Self-defense classes and gun licenses on rise in Atlanta

From the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

In early December, three heavily armed men broke into Chris Devoe’s Little Five Points apartment and attacked him and a friend.

One intruder struck Devoe repeatedly in the head with a shotgun and then tied his hands with a cord. Two took his friend, Rachael Spiewak, into another room and sexually assaulted her. The third left with the victims’ ATM cards and passwords, returned, and then he, too, sexually assaulted her.

Word of the attack spread quickly through Atlanta’s gentrifying intown neighborhoods. It became one of a string of violent crimes that together shook residents’ sense of security.

Some responded by forming neighborhood groups and calling for more police protection. Others enrolled in self-defense classes. Still others say they have armed themselves, and applications for new gun permits nearly doubled in Fulton and DeKalb counties from 2007 to 2008, according to statistics from the county probate courts.

Spiewak, a 27-year-old social worker who manages a bicycle co-op, says the assault tested her values, but she felt she passed the test. She didn’t change. Like many of her neighbors, she wants additional cops on the street, but also more community centers, youth programs and better access to public transportation.

“The answer is always non-violence,” said Spiewak, who asked to be named in this article even though The Atlanta Journal-Constitution usually does not identify victims of sexual attacks. [emphasis added]

Article here. Lots of silliness and a general anti-gun slant in that article, and the gun owners interviewed in the piece are portrayed as ambivalent about carrying a gun. Much hand-wringing.

Unfortunately, while the vast majority of folks can be taught to defend themselves, and to understand the moral good of such action, a small percentage of the population probably won't ever understand or be capable of defending themselves. While there are those who are physically limited in their capabilities, for the small percentage of folks we're talking about it's mostly a mental and emotional problem, rather than a physical one.