A woman in Florida is alive today because her father had the foresight to buy her a gun for personal protection.
Twenty-eight year old Maria Pittaras awoke to find her neighbor, Robert Metz, wearing a mask and holding a knife to her throat. She grabbed a gun she kept on her nightstand and shot him, killing him instantly.
Mitz had apparently recently begin suffering from manic depression and according to relatives and friends been sliding quickly into mental illness. Some unidentified associates speculated in newspaper reports that it was his illness that led to the attack.
Incredibly, though, there were neighbors who didn’t feel Pittaras’ shooting of Metz was justified. One of Pittaras’ neighbors, Maruice Strong, told the Tampa Tribune,
Why would a married man with kids pick that particular house? There has to be more to it than anyone is saying. He was the nicest guy in the world and wouldn’t hurt anyone. Maybe he was just trying to scare her.
Sure, he was just trying to scare her and why not just go ahead and charge her with a crime. Bizarre. But not nearly as bizarre as all of the gun control advocates who want to make sure women like Pittaras are unarmed and unable to defend themselves.
Source:
Ill man shot dead attacking neighbor. Candace J. Samolinski, The Tampa Tribune, August 9, 2000.