The mere presence of a gun helped this child.

[Blue Line]

I forwarded this to my 14 yr old daughter who thought it was a good story. She is not anti-gun but it just isn't her thing, but after this story she now is going to take the hunter safety course with her 10 yr old brother next month.

 

[killchain]

[...]
It would have been nice if one of her cousins had chose to stay with her, I'm sure that incident will have a lasting effect on the child.
[...]

I agree this would have a lasting effect on her, and I believe it's going to be this: She's defended herself before, and won't be afraid to do it again. This is, in my opinion, a good effect. The circumstances were not good, but now this girl knows she's got the intestinal fortitude to fight back. That is awesome.

I disagree that this is a sad story. The girl defended herself, the bad guys got caught, and no one was hurt in the end. +1 for the good guys.

Also, either her intuition is good or maybe her parents told her what to do... Going for the rifle and finding a good place to hide was a SMART IDEA. Also, +1 more for immediately calling 911.