Sad story
Posted by Richard on April 1, 2006
James R. Rummel, who blogs at Hell In A Handbasket, teaches firearms and self-defense skills. (No, I don’t know if he’s any relation to R.J. Rummel. I don’t see any biographical info at his blog.) I’m not sure why his post about an aborted lesson moved me so much, but it did. I think it’s one of the saddest, most touching stories I’ve read in a long time, and Rummel tells it beautifully. Here’s the beginning:
It started off well enough. I put the easel together and stacked on the visual aids. Show her the poster, read the labels out loud. These are the parts of a handgun, these are the parts of a cartridge. Now the safety lecture, the rules of safe firearm handling that are never to be broken. When I was satisfied she knew the material it was time to uncase the guns and let her handle them.
What was her mood? Think “resolute”. She had survived the worst moment of her life, something that had been more horrible and terrifying than she had ever imagined, and she wanted to make sure that it never happened again. A grim look stole into her eyes as she dry fired the Magnum, and I knew that it would be the last thing the next rapist saw. Right then, for that brief and fragile moment, it was a good day to be alive.
Go read the rest. You may want to have a Kleenex handy.
James R. Rummel said
Thank you so for the link. I certainly appreciate the kind words.
In answer to your question, I am not related in any way to eminent scholar R.J. Rummel. There is also a prominent vet in Pennsylvania who shares my name, and I’m afraid that I cannot claim kinship to him either.
There is a William James Rummel who was sentenced to life in prison in 1979 in Texas for minor, non-violent felonies. His appeal made it to the Supreme Court, which decided that the decision should stand. (Rummel vs. Estelle, 445 US 263, 1980) No relation to him, either.
James R. Rummel