As reported, Orchard Park, New York police have charged Muzzammil Hassan with killing and beheading his wife, Aasiya Hassan, who had recently filed for divorce. Fearing for her safety, Aasiya had also taken out an order of protection against her husband.
As I’ve said before, orders of protection are just another law for murderers to ignore, as allegedly happened here. Time and time again, we see that domestic violence victims go unprotected by the police, and courts have made clear the police don’t owe individual citizens a legal duty of protection. Holding up a piece of paper that tells a violent person to stay back 500 feet is not going to help any more then reminding a murderer that killing people is against the law.
It should also be clear that a domestic violence situation in which no one has a gun is a situation in which the criminal generally wins and the victim generally loses. Most domestic violence offenders are males, and most domestic violence victims are females. As a matter of biology and possibly cultural norms, men tend to be physically stronger then women, which means that an unarmed man can often murder an unarmed woman. In short, guns are the great equalizer which put all humans on a level playing field, while a lack of guns creates a situation in which the physically strong prevail.
However, when women are armed, things often turn out better. This armed woman used her gun to stop violent ex who broke into her home and cornered her in her bedroom. This ill but armed woman was able to fend off 3 home invaders, including one who came back to attack her again. This armed woman was able to defend herself against a rapist who came back to rape her for a second time in a week. This 85 year old armed woman held a young burglar at gunpoint and made the burglar call the police on himself. This armed woman stopped an attacker who tried to ambush her. This armed pregnant woman used a shotgun to scare away two home invaders. This armed female school teacher used a gun to save herself from a convicted felon who broke into her home. I could go on to name more examples, but the point should be clear: gun ownership saves lives.
I wonder what it would have taken for her to get a gun in time to protect herself? I.E., how long … what is it, a month from when you first try to purchase a gun?
Maybe at least she could have purchased an alarm system or a VERY LARGE DOG. Although the Muslim religion has issues regarding dogs, depending upon which holy books you read.
I guess if I had been in her position, I would have started the work towards purchasing a gun, gotten some simple alarms that go off when you open a door or window and covered all doors and windows, had a friend sleep over every night, and maybe gotten a dog. However, the dog option would take as much time to be effective as the gun option, in the sense that it takes time to bond with a dog and to train it properly. And you really don’t want to have a dog JUST for protection. That’s like purchasing a car just to drive around the neighborhood at night to get your baby to go to sleep!
But at least a dog would be a backup alarm. It’s possible to train a dog to stop barking when the doorbell rings, but it’s very hard. And sometimes, that’s a GOOD thing. 🙂
Of course, I don’t know if she was out in the country where no-one would hear her, or if she was in an apartment complex.
Well, this isn’t helping. Can’t solve her problem after the fact. Yikes. 😛
I think I’ll go clean my guns, hug my LARGE dogs, and kiss my non-violent (but very protective and loving) husband…