Abusive spouses are never a good thing.

And for that, I get the understatement of the year nomination.

However, they aren’t. They’re often dangerous individuals with a propensity for violence and a demonstrated lack of care regarding the rules of civilized society. They’re menaces to those they’ve abused in the past.

Well, the good folks over at The Truth About Guns show just how women who are trying to get out abusive relationships should be prepared to deal with violent spouses who can’t get it through their heads that the marriage is over.

The woman’s estranged husband arrived outside the house and called her over to a shed in the backyard, near an empty pool. Leaving her teenage daughter inside the house, the woman complied. That’s when her husband pulled a gun, and she responded by shootinghim.

The woman called 9-1-1 immediately to report that she had wounded her husband, and although he made it to the hospital, he died there. The woman and daughter are both unharmed. The daughter didn’t witness the shooting and the police are now investigating the incident as probable self-defense.

“Any time a person is threatened or if they are threatened with a firearm, that person does have the right to defend themselves,” Lt. Ray Spencer said to reporters.

This is one of four domestic homicides that occurred within the same week in Nevada. In this case, the victim(s) survived because she had the means to defend herself.

Well, the dirtbag got what he deserved.

We can get into the psychology of abusive spouses if we want to, but that’s not really what we do here. Frankly, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that the victims have the means to defend themselves.

Gun control advocates would scream that the husband had a gun and call for more laws to try and prevent that, though we don’t know anything about how he obtained it, when he got it, anything. We don’t know that more gun laws would do a bloody thing.

What we do know is that if the woman hadn’t had a firearm, she likely would be dead and her teenage daughter without either parent. She did what she needed to do and now is completely free. More than that, though, she now knows for a fact that she doesn’t have to be a victim. She has tangible proof because, well, she wasn’t.

That’s not to say what happened won’t be traumatizing for her. It may well be. However, it may also be empowering because she, and her daughter, know that they can oppose violent people. They’re powerful enough and they have enough worth to do just that.

Frankly, I’d rather see all such “men” meet similar fates.

I’ve argued before that one of the roles of men is to protect their family. Guys like this don’t just ignore that but do the opposite. They’re not protecting anyone, they’re endangering them. That’s when a woman must also take on the role of the protector and act.

This one did.

Good for her.