For the past week I have been in Florida visiting my mom. Like me, my mom has a Florida CCW permit that allows her to carry her handgun wherever she goes. And she does.

You see, several years back, mom had some punk, 14-year-old kid stick a gun in her face and demand her purse. Stunned into mindlessness, mom tried to comprehend the mind of the terrorist that confronted her. All she could say repeatedly was, "Why are you doing this?"

God was with her that day. The kid did not feel like blowing her head clean off, but took the purse instead.

Later the police told her that the kid had been caught. What was left of an emptied purse was returned to her. She did her duty and went to the station and pre-trial hearings and identified the kid. But the criminal was not prosecuted since there was little political will to incarcerate a "child".

Mom's confidence in the criminal-justice system was destroyed.

"You are just going to let him go?" she asked the police officer. The officer ashamedly told her that it was out of his hands. This admission made my mom genuinely fearful.

"But... what if he comes back?" She was trembling at this point. The officer said in officious tones, "Just give us a call." Then he lowered his voice so that only she could hear-- "Lady, you need to be prepared for that. You will need to protect yourself."

Weeks later mom figured out the reason why the kid robbed her of her purse and would have killed her for her $35 and change: because he could.

She got herself trained, got her CCW, and now has joined the ranks of thousands of other pistol-packing senior citizens in Florida. (The lessons of WWII were not lost on this generation, I can assure you.)

That was a few years ago.

Today in Georgia yet another school-aged terrorist used a firearm and committed a crime on a school campus. One month ago today, two terrorists killed nearly a dozen people in Littleton, Colorado. For the past month we have been bombarded with news that it was the guns and the NRA that are the real criminals.

Also during this past month, mom was in a store buying some merchandise. The female cashier required a photo ID for the credit card validation. Mom had misplaced her driver's license, so she asked, "Will any photo ID be okay?"

The cashier lady said yes. Mom produces her CCW license.

Mom swears the woman went pale, exhaled a breathy "Oh my God!", and looked at her as if it were her last moments on earth.

Well, you have to know that my mom is one of these people that by virtue of her very appearance, evokes images of wholesomeness, kindness, and a tender heart. The cashier was immediately put at ease when my mom chuckled at her and said, "It's all right, sweetie."

The transaction was completed without incident. But at the end before my mom turned to leave the store, the cashier reached out to her with her hand and asked, "Could you answer me one question? Why? Why do you have... THAT."

"Because I don't want to be a victim ever again, sweetie."

Hey. Good answer, mom!!