No charges in shooting of accused stalker

The Times Online ^ | Thursday, January 10, 2008 | STEVE ZABROSKI

[PeterFinn]

I feel sorry that the woman had to go through with that and then go through wondering if she’d go to jail because she didn’t simply allow herself to die instead of protecting herself.

[Mr. Lucky]

I googled on “.45 9mm stopping power”; not a whole lot of people have confidence in the 9mm apparently.

[Mr. Silverback]

In a way, I know how the family feels. A guy I went to church with, a friend who had bounced my daughter on his knee, was accused of murder. The victim was a semi-retired waitress. Even though I knew he had gone back to using drugs, I couldn't believe he would hurt anyone, much less an old lady.

Well, he left his fingerprints and DNA at the scene and was found with some of her valuables in his possession. It was an open and shut case, and he will be in jail until he is an elderly man. That's where I want him, because unlike the Bergner's, I'm not going to ignore the evidence just because the guy was always nice to me.

[Mr. Silverback]

I pray she never has a "next time" but if she does, I would advise her to shoot sooner.

I would have been saying "I'm armed and I will shoot if you come through that door" at the part where he's trying to break in and she's yellling "Stop it."

But hey...it's easy for me to say that sitting in my safe living room in Illinois with firearm training under my belt. I'm sure this was the first time she had ever been through anything remotely like this, and probably the first time she'd contemplated using a gun.

[Mr. Silverback]

Oh man, I’m so sorry to hear that.

Did they get the puke?

[Mr. Silverback]

Friend of mine with Houston PD shot an armed robber 3 times in the gut with .45, using jacketed HP’s. Robber lived, in jail, my friend said “every time he empties his colostomy bag, he remembers me.”

LOL! That could have gone either way, really. A lot of people take rounds to the gut and a little internal sewing fixes them right up, but if a .45 round hits your descending aorta you'll be dead in a minute or less.

[Mr. Silverback]

It shows that people simply CANNOT depend on police to protect them in their homes and you should be armed, trained and ready.

There's a bumper sticker I saw recently and at least one Freeper has it as a tagline: "I carry a gun because I can't carry a cop."

[EternalVigilance]

Yeah. He’ll rot ‘til he dies.

[Mr. Silverback]

Good.

Again, my condolences.

[EternalVigilance]

Thanks.

[Drango]

Nice.

[dbwz]

I googled on “.45 9mm stopping power”; not a whole lot of people have confidence in the 9mm apparently.

What if you're not physically capable of handling a .45? What if the gun itself is too big and/or heavy? I have yet to find a .45 that comfortably fits my hand. Trigger reach is always too long, and if I have to strain on my trigger pull I'm not going to be hitting much.

Gosh, am I screwed if I ever get into a life-and-death confrontation in my home?

The answer is an absolute NO. If you find something that you're comfortable shooting, you'll be more likely to practice with it, and if you're more likely to practice with it, then you'll be able to hit what you're aiming at.

The ".45 or nothing" attitude either creates a false sense of security to the person who owns one (or do the makers of .45 ammunition or firearms include some sort of stopping power guarantee of satisfaction that I'm not aware of?) or creates a false sense of inferiority in the person who doesn't own one.

Sometimes the assailants don't give a rat's patootie about the caliber, so you'd better be able to shoot your weapon of choice well, no matter what it is.

[Mr. Lucky]

My wife can knock a beer can off a fence post with the same 1911 .45 I use to slaughter hogs, thereby making it the perfect home defense weaopon. Your results may vary.