S.C. Sheriff Encourages Women to Carry Guns in Fanny Packs

USA Today reports that SC sheriff, Chuck Wright, encourages women to carry guns in their fanny pack while discussing an attempted rape at a local park. He suggested a .45-caliber weapon, because "you don't have to be accurate, you just have to be close" to a target, and goes on to say the suspect "was fortunate someone with a gun didn't hear the victim's screams and put the "animal" down. That would have fixed this." He goes on to say, "Ladies, walk in groups. Get a concealed weapons permit. I don't want you to go for the mace; I want you to go for the concealed weapons permit. Gun control to me is when you can get your barrel back on the target quick."

Photo by Roland Darby/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 Did Mr. Wright get stuck in the Wild West?  I am all for protecting one self, but for a law officer to go out and discourage non-deadly methods and encourage citizens to get concealed weapons permits so that we can "barrel back on the target quick" is a little much. 

So as soon as I feel threatened, I should just shoot? Or does the person actually have to attack me first?  If so, I'm not sure I would be able to get the gun out of the fanny pack fast enough...so should I run with a holster instead?  And what if I made a mistake, and the person I felt threatened by was also working out, and not running after me, will I still go free, since I am following the advice of a law enforcement officer of "barreling back at the target quick"?

Then there is that moral issue of killing.  If I use mace or a taser, it should stop the perpetrator long enough for me to get away, but he will still be alive, and I don't have to live with the fact that I killed someone. He might actually get caught and have to go through the justice system...oh wait, isn't that why we have the justice system?  Fair trial for everyone? Or is that only reserved for people, not "animals"?

People like Mr. Wright scares me, especially when they are sheriffs.