12 Year Old Girl Defends Herself when a Man Breaks into Her House

While I will not argue with sound statistics and the truth is children who live in homes that have unsecured and loaded weapons are more likely to be injured or killed in a firearms accident and are more likely to commit suicide, there are no good studies that examine the children who live in homes that have unsecured firearms and do not injure themselves to see what the differences are. Just as educating children about sex has lowered the rate of teen pregnancies through two mechanisms: better understanding of how to have sex safely and through the removal of the awe and mystery around it, so to, perhaps, can good firearms education remove the awe and mystery from weapons and ensure that children understand that they are not toys, but tools.

Her mom's gun was a tool that a 12 year old girl in Calera, OK used to defend herself from a man who had broken into her home while she was there alone on October 19, 2012. The girl ran to a bathroom closet with her mom's gun and a phone and dialed 911. Obviously, the police were not anywhere close by the time the man tried to enter her hiding place and was about to discover her. She fired one shot through the door, injuring the man, who was apprehended by police and charged with first degree burglary. The girl claimed that she was afraid that she would be kidnapped and taken.

One piece of evidence supporting the importance of good firearms education: "The 12-year-old thanks her mom for teaching her how to keep her calm and protect herself." (Citation)

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