Savagely beaten Illinois woman pleads for right to defend herself

Kurt Hofmann

Mary Shepard had the training to carry a firearm for her personal security, having already successfully completed five firearms training courses, including the NRA’s Personal Protection Outside the Home course. She had qualified for defensive firearm carry permits in two different states, and those permits were, between them, recognized in 31 states. Unfortunately, her home state of Illinois is not one of those 31. In other words, more than 60 percent of our nation’s states have deemed Mary Shepard’s life worth defending, and trust her with the means to provide herself with that defense, but the state in which she lives, and to which she pays her taxes, does not.

On September 28, 2009, Illinois’ refusal to trust her with the tools of self-defense almost cost her and another woman their lives. That day, at the church where the two women worked, a 6′ 3″, 245 lb. recently paroled felon attacked and savagely beat them. Ms. Shepard, who was 71 years old at the time of the assault, and her co-worker (84 years old) were not nearly strong enough to fight back, or fast enough to escape. Without a firearm, they were utterly defenseless.

After punching, kicking, and stomping on his two helpless victims, the felonious animal left them for dead. They very nearly were. So severe were Ms. Shepard’s injuries, in fact, that on March 8, nearly 18 months after the brutal assault, she could not get medical clearance to travel to Springfield, to appear before Illinois lawmakers. This is unfortunate, because she had a very compelling reason to want to be there. On that day, an Illinois House committee heard testimony on HB 148, the “Family and Personal Protection Act,” for implementing a defensive firearm carry permitting system in Illinois.

Unable to make it in person, she did the next best thing, and sent a video recording of her story (see sidebar video). IllinoisCarry.com‘s superb spokeswoman, Valinda Rowe, also testified on her behalf. HB 148 easily passed the committee vote, and now goes to the full House. As we discussed not long ago, a growing consensus suggests that such legislation has a better chance of passage this year than, well . . . ever.

The title of this article is not entirely accurate, constrained as it is by Examiner’s character limit for titles. Mary Shepard’s plea was not really for the right to defend herself–self-defense is a fundamental human right–no pleading necessary. What she is asking the state for–what the citizens of Illinois must demand–is recognition of that fundamental human right. There is room, really, for only two stances on this issue. One can either stand with the Mary Shepards of Illinois, and for legal defensive firearm carry; or with the brutal thugs, and those who support mandated defenselessness for their victims.

Many Chicago-area state legislators have made perfectly clear where they stand.

Update: The Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) tells gun owners in Illinois what they can do for gun rights