"He probably thought, 'Here's a woman -- a 65, gray-headed, skinny woman. I can just get that purse away from her, Carol Miller said." "He was waiting for a victim," she said. "He grabbed my purse and I fell on the ground and he drug me for so long. I just held on tight."

"You're a walking target. I've seen it on TV all the time and I've decided anybody's a target," she said."

Miller was lucky that the thief eventually let go of the purse and ran. The Channel 5 reporter also hailed Miller for showing that you don't have to become a victim. Unfortunately, just holding on to your property is often not enough to prevent you from being a victim.

The Northgate Mall is on the OFCC Do Not Patronize While Armed list as a posted Criminal Protection Zone. Even if this grandmother had her CHL, the Northgate Mall denies her, and other women, their right to protection. At the same time, the Northgate Mall does not provide security escorts for women.

However the victim makes some timely observations, including "Here is a woman", "He was waiting for a victim", "You're a walking target", "I've seen it on TV all the time and I've decided anybody's a target".

Once you've decided you could be a target, you have to do something. So why aren't more Ohioans, and especially women, taking classes and applying for their CHL. Florida reports over 50,000 women have licenses to carry concealed handguns. Even that number has taken almost 20 years to achieve.

Why are so many, in today's climate of criminal attacks, waiting? It just defies logic. The "It won't happen to me" or "my neighborhood is safe" or "the mall is safe" is in the news daily. If every place was "safe", there would be very little on the nightly news reports.

Who is protecting you and your family?

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