While my mother wouldn’t be caught dead with a gun, Ruby Hodge might be dead if she hadn’t had hers handy. Ruby was still in bed Monday morning when she heard a knock at the door. When she didn’t answer it, two men forced their way in. “‘Then I heard a loud noise and I said it was somebody broken in my door,’ she continued. The great-grandmother came face to face with two men dressed in black down her hallway.” We aren’t sure whether or not Ruby thought, “Ninjas!” when she saw the pair, but we do know that she thought about her pistol . . .
As carolinalive.com relates Hodge said,
“I reached and I got my pistol and I met them right outside of my bedroom. Right inside of my bedroom door two black men passed and they were two medium black men and they were dressed in black and when they saw me standing in there with my pistol , they left and run.”
Hodge pressed her lifeline button that hangs loosely around her neck. It alerted 911 and within five minutes several deputies with the Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office were at Hodge’s home.
We know, we know…when seconds count and all that. No argument here. But Ruby seems to discount the roll her pistol played in warding off the marauders.
“I’ve had [the button] for about five years now and I never have really had to use it up until this time is when I used my lifeline and I feel like that saved my life.”
Far be it from us to argue with a nice little old lady, but we’d lay odds the two home invaders never even noticed her lifeline button. As Ruby told the reporter, they took off when they saw her heater – the one she says she sleeps with. Neighbors saw the two ducking out of the house, jotted down their license plate and they were later nabbed by police, of which we couldn’t be more pleased. So while we hope you won’t need it again, you keep that gun under your pillow, Ruby.
I think they did see the Lifeline button and that’s why she saw a–holes and elbows…they were afraid they’d have to hear her say “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”…good for pistol-packin’ great-granny…..
Way to go Grandma! She deserves and award!
In all seriousness though. She had all the right tools at her disposal. She had her pistol, which does wonders when 911 response time takes minutes not seconds. She had her lifeline, which is awesome. I wish everyone could have one. I know they push this to old folks, and that is fine but in reality when you really need to get a hold of someone like lets say your baby sitter is home alone with your kids, or you are home alone and something happens, falling off a ladder, or those nasty gun cleaning accidents. That button comes in handy!
I agree the two ninjas probably saw her packing so they turned and fled with no shots fired and no one even injured. Of course the antis would never look at a statistic like this, as it does not suit their cause of death and destruction!
I wish she shot them…repeatedly.
Agree. Dead crims make the world a better place.
So, when can we expect the vast nation-wide dialogue, media coverage, and politicians calling for expanded gun rights in wake of this averted tragedy?
*crickets*
+1
Someone asked about DGU’s and “Do concealed carry guns ever save lives?” in the comments from Gizmodo’s anti-gun piece the other day. I gave them the most recent examples (the grocery store stabbing and the internet cafe) and pointed out that there are several DGU’s every day, but since they don’t make for a good story, most news stations tend to ignore them or barely mention it.
Why did the sherrif show up, I would expect EMS since those are generally used for ‘ive fallen and can’t get up’ situations.
Sheriffs are dispatched because they have the authority to break down the door and make sure the scene is “safe” if no body answers. EMS typically do not have that authority.
i have a lifeline button. it’s called a cell phone. i have it with me at all times. when i’m home i have a j frame snubby in a pocket holster. i like the way this turned out. no shots fired and no profit to the bad guys.
Yeah? So the bad guy’s get the chance to rob, rape and possibly kill someone else? I’d prefer a two casket ending.
+1
Oooo, I gotta get me one of them button thingys. Preferably one with a Smith & Wesson logo.
Gotta be carefull around those little old ladies. My mom bought my first handgun as I wasn’t yet 21. She also taught me how to shoot safely (dad had left to start family #2, 3 and eventually 4). Mom is 78 now and can still comfortably shoot a .357 accurately.
you just caused a flashback bontai joe. my dad taught me to hunt and shoot with rifles and shotguns, but he wouldn’t tolerate a handgun in his house. but my grandmother lived back in the hills and when i was visiting her she found out the old man wouldn”t teach me the pistol. she started that day with a smith and wesson 32 long. once i could hit stationary targets she started throwing cans up in the air, big ones first and as i got better they got smaller. her final words on the matter when dad found out and got mad. “a man needs to know how to use a pistol to protect himself and his family. i was 13 at the time.
If mom and dad say no. Than go to granny. Way to go granny. The old folks lived through wars and the depression. They know how to take care of themselves.
they lived through a time when there were no cell phones, life alert buttons and at times they had no telephone. they were practical self reliant people. both my grandmothers always had a pocket knife with them and were never far from a gun.
The gun’s great and all, but can it put a pin in your hip?
I rest my case – from a chair I can comfortably get out of. (Man, I feel really mean.)
Unfortunately the perps are free to try somewhere else again. Hopefully they will end up ventilated the next time.
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