that if all guns went away life would be beautiful and nobody would hurt each other.
I don’t know how to reach these kind of folks as they seem to not be grounded in reality.
The other camp are those how know nothing of firearms and those who are genuinely frightened by them due to their unfamiliarity. (They make loud noise and kill people right?)
I think we can reach many of these with education and other positive examples of firearms in use (Competition, training, educational events etc)
I realize my comments are a bit narrowly defined, but I hope my gist is understood.
Many of the anti-gun people I encounter just don’t understand violence. They grant it exists, but it’s so distant, so far off, and has never directly entered their lives. They just don’t know. And when violence comes into their lives by means of news reports or the like, all too often there’s focus on the wrong things (e.g. “the gun”) and so it’s easy to direct cause-effect at such a thing and see where their reasoning comes from. A lot of anti-gun folks really don’t wish harm or other such things upon the world — they just don’t know any better. These people can usually be persuaded with logic, and certainly end up changing their minds when violence directly enters their lives. So, I don’t like to write most anti-gun folks off because, a lot can become pro-self-defense when they actually have to sit down and think about it. These are people worth seeking out, educating, and befriending.