That is incredible! She (it sounds like a she to me, but I could be wrong) is very lucky to have survived, but really, she actually did all the right things to maximise her chances. I think once a clear and present danger is established, the law should provide for people facing this kind of threat, if they wish to be trained up and given licence to use a weapon. Not just because, but when there's a good enough reason. It puts the weapon in perspective as a deadly object for self-defence only. Intense experience but must feel really good to know she saved herself.
Good for her, saving herself like that. Guns, or violence in general, should never be your first course of action but every once in a while there are situations that arise when you have no other option. It's a shame it came to this really, laws regarding stalking really need to be overhauled.
Absolutely, but I'm not how we do that and still provide for the rights of those falsely accused. I'd guess that mandatory jail time for those violating restraining orders would be a good place to start. Warnings, fines and probation don't deter these slimeballs.
The problem with stalking is that it's an addiction, obsession with one person, either as erotomania or paranoid obsession, in any case, on a brain physiology level, it produces the same changes as substance addiction does. Anything to do with the victim's response feeds that obsession like a drug; In case of erotomania, it's the high of thinking and trying to get closer to the love object, in case of rage or paranoia, it is victim's discomfort or fear, or fantasising about 'bringing them down' or worse, that feeds that little gratification centre. So a real, serious stalker is as likely to be deterred by restraining orders as much as a junkie is by drug laws. It's a difficult problem. ps. Here's a handy lecture discussing stalking, and a good book on the subject Stalkers and Their Victims
