Which of These Two Statements Is True?.

Please read the following story (h/t: Zendo Deb):

Fighting back

Woman defends herself from attack with gun

By Courtney Reese/Times Record News
September 21, 2006

A 38-year-old woman staying at the Homewood Suites in Wichita Falls turned the tables Tuesday night on a potential attacker in the parking lot.

The woman's father said she pulled her .380 automatic pistol on the man, who came up behind her as she was getting sinus medicine from her van about 9 p.m.

He gave the following information about the incident:

The man asked her, "Do you have anything good in that van?"

The woman knew she was in trouble. She told him yes and moved to the front passenger-side door.

She pulled out her pistol and heard a knife click open.

When she looked back, she saw the man was holding a knife pointed downward in his hand.

She quickly turned, pointed the gun right at him and asked, "Are you really sure you want to do whatever you're going to do?"

He took off running, the father said.

No shots fired. No one wounded on either side. No crime completed. One pair of stained skivvies.

How dare she act like Harry Callahan!

The woman immediately went back inside the hotel, alerted the staff, and they called police.

Her father said she was calm at the time, going into "auto-pilot" and remembering everything she had learned in the classes she took to get her gun permit, he said.

"Of course, three hours later she was a basket case," he said. "She felt violated and real anxious."

Not as violated as she would have felt had he succeeded in robbing her - and whatever else he had planned.

This wasn't the first time the woman had faced a trying situation.

Her father said her fiance was involved in a shootout in Houston, which made her realize she needed to take precautions herself.

"When that happens to somebody close to you, you learn," he said.

Unfortunately, some don't even learn then.

So not even a year ago, the West Texas woman decided to get licensed to carry a gun, something her brother had been trying to convince her of because her job requires travel, her father said.

Sgt. Joe Snyder, public information officer with the Wichita Falls Police Department, said it's important that anyone carrying a gun be aware of not only his or her own surroundings, but also those of the attacker.

"You're responsible for where a bullet goes," he said. "You don't want to hit innocent bystanders."

But even more than that, Snyder said a weapon should not be used as a scare tactic.

"If you are going to pull a weapon, you should be prepared to use it."

In general, it's best to travel in pairs went it's dark outside, Snyder said.

"Park in well-lighted, well-traveled areas so you aren't put in a one-on-one scenario," he said.

The woman who was accosted is one of more than 150,000 people in Texas licensed to carry firearms. In Texas, carrying a loaded handgun in a vehicle is legal when the owner is traveling a substantial distance.

(Just so you know, 150,000 represents less than 1% of the eligible population of Texas.)

A couple of years ago I had a long, drawn out cross-blog discussion with Australian Tim Lambert over laws restricting weapons. In one post defending restrictive laws, Tim stated the following:

If the law disarms attackers, then it can make self defence possible where it would have been impossible if the attacker was armed.

Reader Sarah of Carnaby Fudge slightly re-worded that statement in a comment:

If the law disarms citizens, then it can make self defence impossible where it would have been possible if the citizen was armed.

Which of these two statements is demonstrably true, and why?