As reported, a then-pregnant St. Paul woman was recently honored for defending herself, her toddler, and her husband from a would-be armed robber at their convenience store:
Two years ago, Susana Khalil, eight months pregnant and with a toddler daughter at her side, shot a would-be robber at her husband’s convenience store on St. Paul’s East Side . . . Police Chief John Harrington, who lives near the store at Earl Street and Maryland Avenue, honored Khalil on Thursday for her heroism. During a ceremony at police headquarters, he said he was amazed she had the presence of mind to protect herself and her daughter with a woman bearing down on her with her hand in a bag pointed at Khalil’s head.”Horrific,” the chief called the threat. The suspect, Angel Star Kaster, shot by Khalil in the left shoulder, pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated robbery in the 2007 incident. She’d used a TV remote control in the bag to simulate a handgun. [Susana Khalil, her unborn child (who is now 21 months old), and her husband were all unharmed, thanks to her heroic action.]
One of the best things about guns is that they level the playing field, allowing people who otherwise could have been overpowered and harmed to defend themselves. This is especially true for pregnant women, as guns enable them to defend both themselves and their defenseless unborn children. My congratulations to Mrs. Khalil, as her actions not only saved herself and her family from a violent criminal, but also ensured that the attacker was put behind bars and therefore unable to victimize another person.
Unfortunately the anti gun individuals out there seem to miss this point, and instead strive to create a situation where no one can lawfully have a gun. Since criminals break the law, this means that criminals will still have a gun and shoot their defenseless victims, or will use a knife (or other tools) to murder their defenseless victims. The answer to crime like this is to enable self defense, not to give criminals a monopoly on force.