I’ll confess that when I’m looking for Second Amendment news and information I don’t typically turn to pop-culture websites like Distractify, but I was pleasantly surprised to run across this story on Friday that actually acknowledges people (or at least one person) have good reason to carry a firearm in self-defense, especially since the writer is on board with more gun laws.

Distractify writer Callie (Carlos) Cadorniga highlighted a recent TikTok video by a woman named Jezzika, who explained why she carries her “pew pew” with her on her hikes in the great outdoors.

In one instance, Jezzika and her sister ran into two men while setting up camp during a hike. According to Jezzika, the men had hoped they were lesbians (for some reason) before learning that they were sisters.

Despite this, Jezzika and her sister ran into the same two men on a completely different trail over a year later and they still expressed interest in the women.

“My sister, not missing a beat, goes ‘hey, you got that extra clip for my 9mm that I asked you to bring,'” Jezzika recalls.

The men immediately backed off upon learning they were packing.

In a completely separate instance, another man on their hiking trail tried inviting the two of them to dinner at his camp and wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“He starts to walk toward us and almost [tried to] herd us toward his campsite,” Jezzika regales.

As Jezzika recalls, her sister unzips her jacket to casually show off her gun, prompting the man to back off.

Even though Cadoringa admits that Jezzika exercising her Second Amendment rights may very well have saved her and her sister from violence, she still blithely asserts that “more regulations ought to be put in place to protect folks from frequent mass shootings” and that “the takeaway here shouldn’t be for women who deal with creepy men to go out and get guns,” but rather for guys to stop being creepy.

I think that should apply to everyone, and as long as we’re at it people should stop committing mass shootings, carjackings, home invasions, armed robberies, domestic assaults, and a host of other violent crimes.

While most of us will never do any of those things there will always be a small number of twisted individuals intent on doing harm to others, which is why tens of millions of Americans like Jezzika exercise their right to bear arms in self-defense. As much as we might like to wish away criminal behavior (or even just general douchebaggery), it’s not gonna happen. Instead, it’s up to us to choose how we’ll respond if and when we encounter one of those folks, and Jezzika’s story clearly reasonated with Cadoringa despite her support for more gun control.

At the very least I hope that Cadoringa has a slightly better perspective on why so many of us choose to bear arms in self-defense; not because we’re wannabe vigilantes or are paranoid about every person we encounter, but because if we ever are the object of a criminal’s attention we want the opportunity to fight back. The gun control laws that Cadoringa would like to see in place wouldn’t stop creepy encounters on a hiking trail or a targeted attack by a committed killer, but they can prohibit women like Jezzika from being able to protect themselves from a violent encounter; from “sensitive places” prohibitions on carrying altogether to waiting periods that force domestic violence or stalking victims to be unarmed and defenseless while their potential attacker remains a threat to their life, liberty, and personal safety.