Twelve years ago, Nikki Goeser watched helplessly as a stalker murdered her husband in cold blood. Tragically, at the time, she was a concealed carry permit holder, but state law forbade her from bringing her firearm into the restaurant where her husband was killed.
“It changed my life totally,” Goeser said. “I was just an ordinary lady living my happy, ordinary life that I loved. We see these things on the news, and think it happens to other people, but it happened to me. I don’t want anyone else to have to go through something horrible like that.”
Goeser went on to become an outspoken gun rights advocate and wrote about her experience in her book, Stalked and Defenseless.
She wants to save others from the suffering she endured after gun control laws left her defenseless. It frustrates her that victims of violence will often blame the firearm instead of the perpetrator. “I never blamed the gun,” Goeser explained. “I blamed the murderer and those who legislated me out of my right to protect myself and my husband.”
She regrets that she was not an advocate for gun rights until this tragedy and warns that Americans cannot become complacent. “I think its important that conservatives get more involved now than ever,” she said.
She warns that Joe Biden is no friend of the Second Amendment and if he gains the presidency and Republicans lose the Senate, gun control bills will be passed that put law-abiding citizens in danger. “Criminals aren’t going to care,” she said. Instead, under a Biden administration, it will be more expensive for honest, hard-working Americans to defend themselves. She noted that in Washington, D.C., it costs $125 just to have a background check done, and upwards of $200 in New York City.
“We know that people who need to protect themselves the most are law-abiding people who live in high-crime urban areas,” she said. “There are a lot of people who get priced out of their basic human right to self-defense because anti-gun politicians make it too costly for them.”
Biden’s campaign website says he plans to ban the manufacture, sale, and possession of a host of popular semiautomatic firearms, including the most popular one of all, the AR-15. For anyone who currently owns such guns, Biden’s plan calls for government confiscation, unless gun owners pay a $200 tax and register their firearms with a national data base.
Goeser is now the executive director of the Crime Prevention Research Center, an organization that conducts research on the relationship between gun control laws, crime and public safety. Her book is filled with facts about the criminal use of firearms that the mainstream media ignores. For example, she shared a bar graph of the 10 worst mass public shootings in the U.S. and western Europe since 1991 based on number of victims killed. By far the worst mass shooting in that period was the 2015 Paris, France attack that left 130 killed. The second most deadly mass shooting was in Utoya, Norway in 2011 in which 67 people were killed.
She said gun-free zones pose the biggest threat to public safety. “I believe these places are targets where evil people go to wreck the most havoc. They are an invitation to criminals who know they are going to go where people cannot protect themselves.”
Goeser said she’s been accused by gun control advocates of being paranoid. One man even suggested “if you’re that scared, just stay home.” Goeser said she’s not paranoid, she’s prepared. She compared carrying a firearm for self-protection to owning a fire extinguisher or life-insurance or wearing a seatbelt. “If something horrible happens, at least you have a fighting chance.”
As Goeser reflected on her life since becoming a widow at age 33, she said it’s been hard.
“Being a widow is not fun, but I have tried to find the joy in life. I have immersed myself in things that make me happy. I don’t want that man [her husband’s killer] to claim my entire future,” she said.
While the holidays are always tough, Goeser, said there are constant reminders of her loss throughout the year, “Ben’s birthday, New Year’s Eve, that was our wedding anniversary, or just driving down the road and hearing a song on the radio that reminds me of Ben. Or I’ll see a man from behind who looks like Ben and my heart jumps out of my chest.
“I want people to think about what they really value most in life, and I’m guessing that’s their family. Really think about their loved ones and do everything they can do to protect them.”
Catherine Mortensen is Vice President of Communications at Americans for Limited Government.
Most gun control laws have one of two simple objectives in mind. One is to keep law abiding citizens from obtaining a firearm, which is a constitutionally protected right. The other is to prevent law abiding citizens from using a firearm to protect themselves when faced with am imminent life threatening situation. The criminal element of our society neither cares about gun control laws nor has any concern about using a firearm to achieve the goals they want. Only law abiding citizens are negatively impacted by gun control laws.
If even one legally purchased gun had ever been used in a murder, then our side would have no case and gun control would be warranted. But no.
Agree completely. Over 2 million assalts are detered in the US each year because “defensive force” was presented, according to “More guns less crime” book, Dr. Lott.
