Loganville Mother Shoots Burglar, But What If She Hadn't Been Armed?

Guns, whether or not to have one, whether or not to ban certain types and whether or not to make public the names of permitted owners — all of these are questions on the minds of many since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings last month in Connecticut. Lawmakers at local and federal levels are looking for ways to ease people's fears and to protect the public from such random acts of violence. How to do it, however, is where the difficulties become evident.

The latest controversy has been around a choice by a New York newspaper to publish the names of permitted gun owners as reported in The Huffington Post. A Connecticut lawmaker, in the state still reeling from the Sandy Hook tragedy, also wants all the names of the permitted gun owners in that state to be made public. According to Fox News, this would reverse a 20-year law that requires this information be kept private.

Friday's shooting of a burglar in Loganville by a young mother, however, shines a different light on the situation.

According to the Walton County Sheriff's Office, a young Loganville mother called to report a burglar breaking into her home before retreating to an attic crawl space with her two young children. When the burglar located her there, she shot him six times, hitting him five. He is in a critical condition in the hospital.

This begs the question, what would the outcome have been had she not had the gun? The deputies were on their way — could a hostage situation have ensued?

Another question is what could have happened had her name, address and her gun ownership been know, what then? Would her house have been one that was bypassed by the burglar as a result, thus averting the situation for her entirely? But could that then have resulted in an unarmed neighbor being the victim instead? Or would the perpetrator, knowing he faced the possibility of facing an armed homeowner and approached the situation differently, possibly arming himself? Is this outcome more the exception and not the norm?

What is your opinion? Was the result the best outcome under the circumstances or is there a better way to handle the troubling issue of gun violence in today's society?