Protection Orders are not Bullet Proof

I just got done reading a post over at the TFS Magnum Blog that really pissed me off. I have been reading her blog for nearly two years now and have never know her to be anyless than spot on with advice. Thank you Deb for bringing up the subject of Protection Orders again.

Deb references an article about the recent shooting of three people in Florida and takes exception to one item of advice advice offered by a domestic abuse help center.

Her advice to "one of the best things you can is learn self defense" is to get a gun. I whole heartedly agree with her. The quickest form of effictive self defense to learn is getting a firearm and learning how and when to use it.

By their own admission a Protective Order is not worth the paper it is written on;

According to www.helpguide.org, a domestic abuse center, they say a restraining order is not always helpful. It's often ignored by the abuser and can only be enforced after it's been violated.

Sometimes when an abuser finds out about the order, they may feel humiliated or rejected, and then turn angry and violent. Just obtaining a restraining order may increase the chance of violence against the victim.

Do you understand that, just obtaining a restraining order may increase the chance of a violence against the victim.

Protection Orders are not bullet proof, knife proof or even fist proof. Yes you can sign up for all of the YWCA karate classes you want, but any one that practices the martial arts will tell you that 20 bucks and 3 hours on a Saturday will not give you the skills to defend yourself. Anybody that thinks otherwise is only deluding themselves.

The police are not under any extra obligation to protect you and there is no way they could get to you in time even if you could complete a call on your cell phone.

The only way to adaequately insure your safety is to aquire a suitable defensive firearm and the instruction necessary to legally defend yourself.

UpDate 5/5 1500hrs - It seems a similar situation manifested itself in Omaha in the last few days as reported by Channel 6 News. Would a firearm have saved this woman? We will never know. But what we do know is that a Protection Order is not bullet proof. Laura had a legal protection order for over a year. The law is explicit, while bound by the terms of a Protection Order Eric was forbidden from owning or posessing a firearm.

Who wants to bet on the outcome of a $20.00 3 hour self defense seminar, a Protection order and a cell phone vs. a firearm?