Actually, everyone should be armed; it’s called “level playing field;” wrong-does would know resistance was immediately present, not minutes away.
signs that say no guns allowed on premises: give the criminals notice law abiding folks won’t be armed. i say ignore the signs, better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6. i also was a victim of a shooting but lucky enough to survive and only lost teeth. sorry for your loss. carry on. you’re not alone
Sorry for your loss , in our state the day it became legal to carry most business’s had very visible no guns allowed signage almost as working along with the Democrat’s . The nutjobs can’t ever understand criminals will never follow any laws . Options are move and let that state collapse or be alive and act like a criminal . You have seconds to respond don’t be sacred , sorry you just react and you survive .
We’re back to that “control the great unwashed” attitude of those who feel they’re in charge of us. We need to remind them over and over and over that they WORK for us and WE are in control of our lives. Refuse their unconstitutional laws and refuse to be herded like cattle to our deaths so they can feel large and in charge. I’ve had it with gun laws and I’ve had it with mask laws, and stay at home laws, and let all the criminals out of jail laws. This has to stop now before it’s too late. Too late for us to keep what remains of our freedom, to walk our own streets that we pay for, unhindered by foolish and counterproductive rules, to work as we please and say what we please and not be constricted by the political correctness that strives to make us feel alone and ashamed.
As far as concealed carry goes, be trained, be safe and carry. It’s your right as an American. I’ve carried most of my adult life, yes even in CA, and thank God I’ve never had to use my firearm, but I won’t go down a victim of a system that can neither protect me nor cares whether I live or die. You don’t have to advertise your carry and you don’t need everyone to know, you just need to be protected. God bless our country and the founders who created us.
The sole purpose of gun registration is to make future gun confiscation easier.
If the sheep who buy into the anti-gun propaganda would just change a few words in thinking through the logic they would see how stupid the logic is. Lets say we were talking about speeding instead of gun violence. Wouldn’t you expect to see the most speeders in a “police free zone?” Well guns are as much for our protection as the police are, and advertising the lack of that protection instigates rather than deters breaking the law in those areas. And those who say for child safety you have to keep your firearms unloaded and locked up wouldn’t advocate that because Halon is a chemical that stifles oxygen, you can’t put it in your fire extinguisher and pressurize it until ready to use it. Laws that make a person responsible if they leave a loaded firearm where their children access it, are more logical for keeping gun owners, responsible owners. Also if the public looked at the true statistics of causes of injury and death, they would see how small a role that firearms play. Anyone seeking death by suicide would only find another tool to end their life. Cutting instruments (knives, machetes, axes, etc.) play a much larger role in violent crime than guns, but you don’t see much if any control on sale of these items. And what of bludgeoning weapons, (golf clubs, baseball bats, sticks, ax handles, pieces of rebar, etc.) when was the last time you heard of any control on them? If someone is out to hurt others, the list of possible weapons is limitless. So why are guns singled out for demonetization? Because they pose the greatest risk to the government in the event of a revolution. It has been said that an armed public are citizens while an unarmed populace are subjects.
A thought for the anti-gunners who say they would just call the police and let them handle it. Lets say some one is breaking into your home. They have a pry bar they used to force open your door. While they were prying the door you called the police. Now the average response time for the first officer to arrive on scene in a lot of cities is about 18 minutes. Also most cities require their officers wait for a back up unit before entering a structure, so you are really waiting for the second officer. Now set a timer for…….lets be conservative and say 15 minutes. Take a broom handle, a toilet plunger, or similar item and count how many times you can strike a pillow in that 15 minutes. Now ask yourself “Would I want to be beat with a pry bar that many times?” Also ask yourself ladies, “Would I want to endure a sexual assault for that amount of time?” Then ask yourself “Wouldn’t it be better to not only call the police, but retrieve your personal protection firearm when you hear the break in attempt?” That way, whether you fire your weapon or not, you can halt the threat until police arrive. Think harder on the phrase “When seconds count, police are just minutes away.”
It’s quite ironic that many former anti-gun folks have bought guns during the covid crisis. Yet many if not most of these folks support the demorat/socialists that will take away the Constitutional right to own a firearm. They may cheer the time of the second amendment demise but will cry when their pet right is taken away. Many demorats have openly championed re-writing the Constitution and eliminating certain amendments. Our Constitution and socialism are simply not compatible.
Sign me up I will fight for our gun rights, and I do not trust Biden or Harris with our future
Signs that say a legally concealed gun is prohibited should be ignored. You can bet the criminal intent on murdering or robbing is ignoring it.