An elderly California women thwarted two home invaders with the only practical tool for the job:

An elderly woman took hold of a firearm to scare off two men who entered her Big Sur home and attempted to rape her on Sunday, according to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.

Around 9 p.m. Sunday, deputies responded to a report of an attempted home invasion in the 37000 block of Garrapatos Road, about 2 miles east of state Highway 1, sheriff’s officials said.

Two men armed with knives entered the home and made their way into a bedroom, where they tried to rob and rape an elderly woman, according to sheriff’s officials.

The woman was able to defend herself with a firearm, sheriff’s officials said.

This is just the latest example of a firearm being used for self-defense by a law-abiding citizen who has no other viable self-defense options.

So many people who complain about armed self-defense are relatively young and relatively healthy with little experience with violent crime. They delude themselves into thinking that they can either defeat an attacker with a punch or kick, which is typically something they’ve imagined, but never practiced, and certainly not against a living opponent who is likely much stronger, faster, and resistant to punches than they ever imagined. Alternately, they think they could somehow get away from an attacker, summon help that will arrive in a timely manner, or use some sort of chemical spray or other less lethal alternative at contact or near-contact distances, which again, they’ve never actually practiced.

Sadly, this is based on self-delusion, and I’ve listened to survivors of violent assaults tell me how powerless they felt when they realized, too late, that they were not physically strong enough to defend themselves against an attacker.

A firearm is the great equalizer. It enables a competent person to practically defend themselves when relative size, strength, and numbers are not in their favor.

As the apocryphal advertising slogan attributed to both Winchester and Colt stated in the late 19th Century:

“Be not afraid of any man Who walks beneath the skies, For be he tall or be he strong, I will equalize.”