Teresa, puhlease!

People yelling about the right to keep and bear arms are eager to kill? !?! No, that would make them criminals.

For your information, the NRA *does* push for safety and judgement training. Who do you think trains most of the police officers in this country? And speaking of police, they are *NOT* there to protect you. They exist to catch criminals. And to be a criminal, you have to commit a crime.

I hope your answer to all this is not to call for help and wait for it to show up, because you will probably get badly hurt or even killed during the wait. This kid is lucky to be alive. He knew he was putting his life at risk even if he won't verbally admit it.

BTW, I know more than a few people who are armed nearly 24/7. They are EXACTLY the type of people you want as gun owners. They are trained and mentally well prepared should a situation arise where they need to use force.

I don't get your thinking on this topic. Not one bit.

Mark, I respectfuly disagree with you here. Based on many years of having the privelege of being friends with Theresa I can say A)She's very much aware of proper gun handling procedures and I for one would not want to be somebody she decided would look better with a couple bullet wounds. B) I have no doubt in my mind that Theresa WOULD call for help and wait for it to arrive were someone to be so stupid as to give her cause to defend her family. Thing is it'd most likely be the bad guy needing the help. Theresa is very sweet, very wise and very very good looking. She's also a-hon would you take offense at being called a lethal bitch with the personality of a hungover chainsaw when your family is threatened, knowing the context and spirit in which it was meant? Regardless, suffice to say that anyone giving our lovely hostess here just cause to defend her family had best make peace with their dear and fluffy lord because it's good odds they're about to meet Him face to face.

Personally I'd rather fight her 6 foot 7 250 + pound husband than her. Yeah, he's big and strong and I have it on good authority that his dark side is not something you ever want to meet. Theresa on the other hand is an expert in hand to hand and assorted forms of armed combat. Plus she's a WOM-AN defending her CHIL-DREN. The biggest help that would probably be needed would be the EMT's asking for help locating the intruders other eye, among other vital parts.

I think this is more about people who see a gun as the ONLY means of self/home defense. And as someone who has actually pulled a gun in defense of home and family I have to agree with her. While I cheered the lady in the article I also was keenly aware of how lucky she was to be dealing with a young, stupid and probably very inexperienced kid .

And the simple fact is she's right. More legislation needs to be on the books pushing education and training. Heck, I've still not heard a good explanation for why gun safety isn't as much a part of public school curiculum as drivers or sex ed are. In every case, you get stupid or act ignorant, someone's life is probably going to be permanently changed for the worst.

Sure, there's plenty of intelligent, conscientious people out there carrying for defense. But there's also an awful lot of idiots who think life is a video game, carrying makes you a tough guy and it's the only tool you need in your personal safety toolbox. I should know. I used to be one of them.

Trees is one of my oldest and dearest friends but WOW have we not seen eye to eye on guns over the years. Here, she's got it right. Guns don't kill people, this is true. What kills people is stupid people with guns who don't grok that that right-and I firmly believe that gun ownership is a right- to own something that can end a human life with the twitch of a finger carries with it the responsibility to be aware of proper safety procedures and not overly dependant on it as a means of self defense. Most homes have plenty of stuff that can be used in a lethal or at least distracting-til-you-get-to-something-lethal manner. The smart person is cognizant of this and keeps the location and best application of a few such items ever in mind both at home and on the street.

Mark,

Whatever. Seriously, spend five minutes in any gun-nut forum.

I'm a gun owner, and I know a lot of gun owners, but they're not the NRA-types.

The average NRA member is a hopped-up-scared-of-his-own-shadow-with-delusions-of-manhood-just-a-matter-of-time-before-he-blows-away-a-pizza-boy-who-comes-to-the-wrong-door-waiting-to-happen.

They talk with pornographic breathlessness about every rape case that ever happened over and over again, saying how much better it would have gone if the woman had a gun, but they never seem to hear about the cases where the woman froze, and her gun was taken away and used against her...for instance.

They think that a gun is the solution to any problem. The guy at the gas station was rude to you? An armed society is a polite society. Yeh...like the Sudan or Afghanistan.

Seriously, there's lots of shit-holes out there around the world where any idiot can own and carry a gun. If they're so great, why not go live there? Afghanistan must be the most frickin' polite society on the planet.

If the NRA is so big on training, how come the gun certification classes are mostly paid for by tax money?

There's plenty of people who exercise their right to keep and bear arms - by keeping and bearing arms, and by using them responsibly.

The NRA is a bunch of wackos and the gun rights forums are full of them. If you've been to even one, youve seen them. They outweight sensible people 5:1. Because sensible people aren't afraid of shadows and rumors and scare stories.

