Eighteen years ago,  Mike and Susan Gonzalez were both shot during a home invasion. During a struggle with their attackers, the injured woman grabbed her husband’s pistol and opened fire.

Her husband was shot as he struggled with one of the attackers. Gonzalez said she saw an opportunity to reach for her husband’s pistol and she went for it. She said she pointed the gun at one of the suspects and squeezed the trigger.

“I just opened fire in his back,” she said.

The wounded suspect died in the couple’s front yard. The other suspect took the keys to their truck and got away, but he was later captured.

Susan, 56, said what happened that hot August night has changed her views completely on guns.

“A lot of people are against guns because they say guns kill, ” said Gonzalez. “Guns saved my life and I was against guns. I now carry.”

She has a concealed weapons permit and said she practices on a regular basis.

“What happened to us, I would never in a million years would have dreamed it would happen to us,’ she said.

Susan’s change of heart is hardly unique. Many people who were against firearms ownership have changed their minds after either experiencing or witnessing violent crime. It’s a very intelligent decision, spurred by a life-altering experience that showed them just how unpredictable and violent other people can be, and just how fragile their own lives can be.

Guns save lives.