Yet another story showing why trying to rob people in red states where gun ownership is encouraged is a bad idea broke this week. This one comes from Interlachen, Florida. There, a 67-year-old woman taught the meaning of the phrase “God created men, Col. Colt made them equal,” when an armed intruder broke into her home early Wednesday morning.
Had she been unarmed, the elderly woman would have been defenseless and unable to stop his predations. But she was armed and so was able to stop the threat by dropping him with a gunshot.
According to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, the deputies that responded to the scene of the shooting found the intruder, who was later identified as a 64-year-old man named Reginald Best. When the police arrived, he was suffering from a gunshot wound to the head but was somehow still alive. He died after being transported to the hospital.
The elderly woman who defended herself and her home by shooting Best told the deputies that she heard the handle of the front door shaking at 3 am and, as she thought it was her husband returning from work and at the door, opened it up. However, the man at the door was not her husband. It was an armed robber who then forced his way into her home.
Fortunately, the homeowner, who was at that point fearing for her life, was armed. So, after she ordered Best to leave the home and he refused while brandishing a firearm, she opened fire on him and hit him in the head. She then called 911.
WFLA, reporting on the situation, added that “Before the shooting, deputies said they received several erratic calls from Best and another woman at 172 Silver Lake Drive. During one of the calls, Best told dispatchers that he was hiding from his neighbors and there were people in orange standing outside his home. In a call from the other woman, she told dispatchers that Best had jumped out of the window with a gun and ran down the street. Deputies said they were en route to the calls when the shooting happened.”
Sheriff H.D. “Gator” DeLoach spoke about the matter as well, using the incident as an example of why private ownership of firearms is important and keeps communities safe. In his words:
“This call for service is a perfect example of why I continue to support and fight daily for the rights of law abiding residents to own firearms. All firearm owners have a responsibility not only to themselves, but also to their families to maintain proficiency with a gun, as our victim here today clearly has. If it were not for her foresight to arm herself, the outcome could have been much graver.
“It’s unfortunate that Best was struggling with some apparently profound issues and posed a deadly threat to the victim and her family. She absolutely had the right to defend herself and I’m grateful that her decisive action stopped the threat, and eliminated the risk of further loss of life, making her entire neighborhood safer