Did She do the Right Thing?

It was the worst day of her life. She stood there shaking, the children were screaming. There was blood on the wall, on the floor, and on some of the desks. Her ears were ringing and the smell of gun powder had just reached her nose.

There was no more movement, he was dead. Just a kid? He looked like he was barely 20. She was still death gripping her FN7, unable to relax, unable to set it down. But then she had to, she had to attend to the children. Slowly she holstered the pistol and arranged her cloths so it was hidden once again. She kept looking at the body, expecting it to come back to life. Had she just killed some one?

She couldn't think about that right now. She gathered the children, still crying, and ushered them out the door and outside with the rest of the teachers and students. They were all cowering in the far corner of the parking lot unsure of what to do.

What could they do? Body armor was banned under federal law now, even though the expensive stuff could stop rifle rounds. All of them. Yet banned it is, as are many once common rifles and pistols.

And of course it’s illegal to bring any loaded gun onto school property. And that’s why she was terrified. She had broken the law. Well she had been doing it for ten years, was it ten? It would be by the end of this school year. Ten years she has carried that gun into the school, unbeknownst to any one save her husband. She did it as a matter of conscience, how could she not? No one else was even lifting a finger to provide safety to the children. All congress did was ban more weapons, ban body armor and extend the distance around schools to which it was illegal to possess a loaded firearm. None of it stopped this kid.

She had gotten her pistol before the ban, 4 years before. Thank God she did. She chose the FN7 because it was the only pistol ever offered that had the potential to penetrate regular body armor, the cheaper stuff, and nearly every school shooting that had occurred since the advent of video games involved body armor. She couldn't buy the ammo for it anymore, so the few rounds she had in the magazine and at home is all she will ever have. At least it was the good stuff, expensive, but effective. Three shots, just like she had practiced, and he was down.

She hung her head, everyone was probably assuming in shock, but she felt guilt, terrible guilt and fear. Her heart started racing again when she heard sirens. She had saved lives. Yes some students had died, none of hers though. None of hers. Yet would anyone care? Would she still go to jail? Would her daughter grow up without a mommy because she dared to do the right thing? It was a felony to have a loaded gun within a mile of the school? “A mile?” she though, trying to distract herself “A one mile zone where every one knows that no one can defend themselves  At least I proved this kids assumption wrong."

The police split, up several officers running into the school, and the others running over to the students and teachers. They did their best to calm every one down, but it was an act in futility.

It didn't take long for the officers to come walking back out of the school looking puzzled. They beckoned the other officers over, and huddled for a minute. She couldn't hear what they were saying. Her heart was pounding. Then one stepped forward and said: “The shooter is dead, looks like someone inside the class room shot him. Did anyone see what happened? We need to know where the second shooter went; he is most likely as heavily armed as this guy was. Did anyone see anything at all that they can explain clearly?

She stood there trembling, and slowly raised her hand. She did the right thing, she'll have to suffer the consequences, whatever they end up being, but she did the right thing...didn't she?