I've told this story before, but anytime I see someone try to justify getting rid of guns using idiot statistics like what we see from Penelope, I feel compelled to share it again:
On April 14, 2017 (a Friday), my smokin' hot Puerto Rican girlfriend and I were confronted by three armed men while walking to my car after having dinner up near Jacksonville. They were armed with what appeared to be a military bayonet, another large knife and a length of pipe.
All I heard was one of them say, with a thick accent that I couldn't quite place, "No way out, motherfucker."
I had no idea who they were, but the "No way out" comment told me that she and I probably weren't walking away that night.
The guy with the large knife took two steps towards me, and I drew my firearm, a legally carried Kimber Ultra Carry II .45 ACP, not unlike this one (the grips on mine are different):
The guy hesitated then said "Won't do shit" and took another step towards us. I fired the gun twice, hitting him in the chest. The assailant with the length of pipe immediately bolted, but the third, the guy with the bayonet, started to come towards us. I turned the gun to him and shouted "DON'T!", but he was undeterred. He took two more steps before I fired again, this time in two sets of two. He was hit in the stomach, the chest and the shoulder. The fourth round was pulled from a door frame which was behind him.
The assailant who fled was never apprehended. The first one I shot was arraigned in his hospital; bed and is still in prison. The third assailant died face down on Rivercoast Drive.
Had I not been armed, I'm confident that we would have been killed or, at the very least, severely injured. The reason we were not is because I was in a position to defend myself and my girlfriend. I applied for, and received, my concealed carry permit in the hopes I would never have to take my gun from its holster. I've done that only twice in my life, actually, and thankfully have only had to pull the trigger in this one instance.
The police took my gun into evidence and I was taken into custody, which I fully expected. My attorney met us at the police station and, about five hours after the incident occurred, I was released without charges.
So, anytime I see someone try to mitigate someone's need for a firearm by talking about the relatively rare instances where a gun is actually used in self defense, I like to say " Fuck you."
Your statistics did nothing to protect me and my loved one. Your statistics did nothing to save my life or the life of my loved one. Had I not been in the position I was in, things would've ended a whole lot differently, and that's just unacceptable to me. Your statistics are great for casual conversation, but they're simple not pertinent in the real world, which can be very ugly and very violent.
I view anyone who would insist I be unarmed as the enemy. Period. Anyone who would remove my right to defend myself is dead to me. Such people are too ignorant and stupid to realize that, if they were being brutally assaulted, I'm the
exact person they would want to be there. Of course, if I were, I can't say that they would be someone I'd choose to defend.
I will always be armed.
Always. I will always be in a position to defend myself.
Always. Gun grabbers like Penelope like to ask "What are you so afraid of?" Well, I suppose I'm not afraid of much, as I won't ever allow myself to be in a position where I am unable to defend myself and my loved ones...
