A Tennessee woman is sharing her personal experience to advocate for changes in gun laws after her husband was fatally shot by a man who had been stalking her. The woman, who had a permit to carry a handgun, was unable to have her firearm with her due to state laws at the time that prohibited guns in establishments serving alcohol.
The incident occurred when the woman and her husband were running their mobile karaoke business at a local restaurant. A man she had previously blocked from her social media due to inappropriate messages appeared at the venue. Although she had never seen him there before, she immediately recognized him as her stalker.
After her husband asked the man to leave her alone, the woman alerted the restaurant management and requested they remove him from the premises. When staff approached him, the stalker pulled out a gun and shot her husband multiple times in front of her. A U.S. Marine in the crowd tackled the gunman and held him until police arrived.
The woman says she felt helpless during the attack because, despite having a permit to carry a handgun, she was legally required to leave her firearm in her car due to the state’s restrictions on carrying guns in restaurants that serve alcohol. Her stalker, however, was carrying a firearm illegally.
In the aftermath of the shooting, she has become a vocal advocate for revising gun-free zone laws, arguing that such policies leave law-abiding citizens defenseless while criminals are not deterred. She emphasizes that, while law enforcement officers do their best, they cannot be everywhere at once, and that self-defense rights should be protected.
Since the shooting, Tennessee has changed its law to allow handgun permit holders to carry firearms in establishments that serve alcohol, provided they are not consuming alcohol themselves and there is no posted prohibition by the business. The woman believes this change is a step toward allowing responsible gun owners to protect themselves in dangerous situations.
She continues to call on lawmakers to reconsider restrictions that disarm citizens, asserting that such laws unintentionally help criminals by ensuring that their victims cannot defend themselves.
