Victor Lamar Davis, a 27 year old California man, was recently convicted of sexually assaulting 7 women. However prosecutors believe that figure is much higher. Davis would often commit his crimes during burglaries, and some of the women were raped multiple times. Davis faces 400 years to life in prison when he is sentenced on September 18, 2009 – yet no sentence will ever undo the harm that Davis inflicted upon his victims. However, had just one of his victims shot Davis in self defense, a great deal of human suffering could have been avoided:
I believe in the right law abiding citizens to own guns suitable for self defense. This is primarily because a gun can allow those citizens to save themselves from violent criminals. In addition, there are ancillary benefits to armed self defense that can be quite compelling as well. One is the reduced likelihood of an innocent person going to jail for a crime they didn’t commit. Another is a reduced likelihood that the innocent victim will be accidentally killed by a cop who shoots at the criminal. But perhaps most compelling is the ability for self defense on the part of one victim to save many future victims.
Had one of the first women who Davis attacked shot him in self defense, it is very likely that the subsequent victims would never have been through the terrible experience of having an intruder violate the sanctity of their homes and their bodies. If Davis had been killed, he certainly would not have been able to go on and victimize another person. Had he merely been shot and wounded, Davis very well could have been swiftly captured by police when he sought medical attention, instead of spending the next few years raping more women. As an example, this woman was raped by a convicted sex offender who broke into her home. The criminal escaped, only to come back a few days later to attack her again. This time, the woman was prepared to defend herself, and fatally shot the rapist after he cut the power to her house and broke in through a basement door. Thanks to her self defense actions, a repeat violent sex offender is permanently off the streets and unable to harm another victim.
Note that I am in no way blaming any of these victims for the terrible crimes they suffered. The fault for Davis’ crimes lay solely with Davis. Instead, my point is that armed self defense could have prevented many if not all of these rapes, and that we as a society should encourage self defense.