Teresa and I had the same martial arts instructor (at different times) in our youth. He was also a cop and a gun enthusiast, and even he said that the NRA was filled with nutcases.

He loved to tell the story of a guy he met at a show who had a couple of dozen different automatic weapons and piles of ammo for each who was treated with admiration by many other show-goers. Our sensei asked him, "Why do you need all these weapons?" and the guy responded with a grin "I'm gonna be ready for when The Big One goes down."

Our sensei dryly replied, "Well, if you're anywhere near a major population center you're not gonna have much time to reload," and looked around until he found someone sane to talk to.

Rick!

Thanks for reminding me of that story! I'd forgotten it! Sensei was cast from the mold of the ORIGINAL BADASS.

Rick,

Also, remember the family we both knew members of who lived in the middle of the woods and whose kids lived in tents and showered at the school, who had a pack of half-starved dogs, and the thousands of dollars worth of guns lived in the proper cabin with Mom and Dad?

Bob,

BTW, thanks for the nice things you said, but no I am blushing.

My husband is "only" 6'5...

...and the only thing that I recall us disagreeing about with guns is how old my kids should be before they get to used certain kinds.

"Also, remember the family we both knew..."

Yeah! That's how we do thangs in in 'Murica! Gawd bless the Second Amendment! Heard there's a few other o' them Amendments, but so what?

Well... they didn't sound so Southern-fried ;-). But they were certifiable nuts, that's for sure.

In a related story the hot topic of the evening on Mr Lewis Black's "The Root of All Evil" was NRA vs PETA. Tough call. I Tivo'ed it. Shall I post the results or do you already watch it?

I don't watch it. Lewis Black is brilliant, but the format of the show doesnt grab me. Please let me know who is the most crazy. Id say it's a dead heat.

One group loves guns more than people, but knows how to properly take care of guns.
The other group loves animals more than people, but doesn't know how to properly take care of animals.

Tough call.

Also, they both groups that the general public generally opposes, who claim to represent movements that the general public generally supports.

;course, PETA actually blows shit up, so in my mind, it edges out the NRA, which merely limits itself to hinting that one day we might have to rise up and kill lots and lots of non-white people

Hmmm, you make valid points. Granted, I'm biased. I'm more likely to join the NRA than PETA. Not because I share they're more nutbar idelogical streams but because they do support gun owners rights. The fact that they also support grenade launcher owners rights as well has thus far kept a membership card out of my pocket.

On an unrelated note I'd like to make a request. You are, hands down, one of the best parents I've ever known. At the same time you understand the importance of geek pursuits such as fandom and video gaming. I would really be grateful if you would read my LJ post of this morning and share your insight as a mom on what kind of parents you have to be to let your 16 year old kid drop out of school to pursue a full time career playing frakking Guitar Hero. Don't get me wrong, it's a sweet game and all but COME ON.

Oh, and that stuff I said about you in my original comment? Meant. Every. Word. You're a nice person. You're HAWT! You're smart. You're fun to hang with. Oh boy are you HAWT . And I'd rather find myself in a street fight against my second generation Special Forces veteran Jeff than you. Rocky's bottomless wealth has frak-all to do with money.

Bob,

LOL! Careful, or someone will mistake the comment threads on my blog from the ones on Amy Alkon's. :-)

I will check out your blog post, and probably comment tomorrow. I just got home from a busy day at the Stste Fair, and now I am cooking dinner for the fam. and changing into my uniform, and then it is off to work!

Never happen Trees. A)You don't attract NEARLY the percentage of mouth-breathing sychophants she does and B) few if any of your posts show the degree of rectal cranial inversion syndrome affliction hers seem to.

I'm not sure I "get" either of you. You both seem to clearly agree with me (except for my NRA comment). You're both gun owners, yet talk as if this woman should not have had a gun in the house.

Once again, I'm confused. Don't worry, I'm kinda getting used to it...

Mark,

Its more like; IF she was going to have a gun in the house she should have implemented habits that would make it less dangerous (like having it on hand).

Since she had a gun, and was lucky enough to not have it turned aainst her, it was excellent that she had the presence of mind to not just panic and shoot the kid unecessrily.

And IF the kid had decided to risk it and charge she would she have had the resolve to pull the trigger? Maybe, maybe not, many haphazard gun owners do not.

Judgement is augmented by training, which too many gun owners don't have, or don't' have the right kind (for instance, gun owners will get training in guncare and marksmanship, but there is little out there in the way of judgement training, and few people take advantage of it.)

Your confusion seems to come from the fact that there are numerous pros and cons to the story and the situation...and it is fortunate that it worked out the best way possible for everyone...but much of it was by accident, not by design.

It would be better, if people are going to introduce guns to a situation like this, if they are fully prepared to use it propery to reduce the role of accident or panic in the situation.