"To carry a firearm or not," that’s a question in the minds of many — especially women — with so many reports of violence against women.

A would-be pistol packer must answer this question: "If you are in fear of your life, would you use your weapon?" That’s difficult to answer unless you’ve actually "been there."

My department in Lexington County, South Carolina, investigated a case in which a young mother was accosted in the parking lot of a shopping center. She was putting her infant into a car seat when a man reached around and grabbed her baby.

The woman pulled a .25-caliber semi-automatic pistol out of her purse. For an instant she had the upper hand, but then she hesitated. Her moment of victory became short-lived.

The man smiled, yanked the gun out of her hand, and pointed it at the baby. That’s how he forced the young mother to drive to a remote area where he raped her, then simply walked away. That case remains unsolved.

Then there’s a woman at a shopping center in Kentucky who was tossed into the trunk of her own car by a burly stranger who grabbed her from behind.

As the would-be rapist drove out of the parking lot, the kidnapped woman listened as her abductor bragged about what he was going to do to her.

The terrified woman lay cramped in the trunk of her own car for what seemed an eternity. She considered her options — and there weren’t many. Then she made a decision just as the car stopped.

Laughing as he unlocked the trunk, the man continued telling the woman about his sadistic plans for her. As the trunk lid swung upward the terrified woman fired a volley of five shots from her .38-caliber Colt revolver. All five bullets found their way to the center of her attacker’s chest.

The woman said she regretted killing him, "but it would have been even worse if my mother read about the police finding my body in the woods."

Editor’s note: The woman in the trunk had a "concealed carry" permit and had been trained in the use of her firearm.