A woman living alone in a small desert town in Southern California was awakened in the middle of the night by what sounded like an argument outside that was quickly escalating.
She got up, put on her robe and went to the window to see what the disturbance was. It was then that she noticed a man trying to get into her car. She grabbed her shotgun, opened the door to her home slightly and yelled at him to go away. Hardly even acknowledging her demand, he continued.
She then walked outside and he proceeded to walk towards her, all the while threatening her and telling her of the horrible things he intended to do to her. He laughed at her carrying the shotgun and confidently said, “You won’t shoot me.” He was wrong.
Not wanting to hit her car, she aimed slightly above his head and fired a shot. The tiny birdshot hit him and he quickly ran away, obviously shocked that yes, she would indeed shoot him. His injuries didn’t appear to be serious, and certainly not life-threatening.
She did not call the police, as the nearest sheriff’s station was over 30 miles away and calling them would have just been a joke anyway, a fact that most residents of that area were well aware of.
The incident was never reported, and thus will never be counted in self-defense statistics.
This story is not “news” by media standards and certainly not by internet standards. This story happened in 1982. The woman was Susan Callaway.
She learned much from her experience that night, including what all she did wrong, and now uses that experience to educate others. Callaway is now a certified firearms and self-defense instructor and author. She runs the website The Price of Liberty, where her mission is to “define the terms, discuss the application of those terms to our quest for liberty, and to explore the ways in which we may achieve liberty in our own lives with a legacy of justice for our children.”
Susan Callaway refuses to be a victim and believes in the basic human right of self-defense. She is the face of America. She is the face of the Second Amendment. She is the face of gun owners in America.
This story was shared with Jennifer Cruz by one of her readers via email. She invites other readers to share any gun related self-defense stories with her, so that they may be shared with others. She can be found on Facebook or contacted at jenniferlcruz@hotmail.com.
©2013 Jennifer L. Cruz. All rights reserved.
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