As the Wednesday Journal reports, Oak Park, IL police are investigating a rape attempt. The woman was in the rear of her property on the 1000 block on North Austin Blvd., around 8:30 p.m., Aug. 5, 2008, when a man grabbed her by her arm and by her throat. The attacker then attempted to remove her pants.The woman fought back, kneeing her attacker and stomping on his foot, causing him to cease the attack and escape eastbound on Augusta Boulevard.
Firstly, I’ll start out by saying that I’m glad this woman was able to fight off her attacker. Far too often, other women become victims of violent crime.
Secondly, this type of attack is exactly why I support handgun rights. Armed citizens stop attacks in their own yard, banks, parking lots, and other places, each and every minute of the day. Women with guns stop rapists every day. While I’m glad that this woman was able to fend off her attacker with her bare hands, it is sad that Oak Park and the state of Illinois mandated that she not be armed and able to defend herself with a gun. Given the fact that rapists will have no compunction about violating gun control laws, such laws only serve to disarm the law abiding citizens who weren’t going to commit a crime in the first place (especially true for women).
Finally, I would note that had this woman had a gun, she may have been able to permanently stop the attempted rapist, or at least injure him in a way that would enable the police to identify him. I say this not because I am one for vigilante justice, but because that attempted rapist will likely return to victimize this woman, or another woman in the future, and society would be better off with him off the streets. If every such would-be rapist ended up with the business end of a handgun pointed at them, I bet that the women in this country would be a lot safer.
This incident is yet another reason I hope that the lawsuit against Oak Park’s (likely unconstitutional) handgun ban is successful.