Ten Lives, One Will

In College Park, Georgia, two masked thugs crashed a party carrying guns. The home invaders immediately separated the men from the women and demanded wallets and cell phones. Then the two began counting bullets, and one ominously stated he had enough for everybody there. “Apparently, his intent was to rape and murder us all,” said student Charles Bailey.

One of the men held hostage decided he intended to survive. He pulled a gun from a backpack and shot at the criminal guarding the men. The criminal fled. The righteous defender then advanced to the room where the women were being held and found Calvin Lavant preparing to rape one of the women. The defender again began shooting, telling the women to get down. One woman was injured in the barrage of bullets, and Calvin Lavant lept out a window. He was found dead from a gunshot wound near his own apartment, one building away. The injured woman is expected to make a full recovery.

This sounds like a good story, but there are lessons to be learned. First, there were over-penetration issues. This was in an apartment complex. Lady Luck smiled on the defender.

Next, out of ten people, only one had the courage to act. The thugs had the audacity to count bullets in front of their victims. If the reports are true, there was opportunity for unarmed resistance. Five to one.

Finally, a gun was available, but training was apparently lacking. The defender reverted to the spray and pray technique of home defense. He obviously got off shots in time on the first criminal. The second criminal was also caught with his pants down, literally. Whether the defender's intent was to scare off the attackers with an expensive and dangerous noise maker, or whether it was to take a permanent bite out of crime, he could have used more training and education in lethal force and self defense.

But the righteous defender lived. So did all his friends. He was there, I was not. He saw that big gray pachyderm, grabbed it by its trunk and body slammed it across the arena with all his might. He found the will to save lives while his friends succumbed to fear and intimidation. The defender found the foundation that everyone who carries a gun should possess. He found the will under crisis to use a gun to save his life and the lives of others. That is the one element that remains an unknown for many who carry a gun.

The decision to live must be made when the gun is strapped on. The training must be done before the crisis comes. In the crisis, we will all revert back to our level of training........ If we have the will to live.