St. Louis old folks fighting back, literally

In two laudable stories of self-defence, it appears retirees in St. Louis are fed up with home invasion. In one an 87 year old woman shot dead a man on her porch who was trying to break into her home. After suffering a previous b & e where she had been beaten and robbed, the woman’s daughter decided it was time to give momma a gun. Looks like it was a prescient gift! Momma isn’t ready for the old folks home yet!
And in another incident, a 74 year old man, a Korean war vet, pulled his .38-caliber Smith & Wesson from under his pillow and shot a thief threatening him with a knife as he lay in bed. It didn’t stop there. When the intruder made a run for it, grandpa took chase, shooting the guy again as he went through the front window, and again as the burglar crossed his yard.

Apparently, in Illinois, as long as you own the gun you use to defend yourself, chances are you will have no trouble with the law. Even in the first incident, where grandma didn’t own the gun because it actually belonged to her daughter, she was cleared for the actions she took.

Now I’m not big on fighting crime with long prison sentences where criminals can sit around and begrudge the world, becoming worse criminals. I also don’t like the heavy handedness of US law enforcement. But do like the independent spirit of America, or the initiative and responsibility individuals take in America to secure themselves from crime. Canada could learn from Illinois that people need to have the means and the rights to defend their homes from thugs.